Second Nature
Lazarus Brewing Company

had this on tap up at the brewery, poured into their flagship tulip glass.

pours a beautiful hazy mellow near-purple body with a stark white head that has minimal retention and leaves occasional thin lacing as it settles to a thin halo

aroma is juicy blackberry funk, earthy and herbal basil, and saline.

taste follows that up with a very jammy blackberry, pit/seeds and all, with a much bigger basil presence than I expected and a lemon on the wings. lemon in a way that some blackberry jams may use lemon juice to preserve it. it's tart, but not *sour* really. it's very balanced, and all that's advertised is there in full swing.

mouthfeel is mid-level carbonation and medium body. it's jammy, borderline pithy/fleshy, with a pillowy carbo level that makes the whole thing feel full, but far from heavy. the finish is tart with slight earthy bitterness - akin to the seeds in the blackberry, really.

overall: this was an absolutely beautiful brew that was a perfect balance of complex and enjoyable with an interesting cast of well balanced and unexpected flavor combos. the salinity was in the sweet spot, not too turned up, but certainly and obviously noticeable. the basil was unexpectedly focused and fully represented and recognizable. the blackberry was balanced between earthy, tart, and sweet and fully realized. they ought to be really proud of this one. well done.

Poured on draft at brewery.

A: Light pink tending towards red with smallish one finger head that dissipates quickly.

S: Blackberries and basil with subtle saltiness.

T: Slightly tart blackberries mixed with basil and finished with a touch of salt.

M: Very light and refreshing.

O: Excellent gose. Pairs very well on a hot summer day.

 

a really subtle base gose, not a ton of coriander or salt or anything in here, very light on the wheat malt both in taste and body, and only minimally tart, not heavily sour at all, so the whole thing drinks really delicately, but the additions of basil and blackberry really make it unique, and they stand out even in low dose in such a light base beer, a nicely restrained recipe with these flavors as accents not drivers, very summery and drinkable. the lacto aspect isnt quite perfectly clean, but its mellow enough to not seem sloppy to me either. the blackberry is in front of the basil, which seems somewhat counterintuitive if you are familiar with these ingredients in beer, but thats the case, sweet and a little jammy and even floral, but delicate, with a light basil essence in behind it. this would be decidedly under flavored if it werent for these additions. its just so light. this is pretty unique stuff, dont come in expecting the type of gose you are used to, but i thought this was really interesting and it drinks evenly and easy for the style. not quite professional on the souring aspect, but the rest of it rules.