Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose

Brewed By: Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, California 
Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Gose, 4.2%
Reported IBUs: ?

This beer was a random purchase, and not something I would normally seek out. But, at the time of buying this beer, I was sick with a cold, and I needed something in a can to bring to a party. You really can't go wrong with a low-ABV Gose, right? About Anderson Valley Brewing Company: 

The Anderson Valley Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Boonville, Cali that was founded in 1987 
by Kenneth Allen. Originally, the brewery brewed out of a 10-barrel brewhouse, until an expansion was needed to meet demands. The expanded brewhouse was built in 1996, at the corner of Highways 128 and 253, a mile from the center of Boonville. In 1998, the brewery expanded again, with construction of a three-story Bavarian-style brewhouse being completed in 2000. In 2010, the brewery was sold to Trey White, and that same year Fal Allen took over as brewmaster. For more info, check out the brewery's website or Facebook page. 

The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose is part of Anderson Valley's Highway 128 Session Series. Their traditional-style Gose is brewed with pale two-row and malted white wheat malts, finished with Bravo hops, and features a kettle soured wort.

The Kimmie, The Yink, & The Holy Gose

This is a golden, lightly hazy, but filtered looking affair. The beer kicks up two fingers of wispy, wheat-fueled, white head, and there's good lacing and lazy carb.

Having just got this beer into a glass for the first time, I'm surprised at how good it smells. There's a lot of wheat notes, floral aromas, peach, coriander, lemon sherbet, and some minerality.

This is clean and refreshing, with nice griping lemon and peach tartness, without much lactic funk. There is a refreshing, underlying tartness that drives this beer...which is fantastic. You pick up the wheat and coriander in the taste, and there's a kiss of salt and minerality.

At 4.2%, this is incredibly drinkable. This is a really well-done wheat beer that is tart and refreshing without any crazy lactic funk. If you like lactic funk, you might be a bit disappointed, but the beer makes up for it with spot-on palate duration, a light and gently carbonated mouthfeel, and pretty good complexity. This delves into sour lemons and peaches up front; rolls into some stone fruits and tropical fruits in the mids, with coriander showing up; the back end drops wheat notes, salt, light minerality, and a super clean finish. Nice.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average here. If you want a griping, sour wheat beer...look no further. This is clean, refreshing, and good. I might pair this with sushi tonight.

Random Thought: Somehow, my fridge is full of beer. I'm a happy camper.

Destihl Wild Sour Series: Here Gose Nothin'

Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois
Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Gose, 5.0%
Reported IBUs: 12

Between Penrose and Destihl, Chicago's sour scene is suddenly become more tangible. And that's good for me. About Destihl: 

Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website. 

Bad pun aside, the Here Gose Nothin' is a "Leipzig-Style Gose" that undergoes spontaneous fermentation, and features lactic notes of lemon, lime, and citrus. This one also has some coriander and sea salt added. 

This is a filthy wheat beer, pouring into a cloudy, hazy, unfiltered, swampy, pick-your-synonym straw/wheat color. The beer produces a finger of wheat-tinged head that is wheat beer strong. This looks to be well carbonated, and blah blah.

Destihl Wild Sour Series: Here Gose Nothin'

The aroma here is really nice, with coriander, ocean sea salt breezes, wet rain, mist, some light lactic acidity, light lemon citrus, some watermelon rind, and a little bit of wheat for good measure. This is an inviting aroma, if you're into little sour bangers.

This isn't overly sour, but it is incredibly funky. This dips into citric acid, tomatoes, tomato juice, unfiltered wheat, V8 acidity, and tons of lactic acid funk. As you dig into the wheat-acid-lactic funk fest, you can pull out some of the coriander and some of the hints of salt. It's more in line with that mist aroma, ocean breezes. As this warms up, it takes a turn towards the more creamy, with that creamy lactic funk coating. I love it.

