Margarita Gose

[Sillybilly]

Its bottled, carbed, and quite delicious. For 2.5 gallons, I added ¾ oz sea salt (from memory, I’d have to check my notes to be sure) at 5 minutes and made my tincture using 3 limes and maybe 1 oz of oak chips in tequila for 2 weeks which was added at bottling. pH was only 3.5 at bottling but the higher carbonation and lime helps increase the acidity. It has a nice lime/citrus and tequila aroma. Tastes tart and finishes dry, I get lime and tequila initially with some saltiness and with a hint of oak afterwards, as quoted by a fellow brewer, “tastes like a margarita”.

Goals for next time: Get pH lower, add more oak - probably just go with cubes, and possible add some more salt (next time I visit my brother in S. Carolina, I’d love to bring back some seawater for my salt addition, although that’d probably be better suited for a regular Gose).

Thanks Morrey for the awesome recipe and I look forward to brewing this one again!

 

[Morrey]

Love it when a plan comes together!

 

[zmanzorro]

I had recently created a Margarita Gose too, using a very similar method. If you want save a few bucks and can find it, use GoodBelly Lemon/Ginger SuperShots. They are about $1.50 each and contain 50B cells per Shot.

 

[Morrey]

I had recently created a Margarita Gose too, using a very similar method. If you want save a few bucks and can find it, use GoodBelly Lemon/Ginger SuperShots. They are about $1.50 each and contain 50B cells per Shot.

I wish I could find GoodBelly probiotic shots locally. I sometimes use Swanson L Plantarum tablets...in fact I started a culture last night with these tablets to pitch in a batch I will make on Thursday and kettle sour until the weekend.

 

[bkboiler]

i would love a recipe for this also if you'd be so kind as to share! pm me, please or post.
Ballast Point is down the street from me and makes a "Gose down with the Ship" that is pretty fantastic.

 

[chumpsteak]

I made this a few weeks ago and it turned out awesome. It was my first fast sour and the LHBS was out of Lacto and the L plantarum tablets I ordered hadn't arrived yet so I was forced to do the malted grain method. Tried holding wort in kettle over 100 degrees but probably dropped to mid 80s a couple times. After about 42hrs the wort was down to a pH of 3.45. I had to get going on the boil so I added enough lactic acid to get it down to 3.35...took about 9ml. Boiled for 15 min with the hops and added 1oz crushed toasted coriander and a little less than 1oz of red Sea salt at 5 min. Chilled and fermented at 68 with US05 with no issues for 11 days and then cold crashed for 3 days. Kegged with 3/4 cup of tequila that had been soaking with peels of 2 limes for 2weeks, and 3/4 cups tequila soaked with about 15 light oak chips. Force carbed and it tasted awesome immediately. Smells like a margarita and tastes pretty close too. I think the 3.35 pH is pretty good for my taste. All the goses I've tried recently have been 3.3 to 3.5 so I think it's pretty normal.

Anyway it's an awesome beer and now I'm hooked on fast sours. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[Sillybilly]

i would love a recipe for this also if you'd be so kind as to share! pm me, please or post.
Ballast Point is down the street from me and makes a "Gose down with the Ship" that is pretty fantastic.

The recipe is on the first post, but basically, 50-50 wheat/2-row to OG 1.040, kettle sour the wort, once soured bring to boil and add hops for LOW IBUs, cool and ferment with sacc yeast (US-05 is good choice), while fermenting make tinctures with lime & tequila and oak & tequila which are added to taste at packaging.

 

[Morrey]

i would love a recipe for this also if you'd be so kind as to share! pm me, please or post.
Ballast Point is down the street from me and makes a "Gose down with the Ship" that is pretty fantastic.

BKBoiler shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll reply with a detailed recipe as a word doc.

 

[Morrey]

TravelingLight posed a question to me that made sense: Why do you do a 60 min boil with this Gose. I think my answer was "I have always done it that way". LOL Old dog syndrome. But I have thought about this a good bit since he asked.

I have a batch kettle souring now so I have decided to try a 30 minute boil. I have adjusted my hop addition to give me 8 IBU with a 30 min boil vs a 60 min boil, and I adjusted my full volume mash to reflect a shorter boil time with less evaporation. My only other concern is DMS but I don't think this will be a huge issue, plus any temp over 170-180F will kill off the lacto...no concern here. With these factors considered, I am exbeerimenting with a shorter boil time. I saved a couple of bottles of my last Gose (60 min boil) before the keg kicked, so I'll compare to see if I can detect any differences in the shorter boil time. Ok TravelingLight, maybe this old dog has learned a new trick! Thanks Bro.

