Shonan Beer Gose is a 4.5% gose from Kumazawa Shuzo based in Kanagawa, Japan. It’s part of their collaborative effort with Burnside Brewing Company, based in Oregon, USA, who hosted Takashi Tsutsui, who went over towards the middle of 2016 to brew this beer. This gose was kettle soured with Burnside’s house lactobacillus and has a delicate floral presence of Sakura which have been salt cured.
Salty and fruity. Definitely one of Japan’s better goses.
Shonan Beer Sakura Gose Aroma and Taste
I think Shonan Beer Sakura Gose is BeerTengoku’s first Japanese gose that we’ve reviewed. We’ve had a few kettle sours, such as one from DevilCraft that I really enjoyed as well as Ushitora Sour of Love, but we’re yet to have Hitachino Nest’s Anbai Ale, but the salty sour taste that I often imagine when I think of goses isn’t really taking a grip in Japan, so for Kumazawa Shuzo to brew and sell this was a nice turn up for the books.
Shonan Beer Sakura Gose came up a cloudy straw colour with a nice frothy white head on top. Admittedly this is the small size as I was wary of trying a large gose – would the sourness be too tart or would it be too salty? The floral aroma managed to come through the salty sour nose straight away but the sourness did win out in the end and while not offensive, definitely registers on the nose above everything else.
The body to Shonan Beer Sakura Gose felt a tad grainy – had the salt been left in the beer or were the particles too big? As such, the light sakura flavours I was expecting were mostly masked by the sour saltiness of the beer. It felt a tad light in the body with not much to carry the sakura through to the final aftertaste. It was one of the most sour goses I’ve had and while it did become a tad easier to drink when it had warmed up, it was a bit smoother. But then I do like sour sweets and foods.
Shonan Beer Sakura Gose The Bottom Line
It’s great to see a Japanese craft brewery taking a gamble with a gose-style beer. Shonan Beer Sakura Gose isn’t outstanding by any means but it’s worth a try if you fancy assaulting your taste buds.
