Dead Rise Old Bay Gose
Flying Dog Brewery

 

 

 

Had this handed to me while on a sailboat on the Chesapeake just outside of Annapolis. Could there be a better setting for an Old Bay beer? To be honest, I was expecting this to suck. Seems like a dumb gimmick to get Marylanders to open their wallets. Well, it was actually not bad, much better than I was expecting. But maybe it's the setting that made me think fondly of it....

 

Light golden, leaning towards straw but not getting there, with a gentle haze in line with a wheat beer. The head on this soured ale fluffs up, but can't hold itself for long, even with an etched glass. A medium collar does linger as an extension of the peninsula formed from the carbonation feed from glass bottom.

There is a crackery malt and wheat scent along with an ocean breeze salinity and a hint of sour. The Old Bay is quite distinguishable, but doesn't hog all of my olfactory sensors, sharing quite nicely with the other notes.

A nice Gose-like opening, with wheat, salt, and a light tangy sour note that in some sips seems more lactic and in others has a lemony aspect. The salinity adds a softness to the beer, and the carbonation doesn't really add much - almost sharing any biting aspect with the sour aspect. Old Bay's more earthy notes (from peppers and paprika) join in just before mid-taste and hang on through the end. Each finish is fairly clean, with a very light impression of tang and saline water, but after half a glass, the Old Bay earthy notes start to hang on as well.

The earthy notes in some sips seem a tad "dirty" but it doesn't bother me too much. The uniqueness of Old Bay is a bit more distinct in the nose. The Gose comes through well in the taste, and the spice component doesn't seem to enhance this, not as much as in the original summer ale, at least.