 

[TravelingLight]

TravelingLight posed a question to me that made sense: Why do you do a 60 min boil with this Gose. I think my answer was "I have always done it that way". LOL Old dog syndrome. But I have thought about this a good bit since he asked.

I have a batch kettle souring now so I have decided to try a 30 minute boil. I have adjusted my hop addition to give me 8 IBU with a 30 min boil vs a 60 min boil, and I adjusted my full volume mash to reflect a shorter boil time with less evaporation. My only other concern is DMS but I don't think this will be a huge issue, plus any temp over 170-180F will kill off the lacto...no concern here. With these factors considered, I am exbeerimenting with a shorter boil time. I saved a couple of bottles of my last Gose (60 min boil) before the keg kicked, so I'll compare to see if I can detect any differences in the shorter boil time. Ok TravelingLight, maybe this old dog has learned a new trick! Thanks Bro.

Yeah man! You may or may not remember, but I didn't do a full 60 minute boil on mine. I had planned for a 30 minute boil, but truthfully, it ended up only boiling for about 15 minutes because I ran out of propane. Then my back up tank rank out. Then my back up for my back up ran out. So, in all, I only boiled for about 15 minutes. Didn't have any trouble. Still hit my numbers too, for the most part, IIRC.

 

[Sillybilly]

I'd have to check my notes, but I am pretty sure my boil was 30 minutes as well...

 

[chumpsteak]

I only did a 15 min boil on my batch. Figured it for 15 min in beersmith before I started so gravity came out fine. Hops at 15 min for 8 IBU and salt/coriander for 5 min. I did forget worlfloc at 15, but being a wheat beer I suppose it doesn't matter much. Chiller goes in at 15 min too.

 

[TravelingLight]

...I did forget worlfloc at 15, but being a wheat beer I suppose it doesn't matter much...

You bring up a great point. I used moss in mine because that's just what I usually do. Never used whirlfloc before but it's essentially the same thing as irish moss, right? Or at least does the same thing?

Reason I ask is, has anyone done this grist without any moss/whirlfloc? When I first kegged this beer it looked nice and cloudy, like a 50% wheat beer typically would. I cold crashed but did not gelatin or otherwise fin. I'm at the tail end of my keg now, and it's been on a while. But it is absolutely clear as hell now. I don't mind it at all. I'm just curious. I gave a bottle to a Bell's rep buddy of mine who said the clarity was "brilliant." As he also said, I guess time is really the best fining agent? I might have one full pint left in the keg. If it's as clear when I pour it I'll try and snap a pic.

Morrey, do yours clear up a helluva lot in the keg after a while?

 

[Morrey]

Morrey, do yours clear up a helluva lot in the keg after a while?

Absolutely. I never use Whirfloc in a wheat styled beer of which I make several including Alagash White, Blue Moon, Hefeweisen, Gose, Hoppy Gumball Head, etc. Of course these beers containing wheat are cloudy as this is a typically desirable.

But, in answer to your question, the beer does clear gradually in the keg over time. All of the proteins and yeast cells in these low flocculating beers finally do settle out and get drawn up in the dip tube. After a month in the keg at low temps, you'll have virtually clear beer.

This is not only true of a beer containing wheat, but any beer for that matter. I made a Pilsen Lager that had a bit of cloudiness after a month lagering. After I tapped and started serving the lager, it was clear as a bell by half thru the keg. Cold crashing takes a good while if not aided by gelatin or a similar fining agent. Even then it is not as quick as some think

 

[chumpsteak]

Made this again this week since the last batch turned out so good and is almost gone. This time made a starter with 10 L.Plantarum caps for a 10 gallons batch. Starter dropped to 3.3 within 2 days and 10 gallons of wort dropped to 3.3 in about 40 hours at room temperature. Very impressed with the L.Plantarum. will do 5 gallons of margarita gose and 5 gallons of another flavor.

 

[Morrey]

Made this again this week since the last batch turned out so good and is almost gone. This time made a starter with 10 L.Plantarum caps for a 10 gallons batch. Starter dropped to 3.3 within 2 days and 10 gallons of wort dropped to 3.3 in about 40 hours at room temperature. Very impressed with the L.Plantarum. will do 5 gallons of margarita gose and 5 gallons of another flavor.

