Magic Hat Saint Saltan

I've never tried a gose before, let alone heard of a gose.  Or maybe I have heard of gose and just assumed people were mispronouncing gueuze.  Who knows.  Anyway, the Magic Hat sampler I picked up a while back has the Saint Saltan, which is a gose:

Vittles:

Gose

4.6% abv

Appearance: 9/10

Saint Saltan is a pale golden-straw color with plenty of effervescence.  It's very slightly hazy but decently bright.  It poured with an impressive inch and a half of white head.  The head retained briefly before falling to a thin disk, which persisted throughout my enjoyment.  The higher levels of carbonation helped maintain the thin cap of foam as I drank.

Aroma: 20/25

The first scent that hits me is actually salt.  I don't think I've ever smelled a salty beer before, but it's not a bad smell.  I also pick up on some coriander and a citrusy note, maybe lemon or orange?  There's a bit of a wheat aroma, but it seems like it's more in the background here.  Also in the background are grassy, floral, herbal, and earthy hints.

Taste: 31/40

While none of the flavors are surprising, I was surprised by how hidden the salt and coriander flavors were, especially since I picked them up so easily in the aroma.  The saltiness does come through a bit in the aftertaste, though.  The tastes that were the most prominent for me were the grassy, herbal, earthy, and floral notes, followed by a much more subtle lemony tone and a delicate wheat background.  I think I was expecting more of a sourness for a gose, but I really only get sour in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Moderate to high levels of carbonation add to the medium-full bodied mouthfeel.  The carbonation fizzes very briefly when you take a sip, but it dissipates quickly and never stings.  There is, however, a decidedly dry finish.

Style: -/-

Since I'm not familiar with the gose style, and since I can't find any clear and thorough specifics on this style, I'm going to skip this section for now and come back to it after I've learned more about the style and had a few other goses and can form a basis for comparison.

Drinkability: 7/10

I don't consider this to be an overly drinkable beer.  I'm glad I had this one, I would have one again in the future, but it's not something I could drink back-to-back, and it's not something I'd want to pair with food

Overall: 75/95

So it's basically 79/100 for this beer -- on the high side of average, and for the overall taste and enjoyment of this beer, that sounds about right.  Looks like it's time for me to do a little more research on this style.  Is it sad that that sounds like fun to me?

Cheers!