Open Air Sansho Gose is a 5% gose from Open Air Brewing, based in Kobe, in Hyogo, Japan. It’s part of their canned and draught lineup, though its availability at the time of writing is unknown. As the name suggests, Open Air Sansho Gose uses locally sourced sansho, also known as Japanese pepper, and uses Hallertau Blanc hops though I suspect that might be a moot point with sansho being the main focus of this beer.
Open Air Sansho Gose : At A Glance
- Alcohol: 5%
- Style: Gose
- Hops: Hallertau Blanc
- Adjuncts: Sansho (Japanese pepper) and sea salt
- IBU: Unknown
Sale Information
- Availability: Unknown
- On Sale: From September 2022
- Size: 350 ml
- Price: From ¥560
Aroma & Taste
- Notable Aroma: Light dusting of floral and salty notes, along with a spicy peppery aroma as warms.
- Notable Taste: Slight salty tasty with floral flavour, citrus, peppery and numbing when warm.
Open Air Sansho Gose : Aroma & Taste
Open Air Sansho Gose poured out a slight hazy golden orange colour with a thin amount of white head on top that faded to a thin ring around the edge of the glass. The aroma started off with your typical gose nose – a little bit of salt and sourness along with some light floral hop aroma though its when Open Air Sansho Gose began to warm up that it in fact, opened up. The sansho was noticeable with a prickly spiciness to it that became the main aroma soon after warming up. Very different quality to a style of beer that tends to be well known for being rather salty and lemony.
The body began with the familiar saltiness found in a gose, with again a light floral flavour from the hops but it’s when Open Air Sansho Gose warmed up that the flavours really became interesting. The addition of sansho meant a curveball on the taste buds appeared with an addition of prickly peppery heat. That’s also when things began to take an unusual turn as sansho can also have a numbing effect on the taste buds and that is what happened next – my tongue began to feel numb but I also wanted more of the flavours of the beer. The sansho also had a light citrus quality to it, and combined with the salty body, I was sold.
Open Air Sansho Gose : The Bottom Line
Open Air Sansho Gose is a fantastic twist on a style of beer that has seen little innovation in Japan. Well worth finding a can or few. Just make sure you can handle the numbness.
Open Air Sansho Gose : Where to Buy
Open Air Sansho Gose can be bought online at the following places:
