568. Jackie O’s Berliner Weisse

I brought a growler of this home from Athens for Jeff Fortney, since it wasn’t available on tap until Monday. As I was being tormented via Elli by long and arduous mountain bike rides on Sunday and Monday, the daily visit to Jackie O’s made all things better. Previous visions of delight include Brad Clark’s Raspberry Berliner Weisse,  Bourbon Barrel Smoked & Portered, OPA, and Bourbon Barrel Aged Impy Razz. There’ve been others, but we’ve kept them a secret. We’re like that.

Jackie O’s Berliner Weisse pours a hazy bright straw with a thin white head that quickly disappears; when we had it on tap at Jackie O’s, the white head was mousse-y and hung around enough to lace the glass, but here it is a ghost-like presence. The nose is bright lemon zest and pith with a delicious lactic piquancy underneath—there is more lemon than lactic in the nose, while the flavors in the beer are the exact opposite, with more lactic than lemon. Flavors open with a touch of lemon in the front before giving way to a bright lactic vitamin C tablet twang in the middle. There is a touch of wheat gumminess 

on tap at Jackie O’s

on the tongue, and a touch of chewy yeastiness, but the beer finishes bright and clean with lingering tartness. The body is thin while the carbonation is a bit low; again, it was brighter on the palate on tap, but the clean lactic tartness more than makes up for it here. This is how a Berliner Weisse should taste; while it is not as delightful as last year’s Raspberry Berliner Weisse, it is a damn fine beer. I could drink this beer all day long; it leaves small rosettes of sweat on my cheeks and is a delight to drink. 

Tart cherries!

I’m glad we scored a growler to take home!  

We also tried mashing some tart cherries in with the beer to see how it tasted since we missed the Raspberry Berliner Weisse so much. It was good, but not as good as either the original Berliner Weisse or the Raspberry Berliner Weisse—somehow, the tartness of the cherries canceled out the lactic sourness of the beer. Thus, flavors were good, but less dynamic. Oh well. Still, a fun experiment. We also wondered why Jackie O’s didn’t offer any syrups along with the Berliner Weisse when we had it on tap—I know they have in the past.But again, not much to be done about it now. Oh well, part II.

From the description in the picture above: “Tart & funky wheat beer.”

ABV: 5.0%

(6/28/2013)

567. White Birch Berliner Weisse

White Birch Brewing is located in Hooksett, New Hampshire, which makes it our first non-Smuttynose beer from New Hampshire. Crazy, hmmm? Always breaking new ground. That work as this week’s rationalization?

This German-style sour wheat beer pours a cloudy dull gold; there is a thin white head that quickly reduces to a ring, although it is a consistent ring. The nose is a mix of gummy wheat with a touch of fruitiness and vitamin C tablet followed by that unsettling and yet beguiling musty garbage smell I associate with Lactobacillus. Flavors open tart with fresh bread dough in the front; the middle brightens and lightens with a blooming citric tang and bite—the beer opens considerably on the tongue from front to back—while the finish is clean with a touch of apple. The body is both bright with some slight gumminess—the combination of malt, Lactobacillus, and carbonation gives the beer a lively turbid yeastiness that is quite enjoyable. Solid overall as a Berliner Weisse; I would like it a bit more effervescent, but that’s splitting hairs. They do get the sourness right, which is saying something for the style!

From the bottle: “At White Birch Brewing, our goal is to create great beer for the enthusiast. Each batch is brewed and bottled by hand at our brewery in Hooksett, New Hampshire.

Napoleon’s troops referred to Berliner Weisse as the ‘Champagne of the North’ due to its lively and elegant character. Today this style is described by some as the most refreshing beer in the world. Our approach was to brew this beer with Lactobacillus for an authentic interpretation of a classic summer refresher.

Crafted in small quantities to be savored for any occasion. We hope you enjoy this unique beer.”

