Highway 128 Session Series: Blood Orange Gose
Anderson Valley Brewing Company

3.75/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75

This is a pretty forgettable gose, from a brewery that makes some fantastic examples of the style.

L: Pours with a faintly reddish orange body. The color of orange blossom honey, but thin as soda. Poured into a flute, it creates three fingers of faintly orange tinted white head, which disappears entirely in less than half a minute.

S: Smells very much like AV's other goses, featuring tart notes of lemon, quince, passion fruit, tangerine and apricot, followed by a light wheat bread sweetness, with a notable yeast presence, like sourdough.

T: Flavor profile follows the nose pretty well, but I would really expect more blood orange flavor. If it wasn't on the label, I might have missed it. Usually I get something like a blackberry note from blood orange, but I only taste a hint of tart ascorbic acid to indicate the orange presence.

F: The mouthfeel is still almost perfect for a gose. Tart at first, then salty, resolving with a light bready sweetness; although something keeps the finish from being crisp. There's a crumbly edge to the finish.

O: A good gose, but these guys have made better.

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4.14/5  rDev +4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

L - Light amber with a decent amount of clarity and a large offwhite head that sticks around somewhat leaving behind a little bit of lacing.
S - Citrus and wheat
T - Good amount of citrus throughout along with some crisp wheat and yeast - a pinch of saltiness.
F - Medium bodied with a high amount of carbonation. Crisp.
O - a pretty solid gose with nice citrus flavor.

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3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes. Poured from a 12 oz. can into a Russian River pint glass.

A: Pours a hazy light yellow, with a good amount of visible carbonation. Forms a one-finger white head that fades fairly quickly.

S: Lactic tart, wheat grist, and cracker malts. A light citrus (orange and lemon zest) as well.

T: Lactic tart and citric acid. Orange, that comes across simultaneously as juicy pulp and some Tang with a touch of St. Joseph’s Baby Aspirin. Light wheat malts, with minimal graininess in the flavor. Residual orange flavor and tart citric acid in the hang.

M: Quite a bit of carbonation in a nice light body. Low alcohol presence.

O: Pretty tasty. Nothing complex or overly different, but easy to drink.

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5/5  rDev +25.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours deep orange with a thick white head. Aroma of salt and lactose. Taste has relatively plain wheat ale elements with the characteristic lactose notes. Palate has extremely subtle blood orange elements. Not bad, a little under flavored.

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2.84/5  rDev -28.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

I had Goses before, and generally like sour beers. I've never had a Leipzig Gose, according to BA, so I don't really have anything to compare this to. But I thought this beer was not pleasant, to say the least. It tasted mostly like Hawaiian Punch, with a metallic aftertaste. It seemed very odd. It was a drain pour for both me and a friend. The appearance, mouthfeel, and smell were all at least OK, but the flavor was disappointing.

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4.57/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

F***in Goses are like a juice, a soda! And that's so darn good about them, beer brewed into a doggone sour soda! Awesome!
And then here we have it, Anderson did actually put in some blood oranges into the juice, to break that saltiness and make it into something friendlier, something that makes you feel like you're really drinking something that's made of fruits.
Man I love goses! That fizzy explosion of carbonation that goes aound in the glass when you pour them out, that total stillness that follows, that candlewax smell in the nose that lingers above makes you think it's X-mas all day everyday, and still, still it's drinkable, its doable, it's sessionable each and every time regardless of TPO.
I'm starting to think recently that goses are the best thing ever. And this one from Anderson just tilts the hand into that direction. Gose is a form of art and I am in love with it.

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3.43/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Nice and light Gose, but overall the flavor is much too sweet and sticky. Would like it a bit drier and just a hint of the blood orange. Definitely getting some salt and tartness, but there is also a lack of carbonation, too.

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3.87/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Light clear bubbly and orange. Raspberry, orange o the nose with carbonation and steel. Watered down orange and wheat crackers taste but quickly fades to a sweet tart sour salty finish. The salty finish leaves you thirsty wanting more with each sip. Drank one of these at lunch after mowing the lawn. Wow, truly the perfect lawnmower.

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3/5  rDev -24.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Tart sweet taste, almost sickly so. The blood orange flavor doesn't come through except in so far as there is a generic citric sweetness. Almost no carbonation. On the whole it's not bad, but if I was in the mood for something this sweet and sour I'd probably opt for a cider or cocktail than try to find it in a beer.

