June Brew of the Month: Sofrunky Wow Pear Gose

Original label by Jaime Miller

By Hayden Shelley

We’re a few weeks from the start of summer now and it finally feels as if the warm weather might be here to stay. Around this time of the year I find myself filled with a sudden urge for two styles of beer: fruit beers and Gose (Goses?).  Therefore, for my brew of the month I wanted to combine the two. I brainstormed about which fruit would combine best with the crisp refreshing flavor of a Gose when, finally, my mind came to pears, and I got to work on my recipe.

For this beer, I chose a classic grain bill of 60% wheat malt accompanied by 40% pilsner malt. I mashed in for a 60-minute rest at 148°F to finish with a highly fermentable wort. To achieve the sourness I felt appropriate, I added two pounds of sour malt after the initial mash was complete and followed with a second rest for 45 minutes. Once complete I sparged as usually and proceeded with a 90-minute boil. Tettnang hops were added at 60 minutes for bittering. The only other additions came from coriander seed and pink Himalayan sea salt added with 10 minutes left in the boil.  For a clean yeast character I chose to pitch Wyeast 1007 German Ale. After two weeks in the primary I racked the beer onto five pounds of Bartlett pears where it sat for one more week prior to kegging.

With this being my first experience using pears I was eager to tap the beer. To the eye it has a light-yellow color with the familiar haze and creamy white head often seen in wheat beers.  The flavor shows a subtle pear sweetness combined with citrus character from the coriander and a salty minerality from the pink Himalayan sea salt. The beer finishes tart, dry and highly refreshing.

Overall I am pleasantly surprised with the way this turned out.  It is a Frankenstein creation of two of my favorite styles of beers and I feel as if it can please even the pickiest of beer drinkers. Oh, and for the name, let’s just leave it at AutoCorrect’s attempt at translating a drunk text message. Vital Statistics OG: 1.048 FG: 1.009 IBUs: 11.3 SRM: 3.6 ABV: 5.1%

All Grain Brewing ($28.31*)

• 5.75 lbs. Briess White Wheat Malt
• 3.75 lbs. Avangard Pilsner Malt
• 2 lbs. Acidulated Malt
• 1.4 oz. German Tettnang Hops (60 mins)
• 1 oz. Coriander Seed (10 mins)
• 0.75 oz. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt* (10 mins)
• Wyeast 1007 German Ale
• 5 lbs. Bartlett Pears*

Extract Brewing ($34.24*)

• 4 lbs. Wheat Liquid Malt
• 2.9 lbs. Light Liquid Malt
• 2 lbs. Acidulated Malt
• 1.4 oz. German Tettnang Hops (60 mins)
• 1 oz. Coriander Seed (10 mins)
• 0.75 oz. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt* (10 mins)
• Wyeast 1007 German Ale
• 5 lbs. Bartlett Pears*

*Cost of pink Himalayan sea salt and Bartlett pears not reflected in this price.