Sleeping Lemons Export
The Wild Beer Co.

Colour: Straw-coloured, cloudy, White foam, melts very quickly to a small ring.
Aroma: lemon, something like strawberries, bubble gum.
The taste is sour fruity, there is lemon, strawberry, redcurrant. The taste is salty but without exaggeration, in the background something that I personally associate with sauerkraut salad, it suits me very well. The bitterness is negligible.
01.05.2016

Aug. 2017: 330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet Sauda. ABV is 6%. Pale yellow colour with floaties, moderate to small white head of poor retention. Aroma of lemons, lactic acid, coriander and sea water. Sour flavour, loads of lactic acid and lemons, moderate coriander and salt. Unbalanced.

Bolder, stronger and lemonier, the Wild Beer Co. push the flavors of their lemon gose into a little more flavor and feel with preserved lemons added to the beer for that added step of refreshment.

With a slightly burnish yellow pour, the hazy Sleeping Lemons Export builds a short but frothy crown while drifting across the nose with an earthy citrus perfume. Leading with lemon, there's a musty sea-like scent with a peppery twinge and a mild floral aroma all at once. Its gentle sweetness takes the shape of sourdough, saltwater taffy and honeysuckle with its initial taste.

But the middle palate is all about the preserved lemons. Stewed, aged and condensed in its weathered citrus brine, the lemony flavors are strong and back up the natural citrus acidity, wine-like, cider-like flavors of the natural German sour ale underneath. Early floral character turns spicy and peppery as the flavors develop a nearly cumin-like character with light bitterness and piquant tartness with the ale's closing.

Medium-light on the palate, Sleeping Lemons Export trends dry with a slightly stale bread and refreshing character overall. A quick followup of damp burlap and gently bruised lemons frame the beer's brisk salinity for an authentic Gose session with a less authentic citrusy kick.

Very striking color initially then the rest came out, making the color a caramel color. Head dissipated so quickly I could barely see it was white. LOTS of carbonation. Nose was a put off, however it was expected since I read the label. Taste was initially shocking to the palate, that faded to a peppery finish.

 

A cloudy brownish yellow with yeasty chunks floating in it, Much more appealing than it sounds actually. A thin head. Mild fruity smells. A prickly lemon citrus taste. Light and effervescent.

 

330 mL bottle from the LCBO; best before Dec 2021 and served slightly chilled. Reviewed from notes.

Pours a turbid straw yellow colour; its body is chock full of floaties, and is initially topped with half a finger of loose, frothy white head that vanishes almost as quickly as it was created. A bubbly collar remains, but that's it; not the most attractive glass of beer, but that's how gose goes sometimes. It smells kind of musty, with lemon peel and salty brine coming through alongside a distinct (lactic) acidic note; I'm also getting suggestions of grainy wheat, an herbal note and a touch of ethanol.

Interesting flavour profile - must be the preserved lemons, which provide a citrus-oily, almost earthy note that pairs nicely with the sour lemon quality of the lactic acidity. It also tastes of salty water, with gritty pale malts and wheat sweetness barely coming through; finishes with lemon rind, lime peel, salt and a subtly herbal note, as light acidity lingers into the aftertaste before it dries out the palate. Medium-light body, with moderately low carbonation levels that weakly tickle the tongue. Reasonably drinkable, but I didn't find it particularly refreshing.

Final Grade: 3.77, eking out a B+. Sleeping Lemons Export is one of the more unique-tasting takes on a gose that I've enjoyed over the years. That being said, I liked this beer, but I didn't love it, and I can't really say that it's something I'd want to drink regularly. Worth a try for sure if you have any interest in the style, and I might buy another bottle or two before stock runs out - it's not as if there's a ton of other goses to pick from at the LCBO, especially if you're stuck in a one horse town like I am.

On tap at Underdog, Dublin.
Honey gold; seawater!; oyster cracker, bang of citrus, citric buzz then rind + grass; crisp.

4 x 5

Plays just like a gose, and the lemons jump out. Not sure what the “XP” brings that the regular version wouldn’t. Refreshing, if not exactly easy.

Marked here as retired, but I bought this from Waitrose London no more than a month ago.
330ml. 6.0%
L- Looks like a Long Island Iced Tea, sludgy brown - quite horrible for a beer to be honest. I now also note the head if any has disappeared to a tiny 'bald patch' of a few remaining bubbles.
S- Like a beaker of cold tea, or cold fruit tea infusion, with a kind of citrus/tomato edge to it. This is not going well.
T- Fresh>sharp>very sharp> raw gooseberry/lemon juice. I've never had a beer like this. I am frankly amazed I'm drinking a beer rated 4.01/5 ratings as I find this positvely NASTY. It doesn't even taste like beer. More like some extremely acidic alcopop - BUT I can't even sense, EVEN the 6% alcohol, or that it is a beer, it's that lost.
M- Acid, dry, horrid.
O- One of the most horrible 'beers' I remember paying for in recent memory. There is little in this suggesting it is in fact a beer, no sign of hops, malt, nor alcohol. Quite possibly the most horrible beer I have had this year - and shocking the brewers think people might buy this.

330ml bottle, a stronger version of the base Gose, which for some reason, is boozed-up for the export market. Thanks, I guess.

This beer pours a hazy, pale golden yellow colour, with three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy off-white head, which leaves exactly zero in terms of lace anywhere near the glass as it quickly evaporates.

It smells of gritty and grainy cereal malt, salty white crackers, tart lemon juice, and very little else. The taste is grainy and crackery pale malt, saline solution, very plain lemon rind esters, a hint of earthy yeastiness, ethereal funky notes, and some very weak earthy, musty, and floral green hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its palate-pinging frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and sort of smooth, as the prevailing acidity does little to further the cause at this particular juncture. It finishes trending dry, the lemon kind of running away with the lingering accolades.

Overall - this just comes across as an amped-up version of this typically subtle Teutonic style, with the lemon, salt, and booze all beefed up to 'export' expectations, as it were. All right, I suppose, but not at the steep, 'look at us, we're making fancy-ass brews' import price.

 

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a hazy beige color ale with a large pure white foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of salty preserved lemon is stronger than I was expecting but still enjoyable. Taste is a mix of light tart notes with some lemon notes and some sea salt notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. I loved the balance between the different flavours but it does take a bit of time to get used to the salty lemon notes.