BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant in Patchogue and Lithology Brewing Co. in Farmingdale collaborate for new beer
A pint of Culture Shock, a pear-lychee gose, at BrickHouse Brewery & Restaurant in Patchogue. Credit: Newsday / Corin Hirsch
BEER Culture Shock pear and lychee gose, a collaboration between BrickHouse Brewery and Restaurant in Patchogue, and Lithology Brewing Co. in Farmingdale.
BACK STORY Goses are light-bodied, primarily wheat beers brewed with salt and spices (in Culture Shock’s case, coriander). They’re also a sour — a word that may have first intimidated drinkers as recently as last year but are increasingly in demand. “People now come in [to Lithology’s tasting room] asking for goses,” said Lithology co-owner Manny Coelho, and distributors are asking for them more, too.
Culture Shock is the second gose collaboration between the two breweries, one a veteran of the Long Island brewing scene (BrickHouse) and the other (Lithology), a 3-year-old innovator with a tasting room on Farmingdale’s Main Street. Culture Shock was brewed over two days in late July at BrickHouse by head brewer Paul Komsic, assistant brewer Brian Smith, Coelho and Lithology assistant brewer Peter Mahoney. The process was two-step: First, the beer is “soured” with lactobacillus in a kettle — in Culture Shock’s case, for a day — and then goes through boil and fermentation. This gose was fermented with local yeast strains that the owners of Lithology Brewing collected from various spots around Long Island and cultured into their own signature strains. A puree of lychee and pear is added during brewing for fruitiness, but it’s subtle.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE Collaboration beers, when two or more brewers get together to produce a batch of beer or ale, are becoming more frequent, and often benefit from drawing together the disparate experiences and styles of multiple brewers. “It increases the spirit of collaboration over competition,” Coelho said.
WHAT IT TASTES LIKE Culture Shock is almost lager-like in looks and body, but with little to no bitterness. It’s a sort of gateway sour — quenching but not too puckery, distinctly salty and easygoing enough to introduce people to the style. It’s also a mellow 4.4 percent alcohol.
WHERE TO FIND IT Culture Shock is on tap in at both BrickHouse Brewery on Main Street, and the Lithology Brewing Co. tasting room on Main Street in Farmingdale.
PRICE $15 per 32-ounce crowler; $20 for a growler at BrickHouse.
DRINK IT WITH The last of the warm summer days
BrickHouse Brewery & Restaurant, 67 W. Main St., Patchogue. 631-447-2337, brickhousebrewery.com
