What is a Gose beer?

Gose are distinct styles of sour wheat beer dating back to the late 12th century. They are top-fermented with coriander and salt added, drawing comparisons with Witbiers and Berliner Weisse, and then acidified with Lactobacillus which gives the sour flavour.

The overall sour tartness is quite light in comparison to sour beers like Lambic and Berliner Weisse styles. It plays a more moderating part against the bready malt. The salt character tends to act in the background, counteracting bitterness and bringing good balance, whilst the coriander brings pepper, citrus and floral notes. There is next to no hop influence at all. Overall, they are crisp, dry, refreshing beers with very interesting and rewarding complexity.

History of Gose Beers

Gose beers originated in the town of Goslar before becoming a Leipzig favourite and booming in production across Lower Saxony where it was a staple drink. As many old cultural staples, gose starts in legend, with the story going that Emperor Otto III (983-1002) first praised its flavours. It is believed to have spread throughout the Harz mountain region during this time and the oldest document mentioning gose dates back to 1332.

Gose survived well in the region, and it wasn't until 1712 when Prince Leopold I declared it his favourite drink that it began to spread further. He launched his own gose from an Anhalt based brewery in Leipzig in 1738 and excitement for it grew. However, Napoleonic tarrifs pushed the price up and Leipzig even ran short of it. So, in 1824, Johann Ledermann brought a Goslar recipe and created the most famous gose there is, the Ritterguts Gose! It quickly replaced the old Anhalt one and stole the market almost entirely. Several other gose breweries popped up in the area after this, but Ritterguts remainded the leading brewer right through until the early 1920s.

During this time, gose underwent a rocky history, with production entriely disappearing between 1945-1949 and from 1966 to the 1980s, a legacy left by WWII and brewery closures.

However, in the 1980s, Lothar Goldhahn restored an old Gose pub and brought along a former employee of an old gose brewery who still had some notes on the original recipe. He put the style back on the menu but it didn't really take off any further afield, yet. The bar was sadly closed due to economic hardship in 1990, and then his brewery in 1995.

In 1999, an adventurous hobby brewer by the name of Tilo Jänichen experimented making gose after some careful study of old documents. After many attempts he finally succeeded and set up Ritterguts brewery for the prodution of gose once again! Since then, gose has been growing in recognition and popularity, with many micro-breweries making their own versions of the style. It is a unique, wonderful beer that is as versatile as its history.