The Virginia Beer Co. | Liquid Escape Tart Ale

Judging a beer by its label is a bias we often encounter as craft beer drinkers. If you resist the urge to check a beer’s score inside the bottle shop, then you’re relying on the beer’s look and description to hook you in. You would assume that a humble beer coming from a brewery such as The Virginia Beer Company would be an old standby, reflected in the simplistic art and presentation. But the craftsmanship and modern innovation they put into their Liquid Escape goes far beyond what to expect.

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Sour Series: Company Brewing | Alphabetical Order (Pink Guava Gose)

The growth in popularity of Sours the past couple of years in the craft brewing community has been extremely exciting for the woman who shoved sour gummy worms in her mouth by the handful as a child. While Sour Ales may not get the love and acclaim as Barrel-Aged beers do, they should be recognized as a beer style that takes creativity and patience, not to mention access to interesting ingredients. One such brewery taking risks with their Sours and Goses is Company Brewing, based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Recently, I enjoyed Alphabetical Order, a Pink Guava Gose that originally started as a collaboration beer with Component Brewing. 

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Marz Community Brewing | The Love Brew (Gose)

Marz Community Brewing Co. takes their name to heart. The Love Brew is a collaboration with a local Chicago mutual aid organization, The Love Fridge. With each 4-pack sold, $1 will go towards The Love Fridge community.

The Love Fridge is an organization that has placed community fridges throughout the city, inspired by similar movements in New York City, Portland and all over the world. They aim to offer a solution to food waste and food insecurity through community involvement. As millions of people lose their jobs because of the ongoing pandemic and with months ahead before any progress is made, our community efforts mean the most now.

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Flying Dog Brewery | Dead Rise Gose

Five Years Ago, Flying Dog Brewery shocked the craft beer world by introducing a trendsetting savory beer. Fitting to its abrasive, coastal brand; the brewery crafted a blonde ale called Dead Rise Ale, infamously infused with Old Bay Seasoning. Flying Dog has decided to let the Dead Rise once again, but this time in the form they had initially intended: a Gose.

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The Veil Brewing Co. | Never Never Backdown Backdown

As the winter months are drawing near and the cooler weather is becoming more of a constant, it’s easy to reach for these lighter, more “summer-y” beers to enjoy on the days that are just slightly warmer. The Veil Brewing Co.‘s Never Never Backdown Backdown is one of those drinks that will bring back the warm memories of summer with just one sip.

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Ultimate 6er | Goses & Other Lip Puckering Treats

While searching the aisles of my local beer store, I thought about what types of beers do people want to hear about? Stout season is coming, and so is porters, browns and the big guns like barleywines and barrel-aged everything. But, not everyone likes those types of beers. So what are some easy drinkers that many people will enjoy but don’t see this time of year? The selection of sours I tried was on point, and I quickly realized how many interesting smaller sours are not that tart, but people will set it aside for the simple reason of what section it is. So here’s a list of delicious brews that only have a little acidic bite, but pack a great amount of flavor!

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Intersect Brewing | Blackberry Hollywood Bungalow

We’re in the dog days of summer, and while the season of stouts and brown ales is quickly approaching, the Colorado beer community is going to latch onto the warm weather and refreshing beers that accompany it for as long as possible. Intersect Brewing, the rock-’n-roll inspired, vinyl-fueled brewery on Fort Collins’ west side, is home to a variety of beers with names inspired by classic American songs. “Tramps Like Us” East Coast IPA and the “In Thru the Out Door” Berliner Weiss are just a few brews that take their names from classic rock records, but one stands out above the rest as the ideal summer porch slammer.

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Urban Artifact | Pickle

I jumped onto the Urban Artifact wagon a bit late. “Better late than never” is a cliche that I find myself faced with quite regularly. Needless to say, I became an instant fan of the brewery’s vast array of spectacular beers that often steer away from the typical IPA and other popular beer styles we’ve come to expect in the craft beer circle. My first dive into their collection was while watching a soccer match at a local restaurant that sells numerous beers, canned and bottled. I saw Urban Artifact’s Keypunch, a key lime Gose, and my mouth instantly started watering. I had two of those sweet, flavorful Goses. Later, I learned of their other varieties. One stopped me in my tracks when my brother-in-law introduced it to me. Urban Artifact Pickle is a dill pickle Gose. It intrigued me enough to return again and again for more salty and sour sips to refresh during the dog days of summer.  

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Founders Brewing Co. | Green Zebra

Michigan basically jumped from winter to summer and everyone is slowly emerging from their igloos. In my neighborhood that means the first beautiful evening of the year smells like death as everyone burns off all the grit and winter rust on their grills. While good weather has arrived, it’s about a month late and everyone is geeked to make up for the lost time.  For me,  that means diving headfirst into arguably the best gose Michigan has to offer, Founder Brewing‘s Green Zebra.

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Edmund’s Oast Brewing | Order of Magnitude

As spring comes into full swing, summer is next in the order and quickly approaching. The scope of what beer people want is changing with the seasons. So many breweries are switching it up and releasing new and exciting styles and experiments. Edmund’s Oast Brewing (EOBC) is no different. Read More

Telluride Brewing Co. | AlpenGOSE

As a big fan of Telluride Brewing Co., I couldn’t resist the presence of a new can offering in my neighborhood liquor store. But wait—a Leipzig-style gose brewed in the winter?

