Food & Beer Culture

What food pairs with Gose? Salty and hearty dishes, since its acidity cuts through fat and its salt gets along well with sausage, cheese and pretzels. The regional cuisine is hearty, though it's barely documented as a distinct beer cuisine. What follows, then, is a short and honest selection. Cheese and bread also work well, since salt and acidity bring out each other's best. With a Pils, fried food like a schnitzel tastes great, because the bitterness cuts through the fat.

Halberstädter Würstchen are regarded as a specialty from the Harz town of Halberstadt. They became famous as canned sausages. Their savory flavor pairs well with a crisp Pils, and a spoonful of mustard rounds them out nicely.

A pastry from the Altmark region is Salzwedeler Baumkuchen, a cake baked layer by layer on a spit. It's sweet and dry, and better suited to coffee than beer. Still, anyone pairing it with a Gose gets a lovely contrast of acidity and sweetness.

Beer culture lives on in the cities' brewpubs and in beer gardens along the Saale and Elbe. Common serving sizes are 0.3 and 0.5 liters, and for Gose people tend to prefer the smaller one.

A local saying has it that Halle is a city of salt, a nice fit with the region's beer. It's little more than a pleasing connection, but it's an easy one to make on a warm evening along the Saale. Taverns and brewhouses in Halle and Magdeburg often serve the region's beers fresh from the tank.