1904 Gose data

This kind of information is what I like the most: Analytical data on different Gosen from 1904:

This is the real attenuation - apparent attenuation is between 70 and 80%.

1907 there was an other analysis of 9 types of Gose:

Acetic acid bacteria in Döllnitzer Gose

source

The only way today for us all to taste a real spontaneously fermented Gose is to go to a library and search for descriptions of the time when it was brewed.

There you will find descriptions of the Bottles with their tall and narrow neck. You will also find the story that there was no other cap but a plug that was built by the yeast all by its own.


This will make you probably think of a pellicle as it is formed by oxidative yeasts and bacteria.
 But they tell us it was highly carbonated this way, and there is no reason to think it was held very cold all the time.
 Maybe it was only a weak pellicle unable to hold any pressure but I am pretty sure that this plug was there in every bottle.


You may also notice that the neck of the bottle is well suited for minimizing oxygen uptake as the surface of the beer is minimal.


Wilhelm Henneberg (1871-1936) was a german bacteriologist and studied in Halle (close to Leipzig in the Gose-region) and was an expert in yeast, lactic bacteria and acetic bacteria. 
In 1897 he discovered an acetic bacteria in Döllnitzer Gose that was named by himself "Bakterium acetosum".
 That bacterium produced acetic acid in a quality that made it suitable for vinegar production.

Might this species be able to produce a polymer that is durable enough to build a plug in a bottleneck which can hold enough pressure for carbonization?

Maybe it was just a normal acetic bacteria as they were found in these days nearly in every bottle of beer.
 But then what build the pellicle?

Is it possible that an acetic acid bacteria builds a strong pellicle that limits its own oxygen uptake in order to stop the conversion to vinegar?

One would have to try and get more information on the bacterium.

breweries and homebrewers in the US, Germany, UK and Belgium

these are rough numbers from around 2012.

Germany as you can see has the most commercial breweries per capita. Many of them are small scale family owned breweries (some call them "craft breweries" lately) and brew-pubs around half of them in Bavaria.
On the other hand there is a very small number of homebrewers on the continent. In the US one of every 300 inhabitants brews, in Germany it is only one of every 8000.

In other publications you can read things like: in germany there are more than 5000 styles of beer brewed. (they mean every brewery brews averagely 3,7 styles).
A great variety of pale lagers!

sales of  bottled beer in Germany 2010

Leipziger Gose and the brewing water in Leipzig

In order to brew an authentic Leipziger Gose I would say it is a good idea to try it with brewing water from Leipzig.

I will give you the numbers for my own water, that comes from ground water from around Leipzig, the different wells differ a bit but the main characteristics are the same:

	ppm
calcium	80
magnesium	15
chloride	44
sulfate	165
sodium	25
potassium	5
bicarbonate	85
alkalinity as CaCO3	70
total hardnes as CaCO3	262
residual alkalinity as CaCO3	4

all together there is a good level of minerals in there but residual alkalinity is quite low. So it is well suited for pale beers.

The water is special because it is high in sulphate thus has a high sulphate to chloride ratio.

In its ratios it is similar to the Burton on Trent water but with lower total levels of sulphate.

Such a water is said to make the beer taste sharper and more acrid, as well as more hoppy and less malty.

The addition of salt to the brewing water is a way to level up the chloride and get a more balanced taste.

Nevertheless the Sodium makes it taste more mineraly.

GOO-zeh

BJCP (and BA) style guidelines: Gose

source

I admit it is not easy to create a style guideline for an historic style if the only authentic commercial example is not shipped to the US.

Here in Leipzig i can buy a 0,5 liter bottle of Ritterguts-gose in many groceries for 1,20€ or I can get the draft version in many pubs. I am well adapted to this beer as it is one of my basics and I drank the Gose from Bayerischer Bahnhof many times as well.

The latter is in my (and not only in my) opinion a well made beer and there is good reason to call it a gose but after studying pretty much of the historic and contemporary literature there is also good reason to call it an intermediate between bavarian Hefeweizen, belgian Wit and leipziger Gose.

In other words: You should not create a style guideline based solely on it.

When I read the guideline thats what i think has happened.

Another difficulty is to write a style guideline on a historic german style when there is no reliable literature even in german. Thats why I try to make some of the original sources accessible.

"Light sourness, slightly sharp"

"Moderate to restrained but noticeable sourness, like a squeeze of lemon in iced tea."

"The acidity should be balanced, not forward."

Try the Rittergutsgose and you know thats false:

it is on the maximum side of sourness slightly under Kindl berliner Weisse (hard to beat) or the mores sour lambics.

"The salt may be perceived as a very light, clean sea breeze character or just a general freshness, if noticeable at all."

"Light to moderate salt character, up to the threshold of taste; the salt should be noticeable (particularly in the initial taste) but not taste overtly salty"

not the whole story as the salt can be very overtly.

Coriander is also understated, as it can be very flashy, like a dry hopped aroma.

"Historical versions may have been more sour than modern examples due to spontaneous fermentation, and may be blended with syrups as is done with Berliner Weisse."

sweetening with sirups is a very modern thing (even with Berliner Weisse) - what is needed is an adapted palate.

"Haziness similar to a Weissbier."

Draft version is always clear, and there is no reason for shaking up the sediments of a Bottle as well. Historic images show clear beer.