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3.71/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

This beer pours a deep straw with a minor head. The aroma is a bit dusty, with a hint of parmesan, definite orange peel and juice, and a hint of malt. The flavor the lighter than the aroma, starting with a bit of cracker malt, and then quickly changing to very tart lemon and sour orange, with a blood orange quality coming through at the end. The mouthfeel is very light with assertive fizzy carbonation. Overall this is a simple and decent Gose, and while the blood orange comes through is is a bit light.

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1.84/5  rDev -53.8%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

This was my first Gose. I think it's fair to mention that up front. On the other hand, I have a fair amount of experience with all things Blood Orange. Blood orange is a very sweet perfumy delicious richly flavored fruit. An absolute delight to be sure! This beer was NOT delightful. This beer had the feel and look of a typical light beer. However, it tasted tart and nothing but. No herbiness. The flavor isn't even all that citrusy. It honestly tastes more like citric acid (the powder that's just tart without flavor) than it does orange or lemon or grapefruit -- much less blood orange.

I understand that Gose is supposed to be tart. However there's no complex flavor balance here. This tastes just like a sweet tart candy but not sweet at all and not flavored. Just tart. The whole tart. And nothing but the Tart so help me god.

The only reason I give it a 2 over all is it wasn't a sour. The only sour I ever had tasted like vomit, straight up. I can drink the Blood Orange Gose I just don't enjoy it. At all. But hey, I paid more than $9 for a six pack and so help me it's gonna be consumed. YICK.

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4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Nice late summer beer. Found out about it because the shuffleboard place I go to always rotates through Anderson Valley Gose's. Thank goodness they do!

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1.26/5  rDev -68.3%
look: 2 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Aroma: Smells like a cheap beer.

Appearance. No head. Looks like a coors light.

Taste. Seriously takes like vomit. A very puke-like taste. I did tame it to be drinkable by adding some vanilla extract.

Palate. Light. Biting sour. The vomit taste is overwhelming.

Overall. Terrible. This may have been a bad batch, but this is disgusting if its not.

I like sours (e.g. duchesse ) but this. Wow. Just bad.

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3.64/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Pours crystal clear and amber verging on gold; the head rises to a finger and fizzes away in less than 10 seconds; no lacing

Smell: Tangy wheat, blood orange and salt

Taste: Very tangy, at the outset, with the wheat bread overwhelmed by the blood orange; the beer grows very salty, through the middle, and battles the tartness in the finish

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Overall: Not a drain pour but I have had far more refreshing and better balanced examples of the style

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3.52/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz can poured into a globe.

A: Golden/orange color with some haze. Fine-bubbled white head settles quickly.

S: Salty, tangy/sour, lots of blood orange. Slight whiffs of coriander.

T: Big, puckering tartness and lots of salt. Blood orange rides up middle to end. Coriander is a bit muddled. Sharp acidic finish, and loads of salt throughout.

M: Thin and light. Biting sourness. Salty. Well carbonated.

O: Sharply sour and perhaps over salted. Blood orange comes through nicely though, which is the saving grace. To me it isn't the most drinkable gose I've come across, which should kinda be the point of the style. Gose is en vogue now, but the styles being brewed Stateside are more aggressive than traditional. This is definitely over the top, blood orange or no.

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3.65/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

12oz can into a pint glass. NO freshness dating.

nice hazy orange body, small fizzy head which disappears quickly, hence no lacing at all.

aroma is citrusy, and you somehow get a whiff of the tartness.

This is a mouth puckering drink, more so than several Goses i have had. You do get a lttle bit of orange, but mostly a slightly sour dry tart flavor .

Mouth is around medium, finish is very dry and tart.

Overall, not a big fan of this one. just a bit too much of a mouth shrinker for this particular palate. Blood orange is limited, so it doesn't balance out as well as some other sours I've had.

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3.75/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

This was poured into a stange. The appearance was a hazy burnt orange color with a quickly dissipating foamy to bubbly head that left no lacing in its wake. The smell had a crisp sharp blood orange refreshing juice - like quality. Light gracing of wheat to coriander comes across nicely. The taste was crisp sweet and sour, slightly salty with an ample amount of blood orange to combine. There’s barely any aftertaste and finish. On the palate, this one sat about a light on the body with an extremely crisp refreshing quality that makes me want to pound them on a hot Summer’s day. Overall, I say this was pretty good for the style and the blood orange adds a super nice refreshing quality for a hot Summer’s day.

