Brewhouse Rarities: Strawberry Rhubarb Gose
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 12/31/2018. Pours fairly hazy medium golden amber/light orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big juicy/fairly tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seed, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, sea salt, coriander, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light pepper/lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of strawberries, rhubarb, fruity/acidic yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate coriander/salt notes; with great strength. Taste of big juicy/fairly tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seed, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, sea salt, coriander, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light pepper/lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and light coriander spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of juicy/tart/tangy strawberries, rhubarb, fruit skin/seed, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, sea salt, coriander, hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light pepper/lacto funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of strawberries, rhubarb, fruity/acidic yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate coriander/salt flavors; with an awesome malt/tartness and tangy fruit balance; with no puckering flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering tartness and tangy fruit. Medium-plus carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/acidic/tangy/tannic, and lightly sticky/saline balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is an excellent fruited gose. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of strawberries, rhubarb, fruity/acidic yeast, pale/wheat malts, and light-moderate coriander/salt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the mellowly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish. Not overly lactic or salty. Very flavorful and not watery for the ABV. Awesome balance of jammy strawberries/rhubarb and Lacto complexity; with a nice pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering, and spot on style example.

 

This ber pours a slightly chill hazed orange with a smallish head. The aroma is quite powerful with citric acid bite, with notes of lemon peel, rhubarb, and warhead sour candy. The flavor is much less sour than the aroma, like a rather mild lmeon drop, although a fresh rhubarb flavor is detectable, I do not find any strawberry anywhere. The mouthfeel is rather light, with a slight clinging sweetness and foamy carbonation. Overall a rahter odd beer here - the rhubarb does come thorough, but not much strawberry, and while it smells like it is going to be fiercly sour, it comes of a more candied.

 

Flying Dog Brewery "Brewhouse Rarities: Strawberry Rhubarb Gose"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, "FOR OPTIMAL FRESHNESS ENJOY BY: 12.31.18"
$2.49 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: This won't be my first strawberry rhubarb beer but it will be my first strawberry rhubarb gose. Sounds good! It's poured a very hazy orange color with a little bit of a pinkish sheen. There was the start of a head when I first poured it but it went away immediately. Limited head retention is to be expected of sour beers but this one surprised me. Maybe I have a dirty glass? Well, not dirty, but not "beer clean". Anyway, it smells like a gose, it's very mineralish. There's a little bit of fruit there as well and it smells a little like a Flintstones vitamin. OK, let's get into it... it's not as tart as I thought it might be and there is some nice fruit to it. No bitterness. It doesn't come off as strawberry, but I do get the rhubarb. The label reads "finished with strawberry and rhubarb" so it must be real, and that explains the strawberry. If it was an extract or flavoring you'd definitely get more strawberry. So, OK, it's nicely balanced, and it's got a lot of flavor whereas sometimes with gosebiers you're mostly getting tartness. I even get lots of wheaty malt. I could probably drink a few of these on a hot day! How strong is it, 5%? That's not bad either. I always feel I'm getting a little ripped off when a beer is only 3 or 4% or so. Mouthfeel... surprisingly medium bodied, with just a little tart acidic bite, and a gently crisp carbonation. Overall it would be nice if there was a little more strawberry to it but it's also pretty damned good as it is. Worth trying.
Review# 6,329