The BA guidelines have an additional defect:

"They typically contain malted barley and unmalted wheat, with some traditional varieties containing oats."

There is no source for unmalted grain neither Oats. Just malted Wheat.

keep it sour!

composition of different german beers 1885

Want some numbers?

In the Meyers Konversationslexikon form 1885 there is a table in the entry on "Bier":

Zusammensetzung verschiedener Biere

source

abv, fg, og and apparent attenuation are estimated from the data, if you know how to calculate them more accurately please comment.

I hope these numbers are more reliable than the numbers in some other publications of the time which sometimes sound like "I bought some bottles and analyzed them, next time I should try to get fresh ones".
I like the wide range in Attenuation: in Munich you could get attenuations ranging  from 52 to 70%.
Sadly there is no data on Gose, at least some Berliner Weiße.



königliches Hofbräuhaus: Bockbier, Sommerbier, Weißbier, Weißes Bockbier (obergäriges Weizenbier)
Spatenbräu: Bock
Paulaner: Salvator
Löwenbräu: Winterbier
Weihenstephan: Export
Erlanger: von Niklas, von Scheele
Nürnberger: von Robby
Einbecker: Bockbier, Lagerbier
Dortmunder: Lagerbier, Aktienbier
Berliner: Patzenhofer, böhmisch Brauhaus, Schultheiß, Moabit, Tivoli
Dresdener Waldschlösschen: dunkles, lichtes, böhmisch, Export
Kulmbacher Export, dunkles, lichtes, Bockbier
Koburger
Schwechater: Lagerbier, Märzenbier, Exportbier
Pilsener bürgerl, Brauhaus: Lagerbier, Exportbier
Londoner: Barclay u, Perkins Porter
London Porter
Burton Ale
Scotch Ale
Brüsseler Lambik
Danziger Jopenbier
Braunschweiger Mumme
Bremer Seefahrtsbier
Potsdamer Weise, Stangen
Berliner Weiße, Export, Josty, Werdersches

Leipziger Braunbier "Rastrum"

1. Mashtun

2. Lautertun

3. "Schupe" scoop made of copper

4.  "Meuschkrükke" also used for agitating the malt

5. "Meuschholz" mashpaddle

6. "Meuschrechen"

7. brewing kettle made from copper on the Stove

‪Johann Samuel Hallen‬s:‪ Werkstäte der heutigen Künste‬ volume 6, 1779

Gose was only the "other" beer in Leipzig as the original local brew for centuries was "Rastrum". Rastrum is an old word for a rake and there are different theories as why it was called so. I see no importance in that question as every town had a crude name for its beer.

What is of more relevance is the quality of the beer.
Most authors agree that Rastrum was brown to dark brown, sweet, cloudy and tended to go sour or even stinky fast. It is just one version of the omnipresent Braunbier (brown beer).
Of cause it was top fermenting and it was fermented in wooden vessels that could stand in a cellar or over the ground without any cooling even in the summer.

In the book "Die Kunst des Bierbrauens" (the art of brewing beer) published 1771 in Dresden, Johann Christian Simon explains how to make better beer.
He explicitly refers to the lame leipziger "Rastrum" which should be improved.

he counts 6 reasons for differences between the local beers:

1. climatic differences
2. location of the brewery
3. differences in season and weather
4. different materials used in brewing
5. differences in water
6. different procedures in malting, brewing and fermenting.

He does not know that there are different yeast strains, as he thinks of fermentation as a chemical process. Nevertheless he knows to point out what can cause spoilage and how to keep the wooden vessels and apparatuses clean. He also knows the word "Hefe" and about its importance for fermentation but not about its nature and breeding characteristics.

He advises to bring the wort to a temperature of 25°C to 35°C depending on the ambient temperature.
He also knows that too much or too little yeast is bad.
He knows that top-cropped yeast  ("Spundhefen") is the best yeast. (189)
He gives the valuable advice to try the yeast with a small portion of wort before pitching it into the full batch, instead of just checking its smell.(192)
Even his hints for yeast-storage seem acceptable (put them in a stone-bottle, close it with tar-pitch and bury it in the ground at a shady place or plunge it in a cool well) (193).
But what if we have to get fresh yeast? Wheat flour, hops, egg white, honey or sugar? Porridge, wine, juice of sweet fruits, sourdough or rye flour?
There might be a reason for his belief that after every fermentation the brew will go sour - there is only the option to slow that process down.
He knows how to keep beer unspoiled is to make the barrels tight by pitching them and by storing them in fresh cellars or ice-caverns.

He also says that bottled beer is three times stronger and better in its spirit (carbonation) than beer that has fermented at the air. (205-6).

He also describes how to produce Ice-Bock in order make a strong and durable beer (210)



Düsseldorfer Alt might be the one beer of our time that comes closest to the old Braunbier.

some hints how a leipziger Rastrum might have been:

• color: brown to dark brown
• sweet, rel. low in alcohol
• can be well hopped (esp. in the summer)
• funky fermentation or sour (a good one was not too sour or funky)
• Fermented in Wood, conditioned in pitched wood or bottles. 
• can be cloudy or clear (a good one was clear)
• Yeast can be everything from wild yeast, bakers yeast or german ale yeast.
• spices  and salt are possible, maces, nutmeg, cloves, juniper and citrus zest were quite common