ABV: 5.5%
Bottled: Summer 2013

(6/17/2013)

540. Full Sail Brewer’s Share Berliner Weiss

More from the West Coast, which is the Best Coast. It has been a while since we’ve punched that Full Sail ticket, but, well, here we are again, sailing on full steam ahead. And yes, that was my attempt at chiasmus. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly acceptable if you need to look that up. And no, I won’t stop peppering my comments with obscure linguistic devices. After all, it is the mad skills that pay the bills, not the mundane ones. Plus, since this guy officially disappeared, it appears I’m back to writing for my lonesome self. That one tragic tear rolling down your cheek is what keeps me blogging, my dear reader. Well, and the beers I get to drink. See? I can be both literal and smarmy in the same post. And if that ain’t the new journalism, then color me incoherent. Anywho, previous Full Sail beers include Wreck the Halls and Grandsun of Spot IPA, as well as the spectacularly made up Full Sail Super Fantastic Magic Carpet Ride. It’s a carpetbagger’s delight!

Brewer’s Share Berliner Weiss pours a crystal clear and vibrant gold with a light white head and plenty of tiny streaming bubbles along the side of the glass. As well, the beer feature numerous gold highlights as light cuts through the glass. The nose has the dusty dry cardboard of lactobacillus, along with a slight sharp tang mixed with a certain pungency, while behind that, there is a touch of wheat gumminess. Basically, the aroma is the drier, earthier lactobacillus and not the brighter, sharper and tarter that I prefer. Flavors are dry and paper-y with a touch of apple juice in the front, accompanied by cracker, biscuit, and wheat. There is a tang from the lactobacillus—and probably some from the wheat—as the beer moves into the middle, a tang short of tart but almost to lemon. I get a sharp dry bite as the beer turns towards the finish from both the carbonation and the lactobacillus, and there is a touch of the lingering champagne brut character on the middle back of the tongue that also manifests itself in the feeling of a slight mineral residue on the back of the tongue. Additionally, there is a touch of residual vegetal flavor as well as some lingering cracker sourness, along with a touch more of the apple. The body is simultaneously gummy and cracker dry, a mix of the effects of the wheat malt and the carbonation. And after everything passes across the palate, there is a slight candy sweet tang that is the last flavor left behind. While this is not the best of the commercial versions of this beer—a good bottle of 1809 is hard to beat—it is still well made. I do wish it had a more prominent—and by that I mean tarter—lactobacillus presence. There is too much wheat without the reciprocal cleansing tartness, and the earthy cardboard flattens flavors on the palate. But I’m still happy to see a beer like this produced and distributed in the United States. It warms the cockles of my heart.

From the bottle: “Featured Brewer: Chris Haveman. Four times a year we hand the keys to our massively talented brewers and let them throw down. Whoever comes up with the most insanely delicious new brew gets to share it with the entire beer-geekosphere. It’s something we call Brewer’s Share. And what, pray tell, inspired Chris to brew his wheat-o-rific Summer Delight? A secret desire to have his cake and drink it, too, perhaps? ‘I was inspired by my love of summer actually,’ says Chris. ‘When I found out we’d be brewing at the beginning of the season, I immediately thought of the perfect summer style—a Berliner Weiss.”

ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 9

(11/15/2012)

520. Jackie O’s Raspberry Berliner Weisse

The benefit of being a beer judge and attending beer judging events is the opportunity to sample the local flora and fauna of different regions. Well, that, and the occasional perk like a free hotel room. And let’s be honest: Jackie O’s is reason enough to head to Athens by itself, so if you throw in that free hotel option, the ability to say no becomes exponentially well-nigh impossible. Enter Ohio Brew Week 2012, and, well, the fickle hand of fate is set in motion. Not surprisingly (as you can tell by the picture), I headed to Athens with the normal cast of characters, our phasers set on “chicanery” (or “idiocy,” depending who you were asking). Earlier examples of the craftsmanship of Brad Clark include Bourbon Barrel Smoked & Portered, OPA, and Bourbon Barrel Aged Impy Razz (plus a bonus beer along the way—it’s at the bottom).

