In search of the elusive Gose, the beer that could unseat Corona for good

Jeff Green | Jul 17, 2024

According to a company called Brand Finance, in 2023 Corona was unseated as the most popular beer in the world by Heineken, whose sales of $7.6 billion in 2023 outstripped the $7.4 billion in Corona sales.

The top ten beers in the world that year are all bottom fermented lager beers. They are easy to drink, clean on the pallet, and are all well suited to warm weather, all kinds of food, and watching sports on tv.

They are all Lager beers. The lagering technique was invented in the 1400's. The beer was brewed in winter and matured in caves during the summer giving it greater keeping qualities than more volatile ales.

Four hundred years earlier, in the town of Gosler on the Gose River, another beer style was invented, the Gose style. It is fair to say that this style, while it became very popular in Leipzig in the 19th century, has not captured global attention the way lager beer has. In fact, it almost died out completely, a victim of the second world war, the cold war, globalization, and even the Bavarian beer purity laws, which did not permit the use of coriander and salt, key ingredients in any self respecting Gose beer.

In 1986, however, a man named Luthar Goldhann discovered one of the old “Gosenshenke” in Leipzig, a pub where Gose was brewed and sold. He restored and reopened the pub and began brewing Gose with his partners.

When the craft brewing boom took hold in Europe and North America, brewers began looking for different styles and tastes and there are now Gose beers being brewed in many pockets of North America.

Gose's are often considered to be a kind of sour beer in North America, and with sour beer becoming popular in recent years, the less sour and slightly salty Gose style has found a small niche.

But while Gose beers have some acidity, they are not mouth puckeringly sour. The first impression is a tartness for sure, followed quickly by the salt and other flavours, and the aftertaste is different from other beers in a subtle way, making Gose's uniquely thirst quenching.

Indeed, one of the most popular Gose style beers in the United States is Sea Quench Ale, brewed by Dogfish Head, a brewer best known for its 60 and 90 minute IPA's.

A couple of years ago, it was becoming easier to find a variety of different beer styles at specialty beer stores and LCBO locations (when those stores were still open) in Ontario, but with the compaction of the beer market is really only IPA's and, in the winter, stouts that seem to be readily available at the moment.

Goses are very hard to find, but, paired with bold flavoured foods, especially any kind of taco or fajita, a good Gose is a far, far superior beverage than a Corona or any other lager.

So where are the Goses to be found?

Sea Quench Ale is not available in Eastern Canada.

In Quebec, at specialty beer stores, a very good Gose by the brewer Trois Mousquetier is commonly available and there will be other Goses as well. And if you are travelling to the east coast, a five minute diversion off of Highway 20 in the Kamouraska region will take you to Tete Allumette, where in the summer you can purchase Woopelal, and maybe stop for a beer on the lawn, which is right on the St. Lawrence and has a spectacular view.

But what to do in Eastern Ontario.

There are at least two options, which I have not tried but am looking forward to. In Kingston, a Fine Balance, a brewer located on Innovation Drive in the east end, produces Fluss, a Gose with Himalayan salt, coriander, orange and lime zest. The one review I have heard is a rave, and I will be headed their soon.

And over in “Wildly Authentic” Hastings County, a farm brewery just south of Norwood, called Focal Brewery, brews up Pickle Rick, a Gose which won a bronze medal in the Ontario Brewers awards for 2023. While this might seem to be a lot of work just to find a beer that can have a hint of pickle juice in its flavour profile (which is really a good thing, trust me) it is worthwhile to remember the word “Gose” as you may see one at a an unlikely location in the coming months and years. Goses are light, by the way, generally around 4% alcohol, the same as a Bud Light.

Try one if you get a chance, and it might change your whole day.