Got that peach body, you a tarty: Peach Gose by Angry Minnow Brew Pub

As I was driving south on Highway 27 from Hayward, I realized that I had completely forgotten to take any pictures of the giant fiberglass muskie there at the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

Oops.

On the plus side, I had been able to stand in the front window of Tremblay's Sweet Shop and stare at two women making some kind of brittle. The last time I stood there peering into those windows, Ronald Reagan was in his first term as president. I smiled when I saw that their shirts referred to them as “fudge packers” and no doubt my roughly 12-year old self would have giggled himself senseless at this.

In addition to buying treats down on Main Street, I also stopped in at the Angry Minnow Brew Pub as I noted in a previous post. A pint of their Oaky’s Oatmeal Stout made fine companion to a bowl of chili on an overcast day that was keen to remind you that winter was nigh. I struck up a conversation with the barkeep who had no one else to attend to but me as I believe I had arrived just after they opened. My eagerness for a chat was aided by the fact that I hadn’t actually seen another human being that wasn’t behind the wheel of a car for several hours. I had driven out into the boonies to do some hiking and I think that last person I saw not in a car was the clerk at the hotel as I left just after dawn.

Now that I think about it, I hadn’t had a conversation with anyone since the previous day so a little basic human communication was most welcome. This was made easier by the fact that the barkeep was a nice woman probably a few years younger than me. She had an open, easy going demeanor and a warm, friendly face so it was easy to chat with her.

Our conversation turned towards the Minnow’s taps as she tried to sell me on the various brews on offer. I told her that I wasn’t a hophead and she remarked that their brewer was also more inclined to malt and less extreme beers which led me to believe that the barrel-aged offering and the obligatory IPA were more nods to popular tastes than a lived aesthetic.

I could be wrong, however.

But it got me thinking about how the breweries and brewpubs of the northwest part of the state of which I was familiar do not, generally speaking, have beer lists that consist of 99-100% trendy styles. (Eau Claire’s Brewing Projekt is a notable exception.) They all brew an IPA but not 40 of them. Fruited sours? Sure! But, again one instead of one for every kind of tropical fruit their local produce distributor carries. Pastry/barrel-aged stouts? You betcha but a precious few only.

Does this reflect the tastes of the brewers? Or are the clientele up north not demanding dozens of IPAs? Perhaps a bit of both.

When I had finished pondering beer styles, I took in my lovely surroundings. As noted previously, The Angry Minnow is located in the former offices of the Northern Wisconsin Lumber Company, built when William McKinley was president. There are vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, and lovely wooden everything. I loved the atmosphere and it made me think of the other brewpubs/brewery taprooms that I’ve been to in the northwest part of the state.

The taprooms up there feel like a third space to me, like an extension of my living room as opposed to a place that needs to disguise its dark, industrial nature. Up north I found hygge instead of the cold, metallic vibes that seem common here.  For instance, Delta Beer Labs makes a wonderful Gose (with no fruit!) but their taproom is clinical and sterile to my taste. In cinematic terms, I don’t want my taproom to have the cool surliness of The Andromeda Strain’s Dr. Ruth Leavitt, but rather the earthy demeanor and sultry curves of Willow from The Wicker Man.

With my navel gazing and my meal over, it was time to head back to my hotel. I was determined to bring some beer back home and got a mixed 4-pack. I knew that some of their stout needed to make the journey but what else?

Not all of their beers were canned and a couple were right out as they were styles that I don’t care for. Despite summer being long gone and having a strong preference for unfruited sours, I took a sample of their Peach Gose and decided that it too would journey south with me.

 

 

When I opened the can, there was a loud pfsssssss sound and I could hear lots of bubble action and could smell the beer despite the can being several inches from my nose. It appeared that I had a kinetic brew on my hands. Somehow I managed a pour which produced only a modicum of head. The foam was loose, white, and noisy like Rice Krispies and dissipated quickly. The beer was brilliant yellow and very hazy, presumably from a large amount of wheat used in brewing it. Despite the haze, I could see a few bubbles inside my glass. It smelled really nice with a small blast of lemony citrus, a moderate dose of peach, and a generic sour aroma.

My first sip caught a big wave of sour that got mellower very quickly. This was not a one of those Xenomorph blood sour beers that quickly eats the verdigris off of pennies. While the peach was up front, it didn't taste like it was in competition with the beer's sourness. Instead, the fruit came to complement the tartness, not to bury it. Well, maybe take a bit of the edge off of it. A firm fizz gave a little extra bite as the beer's light body yielded some wheat and a dash of citrus.

 

The sour/fizzy bite lingered on my tongue as did the peach which took its time in fading away.

 

Just as my conversation with the bartender had portended, Peach Gose was not an extreme beer. The sourness was firm but never attacked my palate. Similarly, the peach added some balance but never tried to smother the tartness. My own preference is for tasting coriander instead of added fruit when it comes to the Gose, but this was a nice little diversion. With its light body and fizzy fruitiness, Peach Gose is a better summer beer than for these below freezing temps, but needs must when the Devil drives. I would definitely have this again on a summer trek up north.

Junk food pairing: until the lighter flavors of the supper club experience are synthesized in a lab and sprinkled on a chip, pair your Peach Gose with a big bag of Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips.