OnTap Magazine

STYLE GUIDE A Gose (go-zuh) is one of those beers that challenges your notion of what beer is. It surreptitiously edges the door of acceptability and has a polarising e ect on people’s preferences. is historical style from Goslar, a little-known German town on the banks of the Gose river, was rst brewed in the early 13th century. It introduces ingredients that serve as a slap in the face to the German purity law and yet the style was given an odd regional historical free pass and allowed to remain in the category of beer. e o ending ingredients are salt, coriander and lactobacillus. e latter is a bacteria that is responsible for the tartness in many other fermented products, such as cheese, yoghurt and sauerkraut, and likewise creates a tart nish in beer. e addition of salts and the herbal/spicy character of coriander complement these somewhat sour avours. Never bitter and usually low in alcohol, this style potentially has the ability to surprise non beer drinkers into becoming beer drinkers. Post-1950, the style has lain largely dormant; a footnote in the history of beer; a style skipped over while paging through recipe guides. Until now… A DIVISIVE BREW It appears some beer drinkers would have preferred the style to have been entombed and never revived. ose people can't get past the salt and many refer to it as reminding them of drinking sweat. However it has become America’s latest beer trend and we know that when it comes It’s tart and salty with just a touch of spice. Gose is making waves in the USA, but can this historical style catch on in South Africa? Murray Slater gose in search of the answer… OF SALT A PINCH 42 | Autumn 2019 | ontapmag.co.za