Sours and Light Lagers

Gose, Gueuze, Berliner Weisse, American Light Lager, Munich Helles, Festbier, International Pale Lager

Ritterguts Gose, Tilquin Gueuze, Schneeule Marlene Berliner Weisse, Miller Lite (American Light Lager), Erdinger Helles, Spaten Helles, Enegren Festbier, Stella (International Pale Lager)

This was way too many beers to do at once, but since some were sour and some were light lagers, it was kind of like two tastings in one:

• Gose: cloudier appearance, strong coriander on nose and palate (especially compared to the other sours), soft mouthfeel (kind of hard to detect) but not salty.

• Gueuze vs Berliner Weisse: this was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I’ve struggled previously with it too. The biggest challenge for me is that they have a similar aroma (pretty Brett forward). The biggest differences I notice are a pithy/slightly bitter/dry finish on the Gueuze, where the Berliner Weisse is extremely sour and acidic after swallowing (like a War Head candy). 

• Helles: Cheerios cereal (Pilsner malt) on the nose was the giveaway.

• American Light Lager: I was almost deceived into thinking this was Helles because the aroma had some nice malty richness that I usually miss in a macro Lager (good on you, Miller!), but it wasn’t the Cheerio/cereal aroma. Also, the mouthfeel was the effervescent disappear-once-swallowed experience, and a sip+retronasal exhale confirmed flavor-wise it was not Helles. The retronasal immediately brought back a flavor memory of drinking beers like these in college. 

• The Enegren Festbier was much more bitter than I’d expect a German-produced Festbier to be, so I took it out of the tasting after sampling it. I missed Stella a couple times before removing it, but compared to the Helles beers and Miller Lite, I could pick it out (no Cheerio/cereal aroma found in Helles and it didn’t have the disappear-in-your-mouth finish).