Good deal! I got a Gose in the fermenter and lime zest in tequila as we speak preparing to rack into keg this Sat. I hit my all time low of 3.16ph with L Plantarum this time. This one is sure to be tart.

I brew in an unheated mancave, so I was hesitant to leave the kettle out to sour with our crazy weather in SC. I racked into a fermenter to sour in a controlled chamber at 87F, then hit 3.16ph right at 48 hours. Maybe this controlled, even temp made the difference.

Added one step by racking into fermenter, then back into kettle after souring but well worth it IMHO.

 

[TravelingLight]

Good deal! I got a Gose in the fermenter and lime zest in tequila as we speak preparing to rack into keg this Sat. I hit my all time low of 3.16ph with L Plantarum this time. This one is sure to be tart.

I brew in an unheated mancave, so I was hesitant to leave the kettle out to sour with our crazy weather in SC. I racked into a fermenter to sour in a controlled chamber at 87F, then hit 3.16ph right at 48 hours. Maybe this controlled, even temp made the difference.

Added one step by racking into fermenter, then back into kettle after souring but well worth it IMHO.

Still using 605 or did you use capsules this time?

 

[Morrey]

Still using 605 or did you use capsules this time?

I had both caps and two pouches of 605. The 605 was expiring almost 6 mos old to the day, but Lance at Omega says do a starter and it may be ok. To be on the safe side I used both pouches in the starter and it seemed to work very well....3.16 is my lowest yet. But was it two pouches or in a controlled fermenter that got me so low? I'd bet on fermenter.

The drawback is 605 is $11 a pouch plus expires in 6 mos. I have a couple of bottles of Swanson L Plantarum and they are certainly cheaper and seemly store longer than 605. This may be my shifting point to caps only.

 

[TravelingLight]

I had both caps and two pouches of 605. The 605 was expiring almost 6 mos old to the day, but Lance at Omega says do a starter and it may be ok. To be on the safe side I used both pouches in the starter and it seemed to work very well....3.16 is my lowest yet. But was it two pouches or in a controlled fermenter that got me so low? I'd bet on fermenter.

The drawback is 605 is $11 a pouch plus expires in 6 mos. I have a couple of bottles of Swanson L Plantarum and they are certainly cheaper and seemly store longer than 605. This may be my shifting point to caps only.

Nice. Thanks. I've got a tube of 605 in my fridge from the last time I brewed it. I always harvest off 500ml or so of my starters to save for the next time. But I've never done this with lacto, so not sure what to expect. Next time I brew a lacto, I'll probably try to use the 605 I've got but have some capsules on hand in case the 605 doesn't drop the ph enough.

 

[Morrey]

As my thinking evolved with this Margarita Gose, the way I was approaching tinctures needed to be fine tuned. I discovered the appeal of Oaked Tequila so I decided to do it in larger quantities...not only for the Gose infusion but maybe for other uses as well.

I found that oak spirals (medium toast) found at most brew stores would fit right into the neck of most 1.75L spirit bottles. I tried a 1.75L bottle of white tequila from Costco and the spiral fit right in the neck. Several weeks later the tequila had become beautifully oak infused and the color of iced tea. (They say 8-9 weeks the oak has fully worked and given up all of it's vanillins and tannins)

I used this oaked tequila to cover the lime zest to make the tincture two weeks, then pitch to taste. My last batch was 1.5C of oaked tequila over the zest of two medium limes.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Really wish I would've seen this when I brewed my margarita inspired beer about two months ago. Mine is a sour but of the funky kind - a simple beer of pilsen DME (OG 1.042) and a 1/2 oz of Saaz hops for 5 gal. Using a 3rd gen funky yeast cake of Brett and Lacto (originally in White Labs Belgian Sour Mix 1).

It is slightly margarita/cocktail inspired, and will become a honey-lime tequila barrel sour. I've done incremental feedings of honey to primary at 1 week, 2 weeks, and 1.5 months. At two weeks, I added a spiral of French oak (medium toast) that soaked in Espolon blanco tequila for 3 weeks. I however did not add the wood-infused spirit to the beer, only added the spiral. My plan being that I will add tequila later to flavor, possibly in secondary or bottling.

Morrey, you're right in that homemade wood-infused tequila is delicious. I mix the French oaked portion with fresh tequila and it's so much more complex than your standard reposado or anejo. And your idea of infusing the tequila with lime zest and then adding is a pretty good one. Might try it out.

I've also done lime Goses in the past, but didn't put nearly the amount of salt you did. I find most commercial goses to be overly salty, so I only added 7g per 5 gal which gives it a noticeable slight briny saltiness. To me an oz just seems like far too much. If I were try this I'd go for maybe 10-14g of salt, which I add at bottling or secondary, to taste. It's a much easier way to avoid the 'drinking seawater' taste.

A note on adding lime zest. I've exbeerimented with adding fresh lime zest at different points in the brewing process. Primary is out of the question, too many aromas/flavors are blown off. Secondary works well if adding 2-3 limes of zest for 2 weeks or so. As for bottling, you could go with Morrey's method of the tincture or alternatively, add fresh straight to the bottle (or keg). Not sure about kegging, but a very small pinch of fresh lime to each bottle really seems to boost the lime flavor, even preserving the freshness for months. I remember tasting my bottle-zested lime Berliner Weiss at months old and it still had great flavor, far more than those just with it added in secondary. These bottles also benefitted from an increased head retention and stability, along with better carbonation. Perhaps the zest oils actually aid with this?

 

[Morrey]

True to your post, my brew buddy KeyWest Brewing and I spent a long time going back and forth experimenting with various ways to infuse lime in a Gose. He had previously shared with me an awesome way to do a watermelon concentrate infusion so he knows his stuff. We tried it all including sachets of lime crystals, maybe called True Lime? Anyway, seems the alcohol in the tequila draws out the oils in the zest that we are finding most appealing. Once we headed the tincture route we are constantly refining our method as I posted this week.

I am totally impressed with the "inexpensive" tequila that I made taste like $100 tequila. The medium toast American oak spiral was a great discovery, so next I think I'll look for a French oak spiral as you mentioned and see how that works. Using that oaked tequila for the tincture gives a very subtle nuisance to the Gose reminiscent of a barrel aged sour.

I agree with your salt quantity adjustment. I modeled my base Gose after a popular commercial Gose from Westbrook in Charleston, SC. After scaling down I came up with .75 oz or 21 grams of sea salt. Knowing this was going to be a "margarita Gose", my mind was thinking in terms of a salt rimmed glass with a lime slice. So I bumped the salt to a full ounce, and you can see some folks would add even more, some would add less. However, we are in full control making our hobby unique to our individual tastes which is a good thing!

Enjoy!!

 

[thedon986]

I have this souring as we speak with OYL-605. This is my first sour attempt, but all seems okay so far. Mashed last night and quickly realized the Ph test strips are totally useless. I ended up blindly lowering the Ph into the 4.5 range and pitched the culture, no starter. Would have made a starter if I had gotten the package sooner.

Keeping it at 86 in my Grainfather per the advice on Milk the Funk for this culture. I Amazon next day'ed a real Ph meter and was sitting at 3.7 earlier today and now at 3.5. Will be doing a last Ph measurement early AM tomorrow and going to boil after that. I followed the procedure on the Grainfather blog about kettle souring and did a mash, sparge and 10 min boil and cool before pitching the lacto.

So far this has been an interesting learning experience and if I end up with a decent sour I will be pumped. I bought a sixer of Avery El Gose for the weekend which is somewhat similar to this recipe. At this point I am hoping that when I get up early to boil that the Ph isn't too low. I thought about taking it to a boil now at 3.5 but have read that it might be too soon. I want to have something fairly tart to counter all the salt and lime I am going to add.

Fingers crossed! Thanks for the recipe!

 

[arnobg]

I'm going to be making this in the next month or two. Just purchased Swanson Plantarum capsules, used Wyeast Lacto last time. Last summer I did a melon Gose with 1 oz of sea salt and that was perfect. I might hit this recipe with 1.25 oz, I like it salty. Last time I also hit a pH of 3.7 but this time I will go for 3.3-3.4. I used the concentrate method for the melon by making my own concentrate from fresh watermelon and it came out fantastic. I then added a small amount of hibiscus tea for the melon color. Can't wait to try this Gose this time....Here's my melon Gose in different lighting and how I made the concentrate.




View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1490494181.169584.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1490494210.881824.jpg

 

[Morrey]

I am hoping that when I get up early to boil that the Ph isn't too low. I thought about taking it to a boil now at 3.5 but have read that it might be too soon. I want to have something fairly tart to counter all the salt and lime I am going to add.

Fingers crossed! Thanks for the recipe!

I think you'll be glad you waited since 3.5 is likely to leave you wishing it was a bit more sour. 605 is pretty predictable that when it gets down to 3.2 or so it kinda stalls out and levels off around there. Lance at Omega Labs said he sometimes sees 3.19, and I actually saw 3.16 on my last batch. I really like that level, however 3.2 is really about right.

Did you take a final ph reading before your boil?

 

[Morrey]

I'm going to be making this in the next month or two. Just purchased Swanson Plantarum capsules, used Wyeast Lacto last time. Last summer I did a melon Gose with 1 oz of sea salt and that was perfect. I might hit this recipe with 1.25 oz, I like it salty. Last time I also hit a pH of 3.7 but this time I will go for 3.3-3.4. I used the concentrate method for the melon by making my own concentrate from fresh watermelon and it came out fantastic. I then added a small amount of hibiscus tea for the melon color. Can't wait to try this Gose this time....Here's my melon Gose in different lighting and how I made the concentrate.

I have a 1/2 G jug of watermelon juice in my freezer just waiting for me to concentrate it down. I end up with 16oz of concentrate after I let drip into a 32 oz jar, refreeze, and do the same drip process again down to 16 oz.

I also like the hibiscus dry hop. The color is WOW plus it adds a tiny bit of "rose hip" taste that accentuates the style. Really, this is a wonderful summer refresher. We love our Gose beers a bit salty when adding melon concentrate or lime tinctures.

 

[thedon986]

I think you'll be glad you waited since 3.5 is likely to leave you wishing it was a bit more sour. 605 is pretty predictable that when it gets down to 3.2 or so it kinda stalls out and levels off around there. Lance at Omega Labs said he sometimes sees 3.19, and I actually saw 3.16 on my last batch. I really like that level, however 3.2 is really about right.

Did you take a final ph reading before your boil?

Yep, it was down to 3.3 so I went ahead with it. Wort had a nice clean sour to it. In the fermenter now US-05 @ 66F.

 

[Morrey]

Yep, it was down to 3.3 so I went ahead with it. Wort had a nice clean sour to it. In the fermenter now US-05 @ 66F.

Excellent. Your rewards are forthcoming!

 

[ShareBrewing]

Thoughts on a lime concentrate using the freeze/drain/repeat method using straight up fresh pressed lime juice? Anyone tried that? Was planning on adding about a pint of juice to secondary, to help boost the acidity and lime flavor. Only downside is the watering down, but could you still achieve a similar result if this was turned into a concentrate? Would it preserve the lime flavor and acidity? I'd be worried of losing the vital citric acid with all the water loss in thawing. Toying with the idea of trying this alongside the lime zest tincture.

I checked the gravity on my sour honey ale w/ tequila soaked French oak. Tasted killer! Nicely tart and mildly sweet with some great honey tones, mild oak. Added some lime zest, lime juice, and tequila to the sample glass and wow! Now I can't wait this is done and everything is added.

 

[Morrey]

Thoughts on a lime concentrate using the freeze/drain/repeat method using straight up fresh pressed lime juice? Anyone tried that? Was planning on adding about a pint of juice to secondary, to help boost the acidity and lime flavor. Only downside is the watering down, but could you still achieve a similar result if this was turned into a concentrate? Would it preserve the lime flavor and acidity? I'd be worried of losing the vital citric acid with all the water loss in thawing. Toying with the idea of trying this alongside the lime zest tincture.

I checked the gravity on my sour honey ale w/ tequila soaked French oak. Tasted killer! Nicely tart and mildly sweet with some great honey tones, mild oak. Added some lime zest, lime juice, and tequila to the sample glass and wow! Now I can't wait this is done and everything is added.

My cohort in crime (KeyWest) and I actually tried working on concentrating lime juice down to use for flavoring. We found the oils in the zest (tincture) was what we were looking for and the concentrated juice seemed lacking in depth. Certainly not meaning to discourage your efforts to exbeeriment, and if you approach* it like we did, its fun to drink you way into something for your specific tastes.

*We made generic/standard Gose beer as a base and tried various infusions, tinctures, concentrates, etc by adding into a pint of base beer. Kept us from making whole kegs that may not have been what we hoped for.