It’s a truism that salty snacks encourage beer drinking, but what if there were a way to put the salt right in the beer? Turns out that the German brewers of Goslar, near Leipzig, figured this out hundreds of years ago. The Gose river that runs through the town has enough dissolved mineral salts to give a distinctive salty flavour to the wheat ale from that region, which is known, appropriately, as Gose.
Mike Lackey and Iain McOustra, the head brewmasters of Great Lakes Brewery and Amsterdam Brewery, respectively, have taken up the challenge to create their take on this traditional style. Their collaborative creation, Maverick & Gose, was brewed in September 2012 with pink Himalayan salt and then aged for four months in chardonnay barrels from an Ontario winery. It was released at the Amsterdam retail store in Leaside this week.
From the 500 mL bottle into a snifter, this beer pours a remarkably bright golden orange. The lacy white head and the beer’s cloudiness help emphasize the colour. The aroma combines a light citrus spiciness with just a hint of vanilla and herbal funk. The salt begins to assert itself by amplifying and pushing forward the flavours of malt, orange zest and the balancing tartness. I was only able to detect a hint of saltiness on the slightly flat finish.
Gose — the style of beer, not the river — survived the German Reinheitsgebot beer purity laws (which it violates in almost every way possible for using wheat, spices, salt and top-fermenting ale yeast) as a protected regional style. It was almost killed by the 20th century’s homogenization of the worldwide brewing industry, which is to say that as well as being a big-flavoured, delicious beer, Maverick & Gose offers the opportunity to try an uncommon, nearly lost style of beer.
When it reaches liquor store shelves, Maverick & Gose will be the first all-Ontario collaborative beer that the LCBO has carried. For now — and especially if there’s an LCBO strike — you’ll have to head over to Amsterdam Brewery’s retail store at 45 Esandar Drive to get it.
Amsterdam Brewery x Great Lakes Brewery Maverick & Gose, $6.95 for a 500 mL bottle
In addition to covering beer, new restaurants and food trucks for Post City, David Ort writes about food and drink for several Toronto publications including Spotlight Toronto and his own site, Food With Legs. For more of his thoughts on food, beer and life in general, follow him on Twitter.
