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This might possibly be the longest name for a beer that's we've reviewed. 4.6% German Gose style. If you missed the little history lesson we gave in the Magic Hat Saint Saltan, Gose originated in an area of Germany where it obtained part of the flavor from the naturally salty waters of the river, and was brewed with no less than 50% of the grain bill (grains being used in the brew process) being malted wheat. Being a German beer though, I'm surprised this does not follow the Purity Laws of 1516 (aka Reinheitsgebot), which says that beer is to be brewed ONLY with water, hops, and barley. The label on this states that it is brewed with coriander and salt.
This pours a hazy straw color with a decent amount of white head that dissipated quickly. The aroma on this is faint with some malty sweetness, citrus and some earthiness. This is very interesting for the flavor. There is a lot happening here, though all faint. There is a wit characteristic to it, with the wheat and coriander that takes premise (for those who are unaware of the style, think Blue Moon, but a metric shit ton better). Then there are some almost lemon like sour tones that meld perfectly and some light salt pops in from time to time. This drinks smooth with a slight stickiness on the tongue, but a refreshing finish. This makes me miss the warmer days of summer time, as this would be a perfect porch sipping beer on a warm Summer night. Sigh, but unfortunately, we're nearing the actual season of Winter (and have already had more snow than we did last Autumn and Winter combined), so these are just hopes and dreams for next Summer.
I don't know what it is about this beer, but I'm feeling relaxed and refreshed after drinking this. Huh, some sort of magic elixir apparently.
4.4/5 caps
-Nathan-
This is the perfect antithesis to tonight, when we had some snow and wintry mix crap fall from the sky today. It's the kind of day that makes me long for the beers of summer: the IPAs, goses, and kolsches.
My portion has had some time to warm while I've been working a piece of art and Nathan wrote his portion. Hey, it's the giving season, and I just had the most killer idea for a piece for Peanut. Let's just hope I can get it done in 8 days, as it's one of my larger undertakings. But, lest you tell Peanut the secret, I shall give away no more.
As my partner-in-beer mentioned, this beer does not follow the Reinheitsgebot, which is, indeed, somewhat surprising. But did you know that Germans have recently appealed to the United Nations to seek "world status" for the Reinheitsgebot, granting it similar status to the Spanish Flamenco dance and an oil wrestling festival from Turkey? Well, now you do. There's your beer-geek history fact du jour.
This is a beautiful translucent pale straw color, and the lightest layer of head remains atop my glass. The aroma is straw, grass, some light lemony citrus from the hops, just a tinge of earthiness, and, even fainter, the coriander. Taking a sip, it's almost like lemonade that has been lightly salted. Taking a deeper taste, I pick up lemon fading into lemongrass fading into grass, then a hit of salt, and then lemon and coriander toward the back end of the taste. Long after you've swallowed, more salt comes out to dry out the finish. The coriander is so beautifully faint. I find it rather interesting to observe the notes from the wheat: it really just softens everything, and makes it eminently drinkable.
I'm sorry, I can find no comparison at all to Blue Moon, other than they both contain wheat and coriander. That is where the comparison must end. If you like Blue Moon, I'm reasonably certain you would like this. If you appreciate this, though, I don't think you would really like Blue Moon. It's not really a wit, despite it containing both wheat and coriander. I also must agree with Nathan that my state of mind is quite at ease after drinking much of this. I want to be sitting at the edge of the sea -- OK, any sea -- sipping on this.
4.3/5 caps
-Jennie
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