Gose Nowhere, Does Nothing

[jmb5x4]

This is my first go at a gose. A couple things I realize: it should be pils malt and not two-row; I should probably use a German ale yeast; a noble hop would be more traditional; and souring with lactic acid alone is not ideal. I'm lazy, okay? But I have done some research and think this could work. Also, I have read up on aciduated malt and the results people have had to sour a gose seem way too inconsistent.

A few questions:

-To get a *slight* lemon flavor/aroma, when, how and how much lemon zest should be added? My idea with the lemon is to supplement the lactic acid tartness, which some people describe as one-dimensional.
-Does anyone know what proportion of wheat/pils is usually used in a gose? I've seen 60/40 and 50/50.
-Any idea if two ounces of lactic acid will do the job for the slight tartness of 5.5 gallon gose?
-Anything insanely stupid about this?

Thanks.

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6.5/5.5 Gallons

5 lbs two row
5 lbs american wheat
0.5 rice hulls

0.5 oz whole cascade (60)
Irish moss (15)
0.8 oz ground coriander seeds (10)
0.75 oz ground sea or kosher salt (10)

1 lemon zest at flameout?

Mash at 150

US-05

Lactic Acid (2 ounces at bottling)

 

[smithmd4]

I can't give good answers on all ideas, but I don't think anything is too stupid.

Grain Ratio - Not sure it matters a whole lot. A lot of people make decent extract wheat beers that are just wheat extract, which I believe is 40/60 wheat/barley. Add whatever you feel right.

Lemon Flavor - I'm not sure on lemon zest. Google ICU (International Citrus Units) that Shaun Hill made up for one of his beers. I read about a while ago, but didn't retain anything on it. Another thing you can do is soak lemon zest on some vodka to make "lemon extract" and add post-fermentation. I'd be inclined to do both.

Lactic Acid - I don't have an easy answer on this one. My gut says to add at packaging in small amounts until you get the desired taste. The loosely scientific way would be to use pH. Looks like beer is normally in the 4-4.5 range. A quick search mentions 3.6 for one recipe I found. You can probably get in the ballpark with Bru'n Water. i would go taste over science in this case until I had a baseline.

Hopping - Not sure the IBU of your addition, but the reason hopping is kept low in sours is 1) not to kills the Lacto, and 2) Because bitter and sour aren't very complimentary. I've had some interesting dry hopped sours, but never anything above like 15 IBU on the sour front.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[jmb5x4]

Thanks! I have heard that about making the lemon vodka. Will look into it for sure.

 

[Sleepyemt]

If you check out the latest zymurgy there is a no bug gose in there. I'm actually planning something along the same lines, for quick turn around and I can put on tap...

 

[jmb5x4]

Thanks, I'll have to check that Zymurgy out. It seems like no two people brew gose the same way.

 

[jmb5x4]

Brewed this a few weeks ago. Changed a few things up. Per Zymurgy, I added a pound of acid malt. As for the lemon, I zested two lemons and soaked in vodka and then dumped into the bucket after primary fermentation was done. Also, I only had .35 oz of coriander.

Tried my first bottle after seven days carbing (I prefer to wait a couple weeks but wanted to try it).

The salt is noticeable not in a typically salty way but instead it gives the beer a sort of slickness. The sourness is very noticeable but not at all puckering. Neither property is as subtle as the goses I've had before, but I think the beer will meld a bit after another week or two. I didn't notice any lemon but wasn't really looking for it.

Either way, very tasty.