Braxton Labs Cranberry Gose
Braxton Brewing Company - Braxton Covington

Cranberry is such a fickle fruit. Even in the culinary world, we have to combine sugar, citrus, spices to make it look decent on a Thanksgiving dinner table. ...and no one touches it. So when the Braxton Labs experimental team turn to the red berry, they have their work cut out for them.

With a sharp tingle to the nose, the red berry, cider, wine and fruit character screams sour fruit. Upon the pour, Cranberry Gose carries a deep blush hue with a spritzy, fast popping froth that looks exactly like sparkling rosé wine. Supple sweetness bounces off the tongue with a hint of hard candy, faint wafer and and a hint of dough.

Anything that resembles sweetness dissolves quickly off the tongue. All things red berry rushes in and floods the middle palate with notions of redcurrant, cranberry, strawberry, raspberry and cherry. Once the sweetness is stripped from the fruit, the red berry character is nearly indiscernible. Still, a thought of cranberry rises above the rest, skirting just above the underlying fermentation flavors of green apple, white grape, lime and gooseberry that carry into a light finish of berries and salinity.

The moderate tannic bite of cranberry seeds even carry over to the finish with a nearly peppery spice in the absence of any hop flavor, that along with the brisk acidity creates a crisp, clean and refreshing taste. Medium light in body, the beer is fuller, as expected, than berlinerweiss as its mild salt and citron spice provides a rounded finish of redness and piquant tartness.

Cranberry is the choice color. Nose only hints at the tart berry that is to come. Very carbonated. Initial taste hits the jaws with tartness. Very good Gose.