Margarita Gose

[arnobg]

I also use a full ounce of salt on all flavor variations. I personally wouldn't use less but I like my gose salty.

 

[Morrey]

I also use a full ounce of salt on all flavor variations. I personally wouldn't use less but I like my gose salty.

I totally agree! I have never been to Germany to know what the "real" Gose style would be like in comparison, but I have tried backing off the salt at my wife's request. That happened all of one time and back to the full oz we went!

 

[burninator]

This sounds really good. I brew a gose every year and split it in secondary onto different additions. This is going to be the next one.

 

[jready]

Thanks to Morrey I brewed 10 gallons of this beer over the weekend. I used WLP672 to sour built up a starter over a couple of days.

It soured much quicker than expected I hit my ph mark in 36 hours. It is now bubbling away and both tinctures are started.

Morrey thank you again for sharing this! Really excited to see how it turns out.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Just tasted it at 10 days old in the bottle. For an 8.0% beer it carbed up fast and certainly doesn't drink like it.

Definitely a batch to do again. The SWMBO won't let it leave there hand, and won't let me give any bottles away! For my taste the 17g of salt in 5 gal was perfect.

Thanks for sharing this idea/recipe! Can't wait to exbeeriment with it in the future!

 

[jready]

I just pulled a sample to taste and the sourness is really starting to come through! Hopefully I will be able to get this in the brite tank Saturday!

 

[Morrey]

I just pulled a sample to taste and the sourness is really starting to come through! Hopefully I will be able to get this in the brite tank Saturday!

Its really hard to gauge the sourness by taste while there are fermentable sugars still in the wort. But once the sugars are converted...the sour really pops!

 

[jready]

Just tapped this beer this weekend. It is so good! Thank you for sharing Morrey!

 

[ShareBrewing]

Thanks to Morrey for sharing the ideas/recipe. Gotta a few comments on this from friends this is one of the best recipes I've ever made.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks to Morrey for sharing the ideas/recipe. Gotta a few comments on this from friends this is one of the best recipes I've ever made.

Sounds like your friends have discovered your brewing talents. Congrats on a good Gose!

 

[isomerization]

Hey Morrey, I'm planning ahead for my Watermelon Gose attempt. I have freeze distilled my watermelon juice, any other mods for this versus the Magarita variant? I used 1 oz each of salt and cracked coriander last time, and was quite pleased, but the lime was definitely dominant, so not sure if that covered up flavors that will be exposed with just watermelon. I'm also planning on using a FO addition of El Dorado to try and balance the fruit.

 

[TravelingLight]

Hey Morrey, I'm planning ahead for my Watermelon Gose attempt. I have freeze distilled my watermelon juice, any other mods for this versus the Magarita variant? I used 1 oz each of salt and cracked coriander last time, and was quite pleased, but the lime was definitely dominant, so not sure if that covered up flavors that will be exposed with just watermelon. I'm also planning on using a FO addition of El Dorado to try and balance the fruit.

Damn, that'll be nice with El Dorado! Good call.

Also, I do believe Morrey tweaks the salt addition a hair on the watermelon variant. But I'm not certain so I'll defer to him.

 

[Morrey]

Damn, that'll be nice with El Dorado! Good call.

Also, I do believe Morrey tweaks the salt addition a hair on the watermelon variant. But I'm not certain so I'll defer to him.

I think you'll be safe to reduce the salt a tad on the melon...maybe .75 oz vs a full oz. Of course I like salt on my watermelon (southern thing I suppose) and Anderson Valley Briny Melon Gose is pretty salty. Judgement call based on your personal tastes.

El Dorado sounds nice, so please report back so we all can see your results.

One thing about the watermelon Gose is the watermelon juice concentrate looks bright red, but when added in 5G of beer, the flavor is nice but the color is not evident. To add back some reddish watermelon color, I dry hopped an ounce of dried hibiscus petals (muslin bag) overnight**. Wow it turned bright red for sure and gave the beer a slight flavor almost like rose hips. This all played very nicely in the beer. When I tapped my first sample after kegging it all looked like a strawberry milkshake and I was horrified. This calmed down quickly and the beer cleared and remained bright red.

