What Is a Gose?

A gose (say it GOH-zuh) is a tart, hazy wheat beer brewed with a little salt and a little coriander. It pours pale yellow, smells like citrus and green apple, and finishes dry and snappy. Most land between 4 and 5 percent ABV, so you can have a second one without regretting it.

If you have ever wanted a beer that tastes like a squeeze of lemon on a hot day, this is the one. It is also the easiest doorway into sour beer, which is why it sits near the top of our Sour Beer Styles Explained guide.

Where Gose Comes From

Gose started in Goslar, Germany, and settled into Leipzig by the 1700s. Leipzig loved it. Around 80 breweries there made it by 1900. Then the style nearly vanished, and the last commercial production stopped in 1966. German brewers revived it in the 1980s, and American craft brewers picked it up from there. Today you can find a gose in almost any taproom with a decent sour list.

What Does a Gose Taste Like?

Think lemonade with a pinch of sea salt. The tartness comes from lactic acid, the same friendly bacteria behind yogurt, and it runs from gentle to mouth-puckering depending on the brewer. The salt does not make the beer taste salty. It makes the flavors louder and keeps you reaching for another sip (the same reason a pretzel makes you thirsty). The coriander adds a soft citrus note in the background. The body is light, the carbonation is lively, and the finish is dry.

How Is a Gose Made?

Brewers start with a grain bill of pilsner malt and wheat. They add salt and crushed coriander seed during the boil. Then lactic acid bacteria sour the beer, either in the fermenter or in the kettle before the yeast goes in. That second route is called kettle souring, and it is why a gose can go from grain to glass in a few weeks instead of a year. If you want the full breakdown of that method, read Kettle Sour vs. Wild Ale.

Gose vs. Berliner Weisse

They are cousins. Both are low-alcohol, tart wheat beers that pour pale and fizzy. A gose has salt and coriander. A Berliner Weisse does not, so it tastes cleaner and a little sharper. Brewers often load both with fruit, which is where you get the smoothie-style sours that keep showing up on tap lists. We cover the fruited versions in Sour Beer Styles Explained.

How to Order Your First Gose

Start with a plain one, no fruit, so you can taste the style. Ask for a taster. If the bartender says it is on the tart side, good, that is the point. Drink it cold, in warm weather if you can, and pair it with something fried or smoked. Fish tacos and brats both make sense here. If you like it, move on to a fruited gose, and then try a sour with a longer fermentation.

Looking for a local pour? Our guide to the Best Minnesota Sours by Season points you to the right taproom for each time of year. See how it plays out in a real taproom: we covered the gose at Headflyer Brewing in Minneapolis and the sour gose at Unmapped Brewing Company in Minnetonka.

Gose FAQ

Is gose supposed to taste salty?

No. A good gose tastes tart and refreshing, with salt in the background. If you can taste salt right away, the brewer went heavy.

Is a gose a sour beer?

Yes. Gose is one of the main sour beer styles, alongside Berliner Weisse and wild ale. It is on the milder side of the sour spectrum.

How do you pronounce gose?

GOH-zuh. It rhymes with "toes-uh." Plenty of bartenders say "goze" too, and nobody minds.

What is the ABV of a gose?

Usually 4.2 to 4.8 percent, according to the Beer Judge Certification Program style guide. Some craft versions run stronger.

Is gose gluten-free?

No. It is brewed with wheat and barley malt, so it contains gluten.

Keep Sipping

Next up: Kettle Sour vs. Wild Ale and Best Minnesota Sours by Season.

Happy sour sipping!