The history of the gose goes (say that ten times fast) back 1,000 years to where the Abzucht and Gose Rivers meet. In the German town of Goslar, brewers used the local river water to make this style of beer. As luck would have it, that particular H2O had a significant salinity, imparting a distinct salty tang to the beer. 

That recognizable palette put goses on the map. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, goses rose in popularity, eventually migrating beyond Goslar to the city of Leipzig. In fact, goses became so popular as a regional specialty that it earned an exemption from the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law that states a beer can only include four ingredients: water, barley, yeast, and hops. Historically, goses included malted wheat and coriander, which would disqualify it as "pure" German beer. 

But Germans loved the style. And by the 1800s you could find gosenschanken (aka gose taverns) everywhere. 

People aren't exactly sure how, but the infatuation with goses waned. And by the beginning of WWII, only one gose brewery remained in Germany, eventually shutting its doors in 1945. 

Amazingly, we have one man to thank for the survival of goses. Lothar Goldhahn bought an old gose tavern in the 1980s and started bringing the style back to life. By 1985, Goldhahn had convinced a big Berlin brewery called Berliner-Weisse-Brauerei to start brewing gose. 

Now the style has made its way into the creative and capable hands of craft brewers around the world. 

So, What Is a Gose Exactly?

The style starts with a base of fifty percent malted wheat and fifty percent malted barley. Plus, an addition of coriander. All perfectly complement a gose's salinity.  Speaking of, since many brewers can't exactly ship water from the Gose River overseas, throwing in a pinch of salt does the trick now.  

Historically, German brewers would spontaneously ferment goses, meaning they cooled the wort in open air, exposing it to all kinds of delicious yeast and bacteria. 

But today, many modern American brewers skip the mixed culture fermentation and instead add lactobacillus, a naturally occurring bacteria that adds acidity. Think the same tang you find in yogurt or kombucha.

Tart, slightly herbaceous, and with that kick of salt, goses have an extremely unique flavor profile. And its refreshing character and low ABV (usually under 4% ABV) makes these perfect summer sippers. Or a beer we can drink to remind us of sunshine to get us through the dark winter months. 

Even better, the gose's slightly cracker and salty base makes a great canvas for a variety of adjuncts, meaning many modern versions include a cornucopia of fruits from raspberries to mango to anything you can imagine. 

Wait, You Haven't Told Me How to Pronounce 'Gose' Yet!

Just think of Hermoine in Harry Potter, "It's leviOsa not levioSA". 

Pronounce 'gose' as go-suh. It's go-suh not goes.

But really regardless of how you pronounce this beer style, one thing remains the same: It's darn tasty. 

From a triple-fruited one with intense raspberry puree to an imperial version with banana, coconut, marshmallow, vanilla, lime and sea salt, here are Untappd's 13 Highest-Rate Goses of 2022.

1.  Never Again3: XTREME - The Veil Brewing Co.

2. Never Headrofit3: Xtreme - The Veil Brewing Co. 

3. Tefnut Blackberry Margarita Crush - The Veil Brewing Co. 

4. Tefnut (w/ Raspberries) - The Veil Brewing Co. 

5. Bianca Guava Mango Lassi Gose - Trillium Brewing Company

6. BFF Blueberry Fluff Forever Gose - Brewski x Omnipollo

7. The Treachery of Fruit: Mango & Apricot - Short Throw Brewing Co. 

8. Tex Mex - Hophead Brewery

9. Tefnut Pass Out - Omnipollo

10. Daiq Boom Boom - American Solera

11. Bianca Guava Lychee Passionfruit Lassi Gose - Omnipollo

12. Dark Love - Duckpond Brewing

13. Blueberry Lemonade Gose - Witch's Hat Brewing Co. 

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