This is light, refreshing, and incredibly drinkable. The wheat malts provide some sustenance to the body, especially as this warms up, so I would call it light-full. Palate depth is really good, and the mouthfeel here falls on the flatter side of carbonation, which just makes the lactic acid all the more funky. This is reasonably complex. Up front is lactic funk, V8 acidity, coriander and sea salt; the mids roll into more coriander and sea salt, big wheat, lactic funk; the back end gets a little creamy as this warms, and this drops citrus hints everywhere. It's well done. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd) 

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average here. I'm really enjoying this, and I would pick this up again. This is one of the best things Destihl has cranked out in a can, and the fact that it is reaching distro up in Chicago is great news for everyone. I'm not really sure if this beer is 100% true to the style, but I don't really care. More lactic wheat beers please. Thanks. 

Random Thought: I always have a hard time with food pairings for something like this. The inherent funk to this style makes me think that pairing this beer with strong cheeses or sushi might have a negative result. Maybe pair this with some Greek Food? 

Off Color Brewing Troublesome

Breewed By: Off Color Brewing in Chicago, IL

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Foremost Liquor Stores in Chicago, IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Gose, 4.5%

Reported IBUs: 10

Oh hey...something new, woo. About Off Color Brewing:

Off Color Brewing is a brewery founded in 2008 according to their Facebook, or 2014 according to their website, or 2013 if you follow their release party and the logical timeline. It really doesn't matter, I suppose. What you need to know is that this brewery is the brainchild of former Goose Island barrel guru, John Laffler, and former Two Brothers brewer, Dave Bleitner. The duo are both graduates of Siebel, and share a passion for brewing exotic, off-color beer. For more info, check out the brewery's ABOUT page.

Tonight's beer is being dumped into the Gose category on both Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate. The Troublesome is a blended wheat beer brewed with lactobacillus. Actually, this beer is a blend of two different beers: an "uninteresting wheat beer," and a "overly acidic & funky beer fermented solely with lactobacillus." The two beers are blended with coriander and salt (ah, so it must be a Gose...eh). The beer features Northern Brewer hops, pils, wheat malt, flaked wheat, and flaked oats malt...and punches in at a sessionable 4.5% ABV. Let's glass this one up, shall we?

Off Color Brewing Troublesome

The beer pours into a transparent/clear yellow body, and kicks up a finger of white head. There's a nice stream of carbonation in the glass. You might mistake this for a Pilsner or Pale Lager, but the head retention is good, with some sea foam head hanging around, there is nice lacing, and the carbonation is much more constrained.

The aroma here is very nice, like a German Wheat beer meets a Belgian Strong Ale meets a Gose. I'm getting lots of Pils malt and Belgian funk, with cream, vanilla, white sugar, clove, Pils malt, hints of dough/biscuit, and some BIG, SPICY, coriander. Huge coriander, it's very spicy. I'm getting some grainy lemon and a hint of salt as well.

The taste mirrors the nose, and I'm getting a reasonable amount of salt in the taste....I get salty clove and lemon-Belgian funk up front; that rolls into citrus, wheat, vanilla, clove, coriander, and more salty wheat takes over. There's a lot of salt, clove, coriander spice, lemon citrus, grass/wheat, and some good Belgian funk. It's a nice wheat...creamy, drinkable, and appropriately dense. I'm also picking up some grains of paradise.

This is delicious. It's medium-light bodied, with great carbonation to help move things along. The beer is creamy, and wheat-fueled, with hints of salt. It's so refreshing, and equally appropriate to pound back at 4.5% ABV. Palate depth is outstanding, and complexity is awesome too. You get salty clove and lemon and Belgian funk up front; that rolls into citrus, wheat, clove, coriander; more salty wheat dials things back up, and the beer finishes with lingering wheat, salt, citrus...dry...funky...oh man.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. I guess it could be a little more tart or sour...but I don't know. The lemon, clove, grains of paradise, and creamy wheat flavors all remind me of the best summer beers...this is some good shit. I would pair this beer with foods on a hot summer day: grilled foods, hamburgers, fruit salads, hot dogs, pasta salads, etc. You could also pair this with some upscale dining and go the burger/vegetable route. It's not quite peppery or funky enough to compete with a Saison, but it has that rustic and raw element that suggests leafy/green pairings.

Random Thought: And a 6-pack is only like 10 dollars. Very comparable to something like the Prairie Standard.