Comparison
American wild ale vs Gose
What is the difference between American wild ale and Gose?
The short answer
The main difference is funk: American wild ale has far more of it than Gose. American wild ale also leads on alcohol warmth; Gose on citrus and bread & biscuit.
Generated from the two style records. No editor has written this comparison up, so it carries no verdict beyond what the data supports.
Where they overlap
They share comparable acidity, dryness, carbonation, the same style family — the boundary between them is narrower than the comparison suggests.
Side by side
| American wild ale | Gose | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Sour & wild | Sour & wild |
| Fermentation | Mixed fermentation | Mixed fermentation |
| Origin | United States | Germany |
| Category status — One of these is a more settled category than the other, which is worth knowing before treating the comparison as exact. | Emerging | Established |
| Strength | 4.5–9% ABV | 4–5% ABV |
| Bitterness (IBU) — IBU measures iso-alpha acids in the lab. It does not track perceived bitterness, which residual sweetness, body and roast all alter — compare the sensory rows below for how each actually tastes. | 5–25 IBU | 5–12 IBU |
| Colour | Straw to deep brown, or fruit-derived — 3–25 SRM, 6–49 EBC | Pale straw to gold — 3–4 SRM, 6–8 EBC |
| Original gravity | 1.044–1.080 | 1.036–1.056 |
| Final gravity | 1.000–1.012 | 1.006–1.010 |
| Serving temperature | 9–12°C | 4–7°C |
| Carbonation | 2–4 vol CO₂ | 2–3 vol CO₂ |
| Glassware | Tulip glass, Teku glass | Wit tumbler, Weizen glass |
| Clarity | variable | hazy |
How they taste different
| Character | American wild ale | Gose |
|---|---|---|
| Funk | Moderate–Very high | Not characteristic |
| Alcohol warmth | Trace–Low | Not characteristic |
| Citrus | Not characteristic | Low |
| Bread & biscuit | Not characteristic | Trace–Low |
| Berry | None–High | Not characteristic |
| Herbal | Not characteristic | Low |
| Yeast fruitiness (esters) | Moderate | Trace–Low |
Which should you choose?
- You want more funk → American wild ale
- You want more citrus → Gose
Derived from where the two actually differ. Neither is better — this is a question of which difference you want.