Preserved Lemon Gosé
4 Hands Brewing Co.

 

16oz can pours a pale yellow color with a small cap of fizzy white-colored head that disappears almost immediately. Smells very earthy, slightly herbal and buttery, somewhat musky. The sourness is pretty mild and the beer is almost watery; very little malt or substance in the flavor. This beer is lemony in the way a that a weakly-brewed crummy herbal tea is lemony; the lemony flavor is present but very ephemeral and disappears quite quickly after you taste it. Mild carbonation mouthfeel and a very light, watery body. The aftertaste is like what you would get from a sparkling water: empty, hollow, and makes you wish you drank something else.

This is a really disappointing sour. I definitely wouldn't purchase again. The fact that it's so watery is what really surprised me.

 

Welcome to New 4th Hands of July Beer Sunday (Week 697)! I have been awaiting this entry for a couple of weeks. I have finally gotten to the point of looking at my backlog that serious action is being done. I have been running through a LOT of beer by dint of reviews/ratings/check-ins, but there is nothing quite as satisfying as a brewery horizontal (same brewery, lots of different beers) & even better is a rare side-by-side, back-to-back, head-to-head Bottle vs. CAN CANpetition with the bottle being a bomber! Phew.

First of all, I applaud the builder of this entry & its modifiers! It is almost perfect! The name is missing a diacritical mark, but otherwise ... It has an approved pic, the Notes/Commercial Description are in place, the ABV is correct. I could not have done it better myself!

From the (bomber) Bottle: "Preserved Lemon Gose was brewed in collaboration with Chef Josh Eans and Prairie Birthday Farm. This tart wheat beer is our take on traditionally preserved lemons. Brewed with sea salt, lemon verbena, lemon basil, and lemon zest, this Gose pours straw in color with a light, citrusy aroma and a crisp, tart finish."; "Pairings[:] Ramen". Ramen! Ha! I had some yesterday as a matter of fact. Yum.

My bottle had been awaiting my attention for some time & there was a build-up of lees on the punt/kick. Normally, I would stir things up in a wheat-based beer, but since I have 22-fl. oz. today, I am going with a Pop! of the cap & a slow, gentle decanting. At least initially. I figure that once I have half of it in the glass, I will let it settle & then do a muddy pour. My initial pour resulted in a glass of beautifully-clear, Yellow-Golden (SRM = 4 - 5) beer, enticing The Gelt Gang of Midas, Mammon & Croesus to drop by for a taste. Hmm. A niggling doubt inna back of my small mind says that this should be hazy, at least, if not downright cloudy. Nose reminded me of Veg Prep in the USS Fulton (AS-11)'s galley. I had been instructed to quarter a buncha lemons & then sprinkle them with salt, possibly as a preservative, but who knows with those stew burners. Lemon & salt. All I need now is some tequila! Calling Tia Tequila! No joy. Here Gose nothing (or everything!). Mouthfeel was medium, big for the style. Okay, still NOT hip to the difference (& there is one) between Tart & Sour? Tart makes your lips pucker like you inhaled powdered alum & you will NOT be playing the trumpet anytime soon. Sour worms its way into the hinges of your jaw, causing them to work back & forth as your ears seem to Pop! This beer was as salty & as tart as I have had in a while! The inadvertent aging really seems to have magnified its intensity. I did not have it fresh, but it is hard to imagine that it was THIS tart. I can barely move my lips. The salt was equally prevalent, like the air on the open ocean. I was a U.S. Navy sailor for 15.25 years & while sea duty may not have been the most pleasant or most desirable, the underway time could not be beaten! Chow tasted better, I slept like a rock & cigars on the fantail after Supper with the salt air all around us was an experience second to none. I generally do NOT like Tarts & Sours but these Goses, with their salt, speak to me. I miss so many of my buddies. Kenny's ghost routinely joins me by the back door from the kitchen to the backyard to watch me drink. I was really digging the salty tartness of this beer, but I still had half of a bomber to go. Initial finish was tart & dry, as it should be. Time to stir things up! I was able to induce some haziness, but there were some lees that remained welded to the punt/kick. Nose became a little more lemony with the salt not as prevalent. Mouthfeel was now almost creamy! The edge of the tart saltiness seemed reduced somehow. Hmm. I liked my clarified pour better, it seems. Finish remained dry, crisp, salty & tart. Phew!

