After last months Baltic Tripel from Inselbrau, you’ll immediately recognise the packaging as another offering from the German island brewery. This time we have their Baltic Gose to taste.
Gose is a traditional German style that dates back to the 15th-Century. The Eastern German town of Goslar is considered the birthplace of this style, and the Gose River that runs through the town gives its name to the style. Fast forward a couple of centuries and travel a hundred miles or so, and the city of Leipzig had adopted the style as its own with numerous breweries serving their goses characterised by the wheat malt, lactic acid, sea salt, ground coriander seeds and a low hop bitterness.
From the start of World War 1 to the end of World War 2 the style almost disappeared, so much so that in 1949 there was only one brewery making the style. Happily, after a few failed attempts at re-popularising the style it did indeed grab a foothold in the market and craft brewers today are embracing the humble gose.
Our beer pours an unfiltered golden colour, with a wheaty aroma and a hint of lactic acidity. That sourness is also in the taste, with a crisp wheat malt backbone, a definite salty hit and the citrus sharpness from the coriander seeds. Low on bitterness but with a dry finish this is a beautifully refreshing and balanced beer.