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3.86/5  rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Hazy light copper. Big head which quickly subsides, with little lacing or ring.
Light citrus and salt scent.
Tart orange up front. Salt and coriander in the background for a harmonious combination. Slight bitterness on the back of the tongue contributes to refreshing taste.
Light feel appropriate for a thirst quencher.
As good as US fruit Gose gets. For me, far superior to a Radler on a hot day.

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3.89/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours hazy orange gold. Foamy, bubbly, tall, white head, short lived.

Smells tart fruit, citrus, orange, light salt and light yeast Funk.

Tastes orange, tart lemon, light yeast funk and salt hints. Finish is dry with a tart and light salty orange linger. Light body and fizzy high carbonation. Quite tart.

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3.75/5  rDev -5.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

L: Translucent, just slightly hazy copper with a foamy white head that quickly fizzes away to nothing. No retention or lacing is left, as is expected for the style.

S: Moderate lactic tartness, lemon zest and citric acid, subtle orange sweetness and red apple skin. Subtle mint.

T: Excellent lactic tartness. Tons of lemon, green apple skin, and white grape must. The tartness is tamed on the mid-palate by subtle but juicy blood orange. A very simple wheaty, crackery backbone holds it together. Finishes clean and lightly dry, with a touch of salinity carrying through, causing one to salivate in anticipation for the next sip.

F: Very light, but not particularly water. Snappy carbonation that makes it thirst-quenching.

O: Another tasty gose offering from Anderson Valley. A perfect warm weather crusher.

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4.17/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4.25

Look: 3.5
There are huge amounts of foam when pouring from a 12oz. can. Hazy peach colored. The head recedes way too quickly!! The color is quite unique – not much lace after the head goes away. This was nearly flat after a few minutes.
Smell: 4.5
Tart fruit and dry wine. Quite sour aroma and a bit of vinegar. Slight hoppiness and blast of citrus.
Taste: 4.25
Bitten by bitterness right up front. A combination of hops, acidic orange, and lacto bacteria. Bitterness makes room for sour fruit and some spiciness. Along side of the spiciness flavor is a savory saltiness.
Feel: 3.25
Light bodied and thin. I was pretty disappointed that the carbonation died out so quickly.
Overall: 4.25
This is a very good Gose styled brew. It hits a lot of the key points in a Gose (like the tart citrus and saltiness). Quite savory and vegetabley.

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3.9/5  rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

From the 12oz can with a mason jar
Notes from 10/29/15

Bright golden orange body with some mild hazy and pulpy sediment floating about. Paper white froth, weak and loosely forming as it slips back down the glass with some mild stick noted.
Grainy wheat husks with some prolific citrus juice and zest. Very fresh and fruit forward. Lightly tangy, tart, with some salty minerals. The taste is tart orange and lemon juice, wheat cracker, and a touch of lactic sourness. Not as much orange fruit as the nose leads on. Some musty minerals wash into a briny finish. Quite simple and sessionable. Very light, crisp, tart, and refreshing. Makes for a great thirst quencher.

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3.98/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours a yellow orange with rich foam and good lacing. Smells of sour citrus, wheat, orange. The taste is nice, its a very light bubble beer full of citrus (Orange/Lemon), good wheat notes, and a great sour hit that makes this just a fantastic beer. The finish is carbonated with a zing but very enjoyable. I would drink this all day long during the summer, just a fantastic beer with loads of flavor but very light.

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4.27/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Unknown vintage; drank 3/26/15 @ the Yarchives.

Poured from the can into a glass.

Hazy light orange appearance.

Small white head which quickly dissipated; almost no lace.

Blood orange & faint honeyed wheat in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Grapefruit & blood orange flavors up front; honeyed wheat & tart lemon notes on the finish. A pleasantly tart, tasty session-er. Very nice.

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4.87/5  rDev +22.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

Pours a beautiful clear gold with tons of popping carbonation bubbles topped by a crackling and disappearing bubbly white head.
Smell is just glorious! Sweet and salty and all. Smells of crackers, sea salt and bunches of citrus.
Taste is a fabulous orange bomb all tarted up and dumped on with a huge punch of salty goodness.
The mouth feel is very sour and tart tongue twisting with an almost glorious crisp snap to the finish.
Overall I almost find this to be my perfect beer. Now see how I said my perfect beer as yours may be entirely different. However if you like a cold refreshing drink that is very tart and sour with a bit of orange sweetness this may work for you. As for me I am going to finish this and probably have to pick up another six for me and the wife. Her opinion is also leaning towards two thumbs up on this Gose.

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