What does gose taste like?
Gose tastes like a tart, salty lemonade made from beer: sour, lightly fizzy and refreshing, with a pinch of salt and a soft citrusy spice from coriander seed.
Gose
tart, salty and refreshing
Gose (say GO-zuh) is an old German wheat beer brewed with salt and coriander seed and soured with bacteria. It sounds odd and drinks beautifully: tart like a lemon, a little salty like the rim of a margarita, with a light, bready base and almost no bitterness. The coriander adds a citrusy, slightly floral lift rather than anything herby. American brewers love adding fruit, so you'll see gose with watermelon, mango, lime or prickly pear. Most sit around 4 to 5%, which makes it a great hot-day beer.
Where you’ll see it
On craft beer lists and in taprooms, often as a fruited gose in summer. Some bars use it in beer cocktails or a michelada in place of lager.
Order it if you love a salt-rimmed margarita and want the beer version of that.
Quick questions
- Is gose salty?
- Yes, a little, on purpose. It's brewed with salt, which you taste as a briny edge rather than anything like seawater.
- Is gose a sour beer?
- Yes. It's one of the classic sour styles, usually lighter and more refreshing than the funky Belgian sours.