Provisions Series: Salt of the Earth by The Bruery

Provisions Series: Salt of the Earth. Gose. The Bruery. Placentia, California.

Spring 2011.

My review on RateBeer:

3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
AHTOH (61) - San Diego, California, USA - APR 14, 2011
750 mL bottle. Released April 2011. Poured into Bruery tulip.

APPEARANCE: Pours pale straw yellow with yellow gold hues. Big 2-3 finger head is white, pillowy, has lengthy duration, and leaves nice lacing.

AROMA: Musty funk, barnyard, lacto, mild mushroom-like aroma with an earthy character, light lemon tartness, coriander, subtle note of grassy/lemon grass character, hint of sea salt, and faint hint of chalky dryness. Strong swirl brings out the truffle quite a bit – this robust aroma smells of truffle frites topped with garlic butter escargot. Unique and amazing. As phenomenally close as the aroma is to an actual food dish after a strong swirl of the glass, I am glad that the aroma is much more delicately balanced without/post robust swirl. Shortly after swirling stops, the aroma is toned down and we get back to funk and lacto as well as milder truffle characteristics.

TASTE: Mild tartness with lemony character throughout. Lacto, musty funk, horse blanket, coriander, faint grassy/lemon grass taste behind the mild lemony tartness, and extremely faint sour green apple. Truffle character appears on the back of palate and finish and is somewhat mild as it displays earthy, buttery, mushroom-like notes. Faint hint of salt is discernible on back of palate and finish as well. Subtle notes of truffle character linger for quite some time.

MOUTH FEEL: Light bodied. Somewhat crisp. Lively carbonation. Somewhat less quaffable than a traditional gose (eg, Original Leipziger Gose by Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof) because of the gastro-inspired addition of the truffle. However, the mild lemon tartness of the base does give it some light thirst quenching ability. Fairly dry – gives extremely faint cotton mouth feeling.

OVERALL: Had a traditional gose (Original Leipziger Gose by Gasthaus & Gosebrauerei Bayerischer Bahnhof) a few days ago and am unable to say the two even compare. While the base beer is quite similar, the addition of truffle character sets this beer in a whole separate category. Noticeably more salt on the finish than the above referenced traditional gose, though far from overbearing. Much more truffle characteristics on nose than on palate. Palate is fairly balanced; however, the contrast between the tartness of the base and the robust nature of the truffle character lends the palate to appear slightly less refined and quaffable than a traditional gose. Final thoughts: One extremely interesting beer. A must try. Paired amazingly with Tartufo salami made with black truffles (by Creminelli) and Boschetto cheese made with white truffles (from Venissimo).