Gose
Gose beers have a pale straw colour an ABV between 4.2% and 4.8% and a moderate bitterness.
Gose characteristics
Gose is a wheat beer brewed with lactic fermentation, and flavoured with coriander and salt. It includes at least 50% of malted wheat and it has a hazy appearance with a medium yellow color. Aroma is slightly fruity with presence of coriander. Flavor is sour with lemon character, fruity notes and noticiable salty taste. Carbonation is high and acidity is not as intense as Berliner Weisse or Lambic.
History
Gose is a top fermented beer that has its origin in the German city of Goslar. The popularity of Gose started in 1738 when Goslar brewers were able to sell their beer to the neighbouring cities of Leipzig and Halle. This also coined the style as Leipziger Gose, and by 1800s there were already 80 gosenschenkes in Leipzig. Later, their production moved to the city of Döllnitz, where beer was open-fermented in the taverns, with glass bottles using top-fermenting yeast as corks. It was with WWII that production of Gose stopped, and after the war the preeminency of lager beers didn't make room for Gose anymore, and the style dissappeared from the market.
It was not until after the fall of Berlin Wall when Leipzigers started to recover the style, even though the beer clashed with the Beer Purity Law. The first modern gosenschenke opened again in 1999, using the recipe that was handwritten by and old employee of a Gose brewery. In the last decade, the Gose has been rediscovered by many European and American craft brewers, and the style has recovered its popularity in Leipzig.