**Second attempt, I racked the beer on the hibiscus and only left it sit an hour. Not long enough, so I have settled on a 12 hour hibiscus hop for the correct color and subtle flavor.

I love the melon Gose too and make this during the summer. I shift to the margarita version in the fall when fresh melon supply dries up.

 

[Morrey]

the lime was definitely dominant

Lime is a dominant flavor profile for sure. With the base beer being so tart, it is hard to tell where the tartness ends and the lime begins. But this is such a beautiful combination and perfectly matched IMHO.

The watermelon is subtle and softer... somewhat different and my wife's favorite beer of anything I make. Please see my reply to your post and to TravelingLight's reply.

You are in for a summer treat!!

 

[isomerization]

Great stuff Morrey and Traveling Light, will post back with results, hoping to make this in early July. I'm definitely going to try the hibiscus petal "trick", any suggestions on sourcing them?

 

[ShareBrewing]

I believe Brewers Best should have packs (2.5 oz) of dried hibiscus flower. Can find it for pretty cheap. Did wonders in my hibiscus orange wit. Highly recommended. Hibiscus is cool to use because it can add its own perceived tartness that's floral yet somewhat blueberry like. Plus a ton of color in a short time.

 

[isomerization]

I believe Brewers Best should have packs (2.5 oz) of dried hibiscus flower. Can find it for pretty cheap. Did wonders in my hibiscus orange wit. Highly recommended. Hibiscus is cool to use because it can add its own perceived tartness that's floral yet somewhat blueberry like. Plus a ton of color in a short time.

Awesome, thanks for the insight!

 

[arnobg]

How much oak are you guys using? I purchased a big back of Jack Daniel Oak Barrel Chips from Lowes for $6 and was thinking about using those oak chips to make my tequila tincture. Think it would impart too much whiskey flavor?

 

[arnobg]

I think you'll be safe to reduce the salt a tad on the melon...maybe .75 oz vs a full oz. Of course I like salt on my watermelon (southern thing I suppose) and Anderson Valley Briny Melon Gose is pretty salty. Judgement call based on your personal tastes.



El Dorado sounds nice, so please report back so we all can see your results.



One thing about the watermelon Gose is the watermelon juice concentrate looks bright red, but when added in 5G of beer, the flavor is nice but the color is not evident. To add back some reddish watermelon color, I dry hopped an ounce of dried hibiscus petals (muslin bag) overnight**. Wow it turned bright red for sure and gave the beer a slight flavor almost like rose hips. This all played very nicely in the beer. When I tapped my first sample after kegging it all looked like a strawberry milkshake and I was horrified. This calmed down quickly and the beer cleared and remained bright red.



**Second attempt, I racked the beer on the hibiscus and only left it sit an hour. Not long enough, so I have settled on a 12 hour hibiscus hop for the correct color and subtle flavor.



I love the melon Gose too and make this during the summer. I shift to the margarita version in the fall when fresh melon supply dries up.

Here's my watermelon version last year using the same concentrate method for the melon.

It adds no color at all so for the color I did a 1.5 Cup hot water /1 oz hibiscus tea steeping for two minutes then added that tea to the keg. Color came out spot on.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1498061067.684321.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1498061085.935234.jpg

 

[Morrey]

Here's my watermelon version last year using the same concentrate method for the melon.

It adds no color at all so for the color I did a 1.5 Cup hot water /1 oz hibiscus tea steeping for two minutes then added that tea to the keg. Color came out spot on.

View attachment 405037

View attachment 405038

I like your "tea" idea. This is my version dry hopping the hibiscus petals. Darn, this sucker looks like it may spill out laying sideways...

 

[Morrey]

I believe Brewers Best should have packs (2.5 oz) of dried hibiscus flower. Can find it for pretty cheap. Did wonders in my hibiscus orange wit. Highly recommended. Hibiscus is cool to use because it can add its own perceived tartness that's floral yet somewhat blueberry like. Plus a ton of color in a short time.

