Narrow Gauge | Meersalz (Raspberry/Lemon)
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Do you fancy hazy hoppy beers? Then you’re probably familiar with Narrow Gauge. Located just outside of St. Louis in Florissant, Missouri, it still resides in the basement of Cugino’s. Narrow Gauge did manage to take over one half of the establishment, making it into a very Narrow Gauge taproom (with great food). They still want to expand into their own place so hopefully that’s still in the cards.
Narrow Gauge is more than just hazy beers. They make some stouts and mixed culture beers. They have even have medaled at the most recent Great American Beer Festival (2019) – a silver in the German-Style Sour Ale category – for their gose.
Meersalz (German for sea salt) is that gose. There are fruited variations on that base; the list of fruits is far too long to list here. They happened to be selling mixed 4-packs of two different Meersalz fruited versions and two different versions of their sour IPA while I was there this past January (I wish more breweries did this). The Meersalz base features sea salt and coriander; this version adds lactose sugar, raspberry and lemon.
The Beer
Meersalz (Raspberry/Lemon) pours pink. In fact, Country Time pink lemonade. (I have a story about Country Time pink lemonade that I may share on the podcast at a later time.) The finger of head it starts with vanishes to absolutely nothing, while the beer itself has a dingy quality to it. As in you take your Country Time pink lemonade with just a shot of water.
Raspberry SweetTarts first came to mind while sniffing it. The raspberry takes the lead, while there are accents of lemon and salt in the rear; I was also getting slight pepper notes. But with goses, usually what’s on the label is what you’re going to smell, and this does it.
Those raspberries are all style and no substance! The lime takes the vanguard on the taste, bringing with it a nice burst of tartness. The sea salt causes the beer to finish dry as opposed to offering any sort of salty note. Continuing with candy references (listen to the podcast, we’re good at that), Meersalz (Raspberry/Lemon) reminds me of lime Sour Patch Kids, but one not covered in sour dust at the bottom of the bag. Lime or kiwi Kool-Aid also comes to mind, but without a ton of sugar added. It’s basically a moderate lime candy. The medium mouthfeel allows the tartness to hang around and even stack. It appears I should have rolled the can a bit as the last few sips had a bit more salt taste in them, but nothing over the top.
Verdict
Perfect for summer, Meersalz (Raspberry/Lemon) drinks easy and has some nice tartness on it. If done blind I might even guess it was a fruited Berliner weisse. The slight dryness on the end mixes well with the tartness, making finishing a can no chore at all. It also smells and tastes like any number of fruited candies and drinks so you can have fun figuring out what you had when you were a kid (or, you know, last week). Gose purists might want more salt taste on it, but it’s still a great, refreshing, easy to drink beer. So don’t forget to add some goses to your hazy hoppy Narrow Gauge order.
Narrow Gauge beers can be ordered for curbside pick-up here.
