School is back in session, the leaves are beginning to change, and I even need a jacket in the morning on some days. Fall is just around the corner. While breweries are racing to get their pumpkin beers and fall seasonals on tap and on the shelves, I’m refusing to let go of summer just yet. That’s why I’m enjoying my last reserves of Cascade Brewing Gose. This beer wins the title for “most refreshing beer I’ve ever had.” It is a light beer, pale yellow in color, and sits right at 6% ABV (slightly high for the style). The slightly soured, lemony, salt and coriander spiced flavor makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It has an effervescent carbonation and I highly recommend drinking it at the suggested serving temperature of 40 F for maximum thirst-quenching. The finish is tart and dry with a good amount of salt spiciness. It would make a great entry beer for those that want to get into sours but whose jaw muscles can’t handle the intense tang of a true mouth-puckering beer.

Gose is an old German style of wheat beer that was almost lost forever. It was originally brewed in Goslar, Germany (hence the name) in the 16th century and it is made with malted wheat making up at least 50% of the grain bill. Gose is soured with lactobacillus bacteria and spiced with sea salt and coriander, which give it it’s characteristic spice. I was skeptical at first when I heard the beer was brewed with sea salt, but now appreciate the contrast the salt adds to the tartness of the beer. Gose was brewed up until about 1945, but then the only brewery in Germany making it closed. Thankfully, the style was revived in Germany in the 1980s and today a few American breweries have taken up making their versions of the classic recipe. I have been able to sample a few interpretations of Gose, and for me the Gose from Cascade Brewing sets the bar!