Amazon is also a source. I bought a pound for a few dollars.

 

[ShareBrewing]

How much oak are you guys using? I purchased a big back of Jack Daniel Oak Barrel Chips from Lowes for $6 and was thinking about using those oak chips to make my tequila tincture. Think it would impart too much whiskey flavor?

I used a spiral that was about 14g. Maybe 1/3 of the actual spiral. Spirals and cubes are just my preference.

Oak chips I've heard can be pretty intense in oak flavor and can have pretty fast extraction. That's a fairly general opinion here on HBT. To me, American oak IS the flavor of whiskey. So to me, the wood would be enough to flavor the tequila like whiskey (or like a reposado).

If the whiskey quality of the wood isn't to your liking, you could always take a small hand full of chips, soak em in a few shots of Jack, strain the chips and add those to the tequila. Lots of ways you can go here my friend.

 

[ShareBrewing]

This watermelon is really getting me thinking about juicing down 3 or 4 of em and freezing it all down... Was never really a big fan of many of the watermelon beers I've tried, especially sour ones. But this is really a cool idea, and I would love to go overboard on it. It really sounds good in a lime beer.

How many watermelons (or lbs of it) does it take to get that 1 pint of concentrate that you add? I'd aim for at least a full quart or more.

 

[Morrey]

This watermelon is really getting me thinking about juicing down 3 or 4 of em and freezing it all down... Was never really a big fan of many of the watermelon beers I've tried, especially sour ones. But this is really a cool idea, and I would love to go overboard on it. It really sounds good in a lime beer.

How many watermelons (or lbs of it) does it take to get that 1 pint of concentrate that you add? I'd aim for at least a full quart or more.

I usually buy a medium seedless watermelon which yields at least a half gallon of juice. After freezing, collecting, refreezing and collecting, one half gallon of juice yields 16 oz which is what I use for a 5G keg.

Lime tends to eclipse other flavors remembering you'll also have a tart element in the sour beer. Watermelon is subtle so consider tasting w/o lime first, than maybe a lime tincture would be a good way to add slowly if you still want that addition.

 

[arnobg]

I think I'm gonna try a lime watermelon gose after this margarita one. I recently brewed a Blonde Ale and used the same watermelon process but also added a vodka tincture of lime zest from 4 limes. The result was incredible. Melon and lime go really well together it was super refreshing. I think the sour would make it even better.

Here's my lime/melon blonde. Used the 8 oz of melon concentrate and 4 zested likes in 2 oz of vodka. That was for a 3 gallon batch though.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1498403185.022431.jpg

 

[Tricerahops220]

Along with my buddy fellow HBT member Key West Brewing, we exchanged ideas about the best way to create a Margarita Gose without overdoing things, but to create a taste profile that gets your attention.

I started the 5G batch with a basic 50/50 wheat to 2 row base and kettle soured with L Plantarum down to 3.24 ph. I kept the Saaz hop bill low (8 IBU) during the boil following souring. I was generous with a full ounce of pink sea salt and an ounce of coriander knowing I wanted a salty flavor profile with this beer.

The 1.040 beer finished nicely at 1.008 with US-05. First time I made a sour with dry yeast and it worked as well as any liquid like WLP001 or WLP029 I had used prior. I'll stick with US-05 from now on.

During fermentation, I zested 4 small limes taking the green skin with a vegetable peeler leaving the white pith behind. I soaked these lime peels in 3/4 cup of good anjeo tequila to make a tincture. The limes marinated in this tincture for two weeks while beer was in primary.

When racked to keg, I strained the zest and pitched the tincture while siphoning beer to keg. My initial taste was very "limey" but I was lacking tequila depth for my tastes. I next took a cup of the same tequila in a mason jar and added two medium toasted oak cubes. My goal here was to emulate a beer that was aged in a tequila barrel. The tequila picked up a really nice oaky aroma while aging one additional week.

