Beer Rocky Ridge & LS Merchants Rosé Gose

For Rocky Ridge and Margaret River rouseabout Jacob Nesbitt, the chance to blend grape and grain was a dream come true. Having assisted with LS Merchant’s 2018 grape harvest – as well as working on the farm brewery's packaging line – when winery owner Dylan Arvidson offered Jacob the chance to make a project wine with him, he saw the opportunity instead for a unique collaboration. As luck would have it, Dylan had been experimenting with salted rosé blends and Rosé Gose was born.

Using the Rocky Ridge Holy S**t, It’s A Mid! base, 20 percent of the hybrid's volume is free run Wilyabrup cabernet juice – the first liquid drawn from the fruit after crushing and destemming – which was added to the beer post-ferment. Although the juice had minimal skin contact, a lovely, light tannic quality has carried through, adding complexity, while the soft pink hue playfully evokes the fastest growing wine style in Australia. Indeed, the effect is so compelling that, without the salinity, drinkers could be forgiven for thinking they have in their hand a low alcohol rosé rather than anything grain derived.

Guy Southern