LÄCTOBÄC: Eight
Fair State Brewing Cooperative

 

this is a salted watermelon gose, and its a pretty cool beer. starting to see this combination of ingredients and flavors quite a bit, a few years ago this would have been one of a kind, but now its one of several. i like the execution here, the watermelon is more rind than flesh, giving a nice bitterness to temper the sweetness and juiciness of the fruit itself. the salt is also more robust than it is in many gose types. it brings out the best of the watermelon, and helps the flavor last longer than just a flash. it also adds a bunch of body to a beer that might otherwise seem a little thin. i dont get much texture from the wheat malt, the sour side of this is what i like the least. its a quick berliner type lacto process i would imagine, and the acidity is a little under developed, and there is that sweaty sock thing in the finish for just a second. that said, it is resolved largely by the salt. a little more carbonation would really pop this off, it loses some of its potential capacity for refreshment by not being charged up real well, but i still like the flavors a whole lot, and would love to try all the other beers in the series. nice use of watermelon here.