In the meantime while this oak tincture was infusing, I was carbing the keg and sampling. The lime calmed down perfectly and needed no additional adjustments. I then pitched the oak infused tequila tincture and let it rest several more days.

I hate to sound self-serving, but this has got to be one of the best beers I have ever made! The salt balances the lime and the oak is very subtle but adds in with the hint of tequila making this a perfect margarita style. Glad this is a relatively low ABV beer since I can't seem to stay away from it!

Just wanted to share........

I am just trying to wrap my head around how this whole process works after reviewing it for a couple of hours.

I couldn't find the full summary in here so bear with me if i missed it somewhere along the way.

So you start a sour, just like any other beer, with a 50/50 wheat and 2-row base. You mash this and once complete, you put it into your BK just like you would any other beer. Then you take that, ramp it up to a boil for 5 minutes to kill anything off that may be in your wort, then cool it to anywhere from 115 degrees to 105 degrees where you pitch your L plantarum (souring agent/probiotic - exact amount is still TBD). You leave all of this wort in the kettle and maintain a temp of 105-115 up to 72 hours until your pH drops to where you want it (in this case 3.29). Once you hit that point, you bring the kettle back to a boil and continue brewing as one normally would.

You go about whatever hop additions you want to make (typically something with a lower AA% toward the end of the boil/flameout in the case of a Gose or sour). Add the salt (timing unknown, I would assume with 5 mins left in the boil), and your spices. Continue with your standard operating procedure and cool your wort (with a GF of 1.040) to pitching temp and pitch the US-05.

Leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks before pitching your lime zest infused tequila. Let the batch sit for 1 more week before transferring the batch to keg where you added your 2 tequila infused oak cubes and starting the carb.

Let the keg rest/cool for the next couple of days and serve?

Am i understanding this correctly?

 

[arnobg]

I am just trying to wrap my head around how this whole process works after reviewing it for a couple of hours.



I couldn't find the full summary in here so bear with me if i missed it somewhere along the way.



So you start a sour, just like any other beer, with a 50/50 wheat and 2-row base. You mash this and once complete, you put it into your BK just like you would any other beer. Then you take that, ramp it up to a boil for 5 minutes to kill anything off that may be in your wort, then cool it to anywhere from 115 degrees to 105 degrees where you pitch your L plantarum (souring agent/probiotic - exact amount is still TBD). You leave all of this wort in the kettle and maintain a temp of 105-115 up to 72 hours until your pH drops to where you want it (in this case 3.29). Once you hit that point, you bring the kettle back to a boil and continue brewing as one normally would.



You go about whatever hop additions you want to make (typically something with a lower AA% toward the end of the boil/flameout in the case of a Gose or sour). Add the salt (timing unknown, I would assume with 5 mins left in the boil), and your spices. Continue with your standard operating procedure and cool your wort (with a GF of 1.040) to pitching temp and pitch the US-05.



Leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks before pitching your lime zest infused tequila. Let the batch sit for 1 more week before transferring the batch to keg where you added your 2 tequila infused oak cubes and starting the carb.



Let the keg rest/cool for the next couple of days and serve?



Am i understanding this correctly?

You're on the right track overall but there are a few important things to change.

When you cool it after your mash/short boil you want to cool it to a temp within tolerance for you specific lactobacillus strain. If you use plantarum you really don't want it over 100F, I keep it around 90F. This is dependent on the lacto strain you use. Additionally, you want to use lactic acid and drop the pH of your wort to 4.4 range before pitching the lacto. This keeps any other bugs at bay and let's your lacto do it's thing.

As for the hop addition it doesn't matter how much you use because the wort is already soured. Typically for a gose you want to shoot for 5-10 IBU's from a noble hop. I shoot for 8 IBU's and do a 60 minute addition only. No late additions or flameout for this style.

You're on point with fermentation. Should take 10-14 days in primary but don't add anything! The tinctures get added to the keg when you rack your beer to it.

