Leave it to the wordplay of Brian Yaeger to have a hand with the pun-tastic name for a Portland-based gose beer festival as good as “City of Goses” (Portland, of course, is known as the City of Roses). This new festival celebrating the sour, salty German gose style takes place this Saturday and Sunday, May 27 and 28, at Portland’s Labrewatory.

This looks to be a fun fest for anyone who’s a fan of the style or of sour beers in general. I’ve long thought there should be a gose festival (my name for it would be “Gosepalooza”) so I’m glad to see it finally happen!

It’s largely structured as a Portland-centric festival, with most of the breweries hailing from the Rose City and a handful from beyond. I’m not sure this is the best approach long term (how many Oregon gose brewers are there, really?) but for an inaugural event you have to start somewhere, of course.

You can pre-purchase tickets online here. Here are the details from the press release:

CITY of GOSES, the largest and possibly first celebration strictly dedicated to gose-style beers is also the Portland Rose Festival’s first sanctioned beer fest. The two-day event held over Memorial Day weekend will feature 30 goses from Saxony to Stumptown. From über traditional versions on this salty, sour beer including imports from its source in Leipzig, Germany to takes from around Portland and across the globe, CITY of GOSES may require returning both days to fully enjoy the gamut gose has to offer. The fest takes place three blocks from the Albina/Mississippi Max station just one stop north of the Gose Quarter, er, Rose Quarter at LABrewatory (670 N. Russell St.). The event is Saturday and Sunday, May 27-28 from 1 – 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate. Tickets are available now at Merctickets.com/go/CityOfGoses .

Nearly one year ago, New Zealand native and Portland staple John Lovegrove texted pun-loving event-producer Brian Yaeger. The note read, “Brace yourself…The City of Goses…That totally has a Brian Yaeger Presents feel about it.” Yep. In a world where sour beers are increasingly sought after, lower-alcohol session ales have a foothold, and warmer weather always calls for the most refreshing beer, it’s no surprise today’s craft brewers are exploring gose (pronounced gose-uh). This wheat ale brewed with salt, coriander, and tart lactic acid originated between the 12th and 15th centuries in Goslar in Lower Saxony though it’s identified mostly with Leipzig in Saxony. Each participating brewery delivers a distinct spin via selected salts and additional ingredients.

Admission includes a souvenir glass and additional tasting tickets will be available for $1 each. With one exception, all beers will be one (1) ticket per four-ounce sample and four (4) tickets for a 14-ounce pour. Samples from the last keg on Earth of Cascade Brewing’s 2010 Summer Gose, will be two (2) tickets and not available as a full pour. LABrewatory will have a selection of non-gose house beers available as well.

The mostly Portland line-up includes: Baerlic, Burnside, Cascade, Coalition (featuring hemp extracted CBD), The Commons, Culmination, Deschutes-PDX, Ecliptic, Great Notion, Hopworks, Little Beast, Occidental (Germanic brewery’s first solo foray into German-style sour beer), Rogue, Stormbreaker, Widmer Bros., and Zoiglhaus (where braumeister Alan Taylor brews the original recipe from Goslar and has trained in Leipzig). Host brewery LABrewatory will have a collaboration with Cerveza Loba in Portland Sister City Guadalajara.

Some of the breweries from beyond the City of Roses include four from California—Anderson Valley, Bruery Terreux (getting into the spirit with a gose featuring rose petals, rose hips, and rose water), Modern Times, and Sierra Nevada—plus the GABF gold medal winning gose from Reuben’s in Seattle, Oedipus (from Amsterdam), and naturally, Ritterguts the traditional classic imported from Leipzig.

CITY of GOSES is all-ages event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Caldera, the Portland arts organization that serves as a catalyst for the transformation of underserved youth through art and environmental programs.

Unfortunately I will miss this fest. But be sure to stay up to date with event details on the Facebook page.