International Happy Gose Day 2022: Say cheers to this German ritual with an extra glass of beer

Every year, November 17 is celebrated as International Happy Gose Day. Gose is a fermented sour wheat beer that originated in the 16th century in Goslar, Northern Germany. With time, though, it became more associated with the city of Leipzig. Normally, German beer can only contain water, barley, yeast, and hops. However, Gose is also made with malted wheat and coriander. Gose was made until WWII before disappearing and making a comeback in 1949. Friedrich Wurzler Brauerei, credited for saving Gose, and its descendants continued to brew the sour beer until the 1960s. Today, there are still 400 makers of Gose in the whole world!

This German beer belongs to the sour beer family that also includes Belgian lambic beers (gueuze, framboise and kriek lambic), Flanders red ale, Flanders brown (oud bruin), Berliner Weisse, and American wild ale. All these beers have an intentionally tart flavor that is achieved by adding special bacteria or yeast strains into the brew, or by adding fruit.

Gose was first brewed in Goslar, a small town in Lower Saxony, in the early 13th century. It was spontaneously fermented without the deliberate addition of yeast. However, by the end of the 19th century, brewers learned how to achieve the same affect deliberately by adding a combination of lactic acid bacteria and top-fermenting yeast into the brew. However, the number of breweries producing gose declined during the first half of 20th century.

The last brewery producing gose, the Rittergutsbrauerei Döllnitz, closed in 1945. The beer disappeared completely for several years; the Friedrich Wurzler Brauerei in Leipzig brewed it between 1949 and 1966, but there was little demand for gose. It was revived again in 1986, but then briefly disappeared in 1988. The true revival of gose began after that, and the new found popularity of this unusual style of beer have been growing steadily over the past decades.

Gose beers usually aren’t very strong; their alcohol content tends to be moderate, ranging from 4 to 5% ABV. But it is definitely worth trying at least once in your life.

The best way to celebrate International Happy Gose Day is to drink some gose. This style of beer might not be easy to come by, but it you know a pub or brewery that serves gose, you definitely should introduce your friends to this amazing beer.

The first celebration took place on November 17, 2016. The holiday has been observed every year since then by gose lovers all over the world.

Great State Ale Works, Susegado, and Toit are some of the gose beers available in Mumbai and other parts of India.

With inputs from national day calendar.