The Art of the Gose: Balancing Salt, Coriander, and Lactic Sourness

Good morning. Beer consumption in many pockets of the world is on the decline, and prominently so in Belgium, a country with a very strong beer culture, with a 6% decrease in consumption in 2023 and an additional 2% in 2024. Total consumption is down by 20% over the last 10 years.

If we as a society are drinking less, we might as well be drinking great beer, better yet beer we have brewed ourselves.

-Brandon Copeland

The Art of the Gose: Balancing Salt, Coriander, and Lactic Sourness

There’s something delightfully odd about a beer that’s part sour, part spice, and part saltwater tingle. Enter the gose - the centuries-old German style surprisingly at home on today’s craft beer menus. It’s tart yet smooth, herbal yet briny, and utterly refreshing on a hot day. But nailing that perfect harmony of lactic sourness, crushed coriander seed, and just the right dose of salt takes a bit of finesse. Let’s dive in.

A Quick Gose Refresher

Originating in Goslar and perfected in Leipzig, gose (pronounced “GOH-zuh”) was traditionally brewed with local well water naturally high in minerals. Brewers combined a warm mash with a bit of wheat, hopped lightly (if at all), then let Lactobacillus create gentle sourness before fermenting clean with brewer’s yeast. A pinch of salt balanced the puckering tart, and coriander added a citrusy - herbal lift.

Lactic Sourness: The Foundation

At the heart of every gose lies a soft lactic puckering. Most homebrewers achieve this by:

• Kettle souring: Heat the wort, cool to ~110°F, pitch Lactobacillus (yogurt culture or pure strains), and sour for 12 - 48 hours until you hit pH ~3.3 - 3.5.

• Mixed fermentation: Add Lactobacillus to your primary fermenter alongside ale yeast - results can be more nuanced but less predictable.

• Fruit sour packs: Some brewers toss in souring blends; results vary batch to batch.

Tip: Aim for pH 3.3 for bright tartness without harsh acidity. Anything below 3.2 can feel sharp, and above 3.6 might seem too tame.

Coriander: Subtle Spice or Front-and-Center?

Cracked coriander seed contributes citrusy–peppery notes that marry beautifully with sourness. But dosage is key:

• Standard dose: 1 oz per 5 gal, crushed and steeped in the last 5 - 10 minutes of the boil.

• Light hand: 0.5 oz for a whisper of spice.

• Bold move: 1.5 oz if you love punchy clove - lemon zest character.

Tip: Toast seeds lightly in a dry pan to awaken oils, then crush coarsely. This warms the spice and prevents grassy or “dull” flavors.

Salt: The Secret Balancer

A gose without salt feels… incomplete. Salt silences harsh edges, accentuates sour, and gives that ocean-breeze finish. Use:

• Sea salt: Flaky, without iodine or anti-caking agents.

• Dose: 0.25–0.75 tsp per gallon (1.25–3.75 tsp per 5 gal). Start low - you can always add a pinch to the keg.

Tip: Add salt at bottling or kegging if you want fine control. It’s easier to bump up than dial back.

Putting It All Together

1. Mash: 50% Pilsner malt, 50% wheat malt, mash at 150 - 152°F for 60 min.

2. Boil: 5 gal water, 0.25 oz hops early (optional), 1 oz toasted coriander in last 5 min.

3. Sour: Cool to 110°F, pitch Lactobacillus, hold 24 hr, target pH 3.3.

4. Ferment: Bring back to 65°F, pitch clean ale yeast, ferment 7 - 10 days.

5. Salt & Package: Add 0.5 tsp sea salt per gallon with priming sugar or at keg fill.

Adjust doses of coriander and salt based on your taste preferences. If your gose tastes flat, nudge the salt up; if the spice is missing, bump coriander. Over-sour? Shorten the kettle sour time or target a higher pH.

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Beer Trivia Question

🍺 Which brewery famously revived the Gose style in 1949, sparking its modern renaissance?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

Gose

We can’t have a whole article about gose without highlighting a gose recipe, it wouldn’t be proper. This recipe has all the highlights of a gose - primarily pilsner and wheat malt, a sour yeast, and additions of coriander and salt. I have never made a gose but this seems like a great place to start!

Credit: maui-tutu

Poll Results: What’s Your Favorite Non-Malt Fermentable to Experiment With?

The clear winner of the poll was honey, which is not surprising since honey is a natural addition to beer, and also the prime ingredient in mead. I was told I left a key additive off the list - molasses. That’s a new one for me!

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And the Answer Is...

🍺 In 1949, Bayerischer Bahnhof in Leipzig became the first brewery to bring Gose back from near extinction, led by brewery owner Hubertus Bruchmann’s passion for the local sour style. Their revival sparked renewed interest in Gose, laying the foundation for its global craft beer renaissance.