Raspberry Berliner Weisse came served in a tulip; it is a cloudy light pink (basically, a pink grapefruit) with only a hint of a quickly dissipating head. And the nose is, well, beguiling: bright lactic aromas mixed with raspberry tartness, and just a slight touch of yeastiness in the background. Flavors were equally intoxicating, opening with a clean, bright combination of malty bread dough mixed with both citric and lactic bite before moving into a sharp, thirst-quenching, and palate-cleansing middle that prefaces the slightly citric and raspberry finish. Besides the raspberry, there are hints of jam and fruit in the finish as well, even with the brisk, clean finish. The body has a touch of wheat gumminess, although still light and gentle, while the carbonation is crisp & bright. Certainly a well-rounded beer—it exudes the best of both fruit and berliner weisse beers—and the two parts are in perfect balance. In fact, the delicate balance is in many ways the best part of the beer, as all the superlatives I want to throw at this beer—refreshing, bright, thirst-quenching, tart, yummy—all stem from the simultaneous interplay between the fruit and the beer. Needless to say, I’ll be hitting up this beer the entire time I’m in Athens.

ABV: 3.5%

(6/22/2012)

245. Weihenstephan Dr. Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse

Our first beer from Brauerei Weihenstephan in Freising, Germany. 1809 pours a crystal clear pale gold with a crisp white head; it has a nose strongly reminiscent of low-grade apple juice, with graininess and slight sourness most prominent. 1809 opens with a light fruit apple sweetness followed quickly by a lactic sourness that continues on well into the middle of the beer, along with some of the graininess from the nose. The finish is marked by a return of the apple-flavored sweetness that opened the beer, as well as some lingering funkiness. Light, sharp, and dry on the palate, 1809 has effervescent carbonation that helps brighten the beer. There is a bit of a sour twang in the middle third and back of the tongue, and some tang in the flavor and mouthfeel that is reminiscent of the finish of a brut champagne—a combination of sourness and sharpness that strikes as bitter and tannic. An interesting and well crafted beer, although the apple/fruit flavors detract from some of the crispness and freshness of the beer—1809 is not as bright and refreshing as other Berliner Weisse beers we’ve had in the past.

There’s nothing we could find on the Weihenstephan website, and I’m tired of combing the internet looking for obscure beer information. This from RateBeer: “Created by Dr. Fritz Briem of Doemens Institute, brewed by Weihenstephan & Doemens, 1809 is a very traditional interpretation of the Berliner Style Weisse with an intense blend of lactic tartness and complex fruitiness. It is bottle-conditioned, unfiltered and unpasteurized. 1809 will age beautifully in a dark and cool location. Its complex fruitiness and tartness will most likely develop in quite astonishing ways. 1809 is fermented in traditional open fermenters and horizontal lager tanks. The applied mashing regime is a single step decoction mash with 50 % wheat malt.The total amount of hops is added to the mash so that isomerisation takes place in the decocotion part of the mash. The wort is not boiled but only heated up to boiling temperature and then transferred to the open fermenters and pitched with yeast and lactic acid bacteria (isolated from malt) at 18 °C (64°F).” Damn, I just should have started there...

ABV: 5.0%

(3/2/2010)

228. The Bruery Hottenroth

From the bottle: “Sour = Yum!”

This is our third from the Bruery; we’ve previously sampled Orchard White and Saison Rue. Hottenroth is a pale clear straw color that closely resembles champagne, although the second half of the bottle was a lightly cloudy. There is a quickly dissipating white head, but the carbonation is remains bright and lively in the glass. The nose is a mix of citric tartness (almost lemony), graininess, and some sourness. Hottenroth starts with a light amount of grainy wheat sourness before the tartness takes over; the tartness continues to rise through the middle along with some sourness, giving way to a yeasty grainy wheat flavor. It closes with a return of some of the tartness, although the graininess lingers. Hottenroth has an extremely light body; the mouthfeel is sharp and bright with a decent amount of carbonation and lactic tang, leaving the mouth dry. Crisp, refreshing, and very drinkable—we could drink this all day long, which is most certainly the idea with the style.

Such a lovely April Fool’s joke...

From the bottle: “Brewed in memory of Fred & