It’s the dog days of summer, your commute is brutal and the workdays are long. You’re sweating more than your beer is. What is that beer you’re drinking, anyway? Is that a heavy, bitter IPA in your hand?

Trade it in for a gose.

Now is the time for a refreshing beer that won’t make you want to chug water or take a nap after but one that has flavor and character. If you haven’t been stocking your cooler with gose (pronounced “go-sah”), go ahead and start.

Gose is a light beer made with water, wheat, coriander, and salt, and typically should be 4-5% ABV. If you’re familiar with sour beers, it’s on the mild end of that spectrum, like the Miller Lite of sour beers. Gose tends to have a nice, sour and tart lemon flavor that finishes clean and tickles the tongue with a hint of salt. Those flavors combine to make a super refreshing beer, perfect for beach, barbecue, and sitting-in-front-of-the-nearest-fan drinking. The low alcohol content and salty finish won’t leave you sluggish and dehydrated like a double IPA. In fact, it’s almost like you’re not drinking beer at all, but beer’s younger cousin that’s related to kombucha but the family doesn’t like to talk about it. But it is beer, and you’ll find it in grocery store aisles made by Westbrook, Anderson Valley, Six Point, Sierra Nevada Otra Vez, or Victory Kirsch Gose.

Gose cans from Westbrook Brewing Co, Sixpoint, Anderson Valley Brewing Compan, Carton Brewing, and Lost Nation Brewing. Photo by Laura Murray

A German beer in origin, it’s brewed in open top tanks that allow the beer to pick up wild yeasts and get the funky, tart flavor I dig so much. And it’s making a huge comeback here in the U.S. and in other beer-loving countries. Keep an eye out for Vermont’s Lost Nation Gose, Sakura from Carton in New Jersey, Hose from De Garde in Oregon, and Chicago's Hop Gose Weasel from Marz Community Brewing.

Drink these beers with grilled food—the sharpness is refreshing and the salty tartness cuts most dishes nicely on the palate. They’re also great with spicy foods. But honestly, gose really goes with everything. You can’t go wrong (unless you pair it with stale gum you found in your pocket or something).