And now, the CAN!

From the CAN: "Ale with Lemon Zest & Sea Salt"; "Pairings[:] Ramen".

In the interest of fairness, the Crack! was likewise followed by a slow, gentle Glug, leaving half of the CANtents behind in the cylinder. The clarity remained the same, but the color was shades lighter, now Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4). An in-glass swirl raised two quick fingers of foamy, fizzy, bone-white head that quickly dissipated into wisps. Nose had more of a balance between salt & lemon, but both were still obvious. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium, just past watery. The taste was not as tart as the aged bottle, nor was the lemon as intense while the salt was as prevalent as before. Finish was only semi-dry, more simply salty than anything else. This was just too … clean. Did I say that?!? Holy …! An in-CAN swirl and heavy-handed pour netted a bit more head and a light cloudiness. Nose remained restrained. Mouthfeel was still thin. The taste got a tad more lemony, but not by an appreciable difference. Finish was still semi-dry. 8=(

Bottle vs. CAN: Aged-bottle wins!

Unknown vintage; drank 7/8/16 @ the Yarchives.

Semi-opaque pale yellow appearance.

A rough pour yielded a big, loud white head; almost no lace.

Lemon, honeyed wheat & clean mineral notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Lemon & honeyed grain flavors up front; dry salt & tart lemon bite on the finish.

Despite the mild, pleasant nose this is not for the faint of heart; the combination of salt & lemon tartness adds a challenging bite. Those with the fortitude are rewarded with a complex session brew. I'd have another, but not every day.

Gold in color with brilliant clarity. There's no head, but plenty of effervescent carbonation bubbles within the body. The aroma is a bit more lemon and less artificial than Sprite. The lemon flavor seems to complement the style fairly well. I actually think it could stand a bit more salt as it seems it's a bit more of a fruit beer than a gose. The mouth is moderately carbonated and salinic.

 

 

 

 

a really gorgeous little summer beer right here, not too sour at all, and with a wonderfully fresh herbal and citrus profile to it, drinkable forever and very interesting, unique among goses for sure. i love the use of lemon basil and lemon verbena here in addition to the actual lemon zest. this is incredibly fresh and growing, springy and alive, the freshness is awesome, and it makes the beer seem so upbeat and even healthful. soft lemon, no sharp citric acidity is how it presents itself, the basil aspect is hardly there, and the verbena has a green tea property about it, fresh though not dried and bitter. very clean lacto sour profile too, but very delicate, this is tart more than sour, and actually has some sweetness to it from the wheat malt, not as dry as a lot of these, but the sweetness with the herbs is almost honey like, highly floral and appealing in a tart beer, so i like the wheat being as forward as it is. the salt is there, but not on its own, more as a unifying link between all the elements. sweet lemon, earthy tang, and bright flowering herbaceousness to finish, just brilliantly complex and nuanced seasonal beer. loved every drop of this one! very culinarily inspired it seems.

 

A thanks to the commander of the canquest, woodychandler, for this beer. Poured from a 16 oz. can. Has a bright golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is strong of lemons. Taste is lemons, sour, salty, dry at the finish. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a decent beer.

 

 

Lemon is sweeter, probably because it's preserved, but still has a sour feel that I love. Mouth feel is kinda light.

 

 

Straw in color and cloudy with no head or lacing.

Smell is lemon, basil, salt, and a bit of acidic.

Taste is lemon, minor salt, acid and tartness with minor sweetness and a bit of brine on the finish.

Mouthful is light to medium and clean. Carbonation is medium to high. Finish is dry.

A nice fruit forward sour. Drinkable and refreshing. Almost like lemonade but not sweet. Try this on a summer day.