Brew Your Own Gose This Holiday
AVBC Brewmaster Fal Allen quite literally wrote the book on Gose; it’s called Gose: Brewing a Traditional German Beer for the Modern Era.
Here it Gose: A Brief Beer History
“Gose” is a German word and is pronounced “GO-zah”. The beer is named after the river Gose that runs through the town of Goslar where the beer originated. Gose was first brewed somewhere around 1000 years ago in the small town that was just springing up near the silver mines of the Rammelsberg Mountain in the Harz region of lower Saxony. After reigning for centuries in Germany as one of the the most sought after styles of beer, this lightly sour wheat beer style was buried in the hops of history until several decades ago when adventurous brewers unearthed ancient recipes and adapted brewing techniques from the Middle Ages to fit the modern day kitchen.
Why so Sour?
Originally, a thousand or so years ago, Gose was spontaneously fermented. Today a few brewers choose to sour the beer in a co-fermentation by pitching both bacteria and yeast during their cellar operations, but by far, most brewers produce Goses using a brew house souring process.
Something Old, Something New
As recently as the early part of the second decade of this century, Gose was still an almost unheard of style except for a few notable entries in homebrewing text books. Roughly 20 years ago breweries started trying their hands at the style and introducing kettle sours to America, and Anderson Valley Brewing Company is proud to have been at the forefront of that effort. As brewers and consumers became more familiar with the style a fascination with sour beers began to grow. This fascination would soon turn into a full blown movement. Gose would rise from the brink of extinction to common place offering. Gose’s popularity has been driven by many factors; drinkability, being a great palate for other flavors, by consumers desires for “anything new,” and by ease of production.
And now, thanks to Fal and other Gose pioneers, you can buy fantastic Goses on a shelf near you, or brew one at home to share with all of your friends this holiday season.
Gold Hammer Gose Recipe (Makes 5 US gallons [19L])
Original Gravity: 1.040 (10°P)
Final Gravity: 1.006 (1.5°P)
Bitterness: 8 IBU
ABV: 4.2%
Apparent Attenuation: 76%
Malts
5.15 lb. (2.34 kg) Pale barley malt
2.77 lb. (1.26 kg) Red wheat malt
~2 oz. (57 g) Rice hulls
Kettle additions/hops
0.15 oz. (4 g) chinook (12.8 AA), 45 min
0.02 oz. (0.4 g) Indian Coriander Fine ground, end of the boil
Souring agent
Lactobacillus culture from lab
Yeast
German ale yeast
Notes
Mash 154°F
Boil 45 min.
Steps
Mash in at 154°F (67°C), rest 60 minutes and proceed as normal. As the kettle fills, begin to introduce an inert gas (usually nitrogen) into the top of the kettle. Stop runoff at 1.008 (2°P). Once the wort is in the kettle, mix in cooled water to achieve a temperature of 118°F (47.75°C) and a gravity of about 1.034 (8.5°P). Add Lactobacillus propagation. Pitching rate is ~500 ml at 1 x 10 to the 8th cells per milliliter (or approx. 1×10 to the 8th total). Allow to sour to desired pH (between 3.3 – 3.5). Once the pH is reached boil the wort for 45 minutes. Then proceed as normal to fermentation. Pitch German ale yeast at 68–70°F (21°C), at the end of fermentation add the fully hydrated salt solution at a rate of 0.124 oz. per gallon
Pro Tip
Many things play a part in the formation of the final beer’s flavors: specific processes, time, cleanliness, equipment design, the brewer’s skill, and ingredients. None can be more important than good ingredients, particularly the water and the yeast you will use. Without good ingredients it is very difficult to make delicious beer—and as brewers, that is always the goal.
