The latest non-alcoholic beer from Partake Brewing is its summer seasonal, Cherry Gose, crafted in the style of a gose—that is, a sour wheat ale spiced with coriander and sea salt. It’s a limited-edition flavor that I posted about here, and Partake sent me samples of the NA beer to review.

The description/tasting notes are fairly generic:

Partake Cherry Gose is subtly sweet with a twist of tartness. Brewed with coriander, sea salt, and natural flavoring to create the perfect balance of sweet and sour, it’s fun and fruity from start to finish.

Partake has a blog post about the beer that offers up a bit more info while still being general. For instance, I don’t know what constitutes the cherry part of the recipe; the ingredients specify “natural flavors” which actually offer a wide latitude of possibilities.

Regardless, I’m still pleased to see alternative style attempts made within this non-alcoholic/lifestyle category, rather than yet another iteration on a non-alcoholic IPA.

Cherry Gose of course contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume, and is 15 calories with 2 grams of carbs per 12-ounce serving. The website also lists 30 IBUs, which seems high to me considering the style and the fact that I didn’t really taste any hops or similar bitterness in this NA brew.

Appearance: Pale gold, nicely clear, decent and finely structured white head. I admit I was expecting some cherry pink-red color though.

Smell: Delicate sweet cherry, which reminds me a bit of cherry hard candy or cough drops, or perhaps cherry soda to a lesser extent. Light coriander note that by itself is subtle though with the cherry has a bit of a cherry bark or even medicinal note. Otherwise the aroma is quite light.

Taste: Mild tart note with a crisp and light wheat body, then the fruit and coriander blend to almost seem a touch hammy. Super subtle cherry flavor, a bit reminiscent of cough syrup, otherwise it’s clean and not bad. There are none of the “unfermented” character markers of non-alcohol beers of yore.

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp, with a hint of tartness to finish refreshing.

Overall: Decent and drinkable, I’m not entirely convinced on the flavor combo here but it’s non particularly non-alcoholic-like so that’s a win.