Schell's Goosetown

But the look on her face has Columbian Marching Powder written all over it. Sure looking forward to trying this beer.

 

I don't hear you mentioning sour, is not real sour for a gose?

 

You're thinking gueuze. Gose is a different style completely, and not sour at all.

 

I may be exposing my ignorance, but I was under the impression that goses are some what similar to berliner weiss which maybe would better be described as tart rather than sour. My only knowledge comes from wikipedia, Pour decisions and a Barkley and Perkins blog post

 

Pretty sure brewing of a gose employs some sort of technique to allow it to have a lactic acid character whether it be acidulated malt, sour mash or straight lactic acid addition. In a different thread, a brewer from Schell's stated they did a sour mash for Goosetown.

 

From the experience I've had with the half dozen or so goses I've tasted, I'd say gose tastes like a cross beween a witbier, a hefe, and, to a lesser extent, a Berliner. The good ones I've tried all had a nice acidity and crispness, and some even had a slight tartness. However, none of them where as sour of tart as a Berliner.

 

Performing a sour mash does not make a beer sour.

 

Maybe we have different definitions of sour but considering a sour mash acidifies the wort then I would consider the resulting beer at least more "sour" then one that did not go through a sour mash.

 

Did you find Summit Old 152 to be sour? It had a sour mash. Sour mashing does not make a beer sour certain strains of yeast and bacteria do.

 

Assuming that Old 152 is the end all be all of sour mashing is flawed. Also, sour mashing acid production IS a result of bacteria. The lactobacillus naturally present on the grain acidifies the wort. If you consider Berliners sour as you mentioned above, typically soured as a result of pitching lactobacillus during fermentation, why does it matter so much in the process where the souring occurred?

 

Maybe what this comes down to is a brewery's definition of "sour mash" because I believe Summit merely used some acidulated malt in Old 152. I assumed Schell's did a sour mash allowing the lacto on the grain to acidify the mash. I made this assumption since it was mentioned in reference to them not worrying about packaging Goosetown using their normal bottling line. Lacto would exist pre-boil but it wouldn't matter later in the process as opposed to their upcoming Berliner Weisse where lacto is probably added during fermentation.

 

A sour mash most certainly CAN add sourness to a beer.

 

Having one right now and it will make a wonderful summer session beer. I am not getting any sourness at all here. It's added to the database now also.

The only other gose I've had was from The Herkimer and that one was very sour like a Berliner Weisse, but that could have been because it was brewed at The Herkimer.

I actually like this much better. The light saltiness is very nice. Kudos to Schell's for exposing us beer geeks to styles that we rarely experience.

 

I seem to have created a little bit of a controversy. It seems like regardless of this beer having the sourness that a gose should our shouldn't have it sends to be well received and regarded as a tasty brew. I see that pour decisions is releasing another batch of their salinity gose today, it will be interesting to see how the two interpretations of the style differ

 

Grabbed a sixer today! Can't wait til it touches my lips... GOT MY GIDDY HAT ON!

 

Haven't seen it in South Dakota yet. Waiting....

 

Picked up a single of this yesterday. Will be picking up a sixer today. Great beer!

 

Was anyone not impressed by this beer? I'm kind of Schells fan boy, but I thought was just bland. Really weak spice notes and no citrus in my opinion. I could pick up on the salt, but I was digging that much either. Maybe this is the style, but I thought this was a poor offering from Schells.

 

I picked up a sixer on the way to pour decisions taproom on Friday night and had to guzzle one after a bottle fell out and the top popped of. Not a great environment for a real thorough evaluation but that first bottle kind of reminded me of skunky grain belt in a way. I had one later and it wasn't as bad but still nothing outstanding, I am looking forward to trying it side by side with the gose from pour decisions. I am hoping that their bw will catch my attention a little, because two bottles in this one sends rather forgettable. I hope by the end of the six pack I will find something to love about it.