Saisons have taken their place as my current favorite style of beer, but if there was room at the number two spot it would go to the gose. First introduced to me by Anderson Valley Brewing Company by way of the very excellent Will Gordon at Drunkspin, the gose is a low-octane sour beer that gets its telltale flavor from yeast and Lactobacillus (lactic bacteria) introduced during fermentation. The result is a tart beer with a salty flavor that hits you like a cruise missile right in the back corners of your piehole.

Beer Advocate lists 410 different goses on its site, but there are only two worth knowing: the aforementioned offering from Anderson Valley, and that from Westbrook Brewing Company in South Carolina (Off Color is alleged to make a very excellent versions, however I cannot attest to its veracity.). Salty beer seems antithetical to the Craft Beer Movement™ and its lean towards hops and more hops. But, if the main tenet of the CBM is getting outside of the watered-down pilsener box, the gose certainly takes a hard left.

Victory Brewing Company of Downingtown, Pa. released its Kirsch Gose as a springtime seasonal, though it is still available at bottle shops throughout the mid-Atlantic. The “kirsch” is derived from the tart cherry brandy called kirsschwasser, a colorless liqueur popular in Germany. The combination of tart and sour results in a complex flavor profile that has hints of yeast and malt. The pucker smashes you in the mouth and throat, but in a way that makes you dive for the second bottle. If you can still get your hands around a bottle, take one home. Otherwise, commence clamoring for its 2016 release.

Brewer: Victory Brewing Company

Beer: Kirsch Gose

Style: Gose

ABV: 4.7% IBU: n/a

Container: 12 oz. bottle

Price: $2.49 (purchased as a single) Point of Purchase: Sam The Beer Man, Binghamton, N.Y.

To The Eye: Pink to amber with average foam that leans to a pink hue.

To The Nose: Sour cherries and not much more.

To The Palate: Sweet and tart cherry that opens up into a sour, salty beer. Hints of bready malts and tart yeast enhance the sip. Complex, light- to medium-bodied, and medium carbonation.

Aftertaste: Dry and tart with that pinch in the back of your throat that happens when you eat something sour.

Boozy Factor: Negligible.

On a Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as highest: 8.5