Friday, May 6, 2016

Random Suds Review: Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose Ale.

Happy Friday everyone! I'm back with a random, on-the-spot review of a new beer for you. Served up this go round is the Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose Ale. My regular readers will know that I've reviewed multiple brews from Anderson Valley Brewing in the past, all with great success. Let's hope this latest ale will continue that trend!


The Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose Ale is 4.2% Alc. by volume and brewed with an extra special ingredient. During the fermentation process, blood oranges are added to the mix. As such, the final result should have a fair amount of citrus flavor. With this being a gose ale, it's brewed slightly different than other beers. Sea salt and coriander are employed in the brewing process, producing a much different flavor than one would expect. I've never had a gose ale before, so here goes nothing!

As with all of my reviews, I'll break it into two different parts. First, I'll taste test it while cold. Then, I'll drink it at room temperature. Some beers are better warm. Others are better when frosty. Let's get started!

Cold:

  • No head upon pouring it into a pint glass.
  • I can't detect anything citrus-like by the beer's odor.
  • Lots of carbonation and fizz.
  • WOW! Extremely bitter upon immediately hitting my tongue.
  • One of the most bitter beers I've ever tasted.
  • The flavor has a dull, highly muted lemon quality.
  • The bitterness overshadows the citrus notes, almost to the point of eroding them completely.
  • If there are any blood oranges in this beer, I can't taste them.
  • I am amazed at how the bitterness continually smacks me in the mouth, gulp after gulp.
  • Thankfully, the bitterness is all front-loaded, and the ale goes down quite easily upon swallow.

At Room Temperature:

  • The bitterness nature has become more sour and funky, much to my chagrin.
  • The fizz has all but disappeared.
  • Flavor profile is completely bland and lifeless.
  • Honestly, it's not really enjoyable at all.

Bummer. I was looking forward to trying another beer from Anderson Valley. Sadly, the Blood Orange Gose Ale was a complete failure in my book. I don't think it had anything to do with me not having experienced a gose ale before, either. Ultimately, the beer was just lifeless and awkward. If I wanted to taste something bitter, I'd suck on a radish.

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