Tritonia
Tritonia (4.5% ABV)
Creature Comforts (Athens, Georgia)
Gose with cucumber, lime, salt and coriander
Words cannot accurately express my happiness when I saw Creature Comforts was canning this beer. The happiness was only elevated when, last weekend, our good friends in Atlanta said they got an extra six-pack for us to bring back to Birmingham.
First, a little back story.
Creature Comforts opened a little more than a month before my 21st birthday. They were kind of experimental, at least in my head, as they settled into a few signature brews. The Cucumber and Lime Tritonia (which I've spent the last four years thinking was "Titrona") was on tap within the brewery's first few months and was one of the most refreshing beers I had ever had. This was before breweries could sell directly to consumers, before they could fill growlers on site and before Creature Comforts was even canning.
I think I had this beer twice in the tap room, and then I had not had it again until last weekend. But trust me, I have dreamed of this beer. It was my first gose, and returning to it nearly four years later did not disappoint.
Now, to the beer.
Creature Comforts' Tritonia pours a beautiful gold, with a nice head and retention of about half a centimeter. Plenty of lacing on the glass. The smell is very cucumbery — think spa water but better — with a nose that I can only describe as tart and what you'd expect of a gose.
Even on the first sip, oh man, you can tell how refreshing this beer is. Just like cucumbers make water taste ~that~ much better, cucumbers make beer taste that much better.
The slight sweetness from the cucumber means this beer is mellowed out and not as tart or pucker-inducing as some citrusy goses, and the coriander, lime and salt are a perfect match with the cucumber. You first get hit with a spa water taste, but the lime adds in just enough bite in the middle of your tongue to give the beer a few layers. It finishes salty and just slightly tart from the lime.
Even though I could easily crush a few six packs of this beer by my self, trust when I say I will be savoring the remaining five (make that four — my husband insisted on having one) beers as I cope with the Alabama heat.
The next time you're going through Atlanta, do yourself and pick up a six-pack — or several — of this beer. Trust me, you won't regret it.
Rating: 5/5