Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, allow me to remind you that I love goses. I think they are tasty, I think they are refreshing, and I think you could make a pretty good argument that they are a perfect Houston summer beer. So when I walked into Mongoose versus Cobra a couple weeks back and saw the Texas Beer Refinery Cranberry Gose on tap, I had a bit of a moment. On the one hand, I love goses. On the other, the only thing I had ever seen from Texas Beer Refinery was their absurd prepackaged growler distribution system at grocery stores.

One more cool thing: the bombers (like this Mexican IPA) have incredible bottle caps.

But I’ll try pretty much anything, so I ordered a pint, took a sip, and was amazed. Twenty ounces later I wouldn’t shut up about how tasty of a beer it was.

I promptly texted several friends and fellow Houston Beer Guide writers to spread the word of this amazing find, and the conversations that ensued convinced me to seek out as many other Texas Beer Refinery beers as I could find without making the trek down to Dickinson. A quick trip to the HEB on San Felipe followed with me grabbing three other beers from their portfolio, including two bombers (the growler thing is apparently going away, which is good), and only because I already liked the cranberry variety, a growler of their Gulf Coast Gose.

Gulf Coast Gose Fall Edition (2015 Cranberry) – Tart and salty, with a great cranberry flavor, this is really really good. When I got to the end of my imperial pint, I realized I could drink a lot more of this.

Mexican IPA – Very adventurous flavors in this, but I enjoyed it immensely. There’s a limey and leafy flavor that works quite well, in spite of how that sounds. A great balance and I had no trouble finishing the bomber.

Gulf Coast Gose – Sure, there may have been no cranberry, but there were hints of grapefruit with lots of coriander. Very solidly constructed; this would be perfect for hot Houston summers. I will happily crush this one in the future.

Catalyst Imperial IPA – The only one of the four that didn’t blow me away, if only because my craft beer tastes have changed to veer me away from the extremely-hopped style of IPAs. Hop lovers will enjoy this because it is well crafted, bottle dated, and extremely hop-forward.

Having tried these four, I have to say I’m very excited for what Texas Beer Refinery does next. I may even head to Dickinson, when their new taproom opens in March, or the Clear Lake Shores Food Truck Park, where their beer is frequently available (and where I hear the food trucks are incredible). Regardless of where, you need to seek out TBR beers and drink them. You’ll be very glad you did.

The post You Should Be Drinking Texas Beer Refinery first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post You Should Be Drinking Texas Beer Refinery appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.

There’s enough pictures of beer on HBG to allow for one picture of killer ceviche…

Ever since my first taste of Bayerischer Bahnhof’s Leipziger Gose, I’ve absolutely loved the gose style of beer. The mingling of salt and coriander with a sour wheat base is interesting and delicious, and the low alcoholic content is a perfect touch allowing extra enjoyment of more goses. So when I heard that the Flying Saucer, in my opinion the home of Houston’s best beer program, would be hosting a $20 gose tasting, I knew there was no chance I could pass up on it. And I’m glad I didn’t.

Led by the Saucer’s own Joshua Justice, the gose tasting started out with a glass of the recently-released Prairie Flare from Oklahoma. I found Flare to be very soft, with only a little salt and a nice hint of citrus. It paired excellently with a Peruvian ceviche and a French sheep brie. The citrus in the ceviche actually paired well, rather than distracting from the gose, and, very surprisingly, the cheese complimented the light saltiness.

Between goses, Josh treated us to information on the history of gose, including the fact that, since its invention in Goslar well before its 16-17th century migration to Leipzig, it has died out as a style three separate times. As the discussion continued, we were treated to our second pairing: Destihl’s Here Gose Nothing, from Illinois, with a smoked salmon dip. This one has been in Texas for a few months, but the first cans of it were recalled after reports of undesirable off-flavors. This time, however, the flavor was much more similar to what I recall from having had it a few years ago: lightly tart with a good balance and lime notes throughout. The smoke in the dip worked well as a counterbalance.

Those two pairings wrapped up the formal part of the tasting, but it wouldn’t be a party without party favors, and Josh and the Flying Saucer arranged a few free tastings of extra goodies that are not available for sale in Texas. The free tastings included Vermont’s Lost Nation Gose, Oregon’s de Garde Hose, and South Carolina’s Westbrook Gose, three of the more well-known goses outside our state, paired with Linie Aquavit. In addition, a few participants got to taste some even more limited free tastings, including two more beers from de Garde (Nelson Hose, which was my favorite by far, and Cherry Gose), another treat from Lost Nation (The Wind), and finally a delectable treat from Connecticut’s OEC (Artista Zynergia: Gosatequin).

To say the event was awesome would be a major understatement. There should be no surprise that the Flying Saucer would put together an event of this caliber (and price), but somehow I still left amazed. Hopefully when the next tasting is on the schedule (Josh hopes to do American Pale Ales next), you’ll be able to join!

The post Flying Saucer’s Gose Tasting first appeared on Houston Beer Guide.

The post Flying Saucer’s Gose Tasting appeared first on Houston Beer Guide.