Indeed. AlpenGOSE is such a fanciful elixir.

The 4.5-percent beer represents the brewery’s first seasonal sour. Telluride released it last year on draft only under the moniker “There Gose the Snow,” a nod to the anemic snowfall. This season, the creation took on the name AlpenGOSE in hopes of a winter full of powder.

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Book Review & Interview | Fal Allen on Gose

Five years ago, most craft beer fans had never heard of Gose, the sour German wheat ale seasoned with salt and coriander. Now, it’s tough to find a brewery that hasn’t made one and many breweries offer multiple Goses with various fruit additions. How did the style go from obscurity to ubiquity in just half a decade?

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An Extended Summer: The Gose’s Evolution into a Year-Long Staple

It’s the dead of winter and I’m not drinking a burly, barrel-aged stout – or even an IPA. Instead, I’ve cracked open a can of Creature Comforts’ Tritonia Gose. Was I envisioning a beach on some far off island? Or a sweltering summer sun? Nope, I just wanted something light and flavorful that wasn’t a lager and wouldn’t weigh me down like some of the heavier stouts and barleywines I’ve had on winter night’s past; and I’m not alone in this sentiment.

Much like the rise of spiked seltzer, the lighter styles of beer, namely session sours such as gose ale, are experiencing a bit of a renaissance this days as folks are beginning to choose tart and tangy beers for their ability to bridge the gap between calorie-conscious and flavor-packed. IPAs aren’t going away – to the contrary even. However, many breweries have begun to appreciate the gose’s spot in giving their beer lineup a bit of balance along with a burst of new flavors. For more insight into the growing popularity of the style over the past few years, I asked several breweries making some of the best gose-style ales in the nation to get their thoughts.

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Ska Brewing | Sour Apple Gose

I have a confession to make. I sometimes hide beer from my husband. We’ve all been there before where the fridge becomes a free-for-all for everyone in the household. Being in my mid-thirties, I’m well past the point of leaving post-its to call beer dibs, so I resort to hiding precious beer that I’ve been clamoring to enjoy—in the broom closet (he’ll never find it there).  And in my broom closet that is where you’ll find Ska Brewing’s Sour Apple Gose, a beer that is meant to be savored even if it’s in secret. Read More

Modern Times Beer | Fruitlands

Peanut butter and pretzels. French fries and ice cream. Gose and fruit. These are just some perfect sweet and salty pairings; and if you have never tried fries with ice cream go to the store now!! It’s just one of nature’s torrid love affairs that stands the test of time. Modern Times Beer Fruitlands marries this divine pairing in a delightful way.
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A Tale of Two Sours | Anderson Valley Gose and Great Divide Belgian-Style Sour

It was the best of sours, it was the best of sours. My apologies to Mr. Dickens, but the tale of these two sours from two different breweries located in two different regions, and enjoying two different histories, is a joyful one. So, do you prefer California or Colorado? Kettle or Barrel? Belgium or Germany? It doesn’t matter. You can have whatever you want because beers like these exemplify how we as craft beer fans are indeed living in the best of times.

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Five Boroughs Brewing Co. | Dry-Hopped Gose

Recently, I packed up my downtown life and moved to Brooklyn. One of the biggest benefits by far is the easy access I have to craft breweries in the boroughs. A quick ride down Third Ave. leads me to my newest discovery of the barely-one-year-old, but definitely bad-ass, Five Boroughs Brewing Co. and their Dry Hopped Gose.

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Reuben’s Brews | Holiday Gose

I’m going to start this off by saying I am not a fan of the holiday season. Suddenly, I’m expected to be merry and in good spirits, which is just not the way I work. Bribe me with a winter warmer and we might be able to talk, slip me an Imperial Stout and we will be best of friends. Like a lot of you, alcohol makes this season bearable. To quote National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, “I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels.”

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Ultimate 6er | Beers to Drink in the Desert

Regardless of the time of year, when you’re spending time in the desert, it is important to stay hydrated, thanks to the dry climate and low humidity. The same concept applies to drinking beers in the desert—you want a beer that is refreshing and easy-drinking, particularly in the summer months when the daily temperature can easily exceed 110°F. This is a six pack that speaks to the lighter side of the desert culture.

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Off Color Brewing | Sparkles Finds (Some) Trouble Hibiscus Gose

Off Color Brewing offers some of the best craft beer in the country across their portfolio, in my humble opinion. And how could you pass up a beer named Sparkles Finds (some) Trouble? This poor kitten got himself into a little, but not too much trouble. Check out the basically amazing description of the beer from the brewery itself (I feel like there’s no way they’re paying their marketing person enough!):

“Curious kittens sometimes get themselves into trouble. What they find out is some things are best left alone. Likewise, curious brewers sometimes add flowers and junk to their beer to see what’ll happen. What they find out is those flowers will add a sweet note and stunning pink color to an otherwise tart and salty beer.”

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