Don't stress too much I remember my first gose and it seems like a lot, but just follow instruction and it will all make sense and turn out great! Also do some research on eliminating O2 in your kettle when pitching your lacto.

 

[Morrey]

I am just trying to wrap my head around how this whole process works after reviewing it for a couple of hours.

I couldn't find the full summary in here so bear with me if i missed it somewhere along the way.

So you start a sour, just like any other beer, with a 50/50 wheat and 2-row base. You mash this and once complete, you put it into your BK just like you would any other beer. Then you take that, ramp it up to a boil for 5 minutes to kill anything off that may be in your wort, then cool it to anywhere from 115 degrees to 105 degrees where you pitch your L plantarum (souring agent/probiotic - exact amount is still TBD). You leave all of this wort in the kettle and maintain a temp of 105-115 up to 72 hours until your pH drops to where you want it (in this case 3.29). Once you hit that point, you bring the kettle back to a boil and continue brewing as one normally would.

You go about whatever hop additions you want to make (typically something with a lower AA% toward the end of the boil/flameout in the case of a Gose or sour). Add the salt (timing unknown, I would assume with 5 mins left in the boil), and your spices. Continue with your standard operating procedure and cool your wort (with a GF of 1.040) to pitching temp and pitch the US-05.

Leave the beer in primary for 2 weeks before pitching your lime zest infused tequila. Let the batch sit for 1 more week before transferring the batch to keg where you added your 2 tequila infused oak cubes and starting the carb.

Let the keg rest/cool for the next couple of days and serve?

Am i understanding this correctly?

I have a couple of documents in MS Word that I'll be glad to send if you'll PM me with an email address. These documents outline a step by step process to make a Margarita Gose. The other document tells how to make a watermelon concentrate that you may enjoy during the summer. You'd add the watermelon concentrate instead of the tequila lime tincture if you choose this version.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Hmm. I just thought of a way to use the limes in the beer instead of adding fresh squeezed juice. Made a BIAB hard lemonade with 24lbs of fresh lemons recently and I just realized I could use the same method for infusing limes into the beer.

Would it be possible to stew several pounds of fresh cut limes @ flameout in a brewbag before pitching yeast? Cut maybe cut 5-6 pounds of limes (in wheels, discard pithy ends) per 5 gal, and steep @ ~165F for about 30 min. The limes slices should break down and release their juices and flavors. It would help to add about 0.5 oz lime zest per 5 gal as well. It may even help to cut the limes (not used for zesting) and freeze the slices overnight before brewing. Cut and add the limes not used for zesting on the actual brewday. Once the steep is done, remove the brewbag and squeeze the **** out of it to get the last of the juicy goodness.

Combined with the tequila-lime tincture, do you think this could be a good idea? I didn't loose much volume to the lemons after squeezing, so this wouldn't be a concern. Thoughts?

 

[TravelingLight]

Hmm. I just thought of a way to use the limes in the beer instead of adding fresh squeezed juice. Made a BIAB hard lemonade with 24lbs of fresh lemons recently and I just realized I could use the same method for infusing limes into the beer.

Would it be possible to stew several pounds of fresh cut limes @ flameout in a brewbag before pitching yeast? Cut maybe cut 5-6 pounds of limes (in wheels, discard pithy ends) per 5 gal, and steep @ ~165F for about 30 min. The limes slices should break down and release their juices and flavors. It would help to add about 0.5 oz lime zest per 5 gal as well. It may even help to cut the limes (not used for zesting) and freeze the slices overnight before brewing. Cut and add the limes not used for zesting on the actual brewday. Once the steep is done, remove the brewbag and squeeze the **** out of it to get the last of the juicy goodness.

Combined with the tequila-lime tincture, do you think this could be a good idea? I didn't loose much volume to the lemons after squeezing, so this wouldn't be a concern. Thoughts?

IMO, Morrey has dialed in this recipe pretty damn spot on. Personally, I don't think it needs more lime. But, of course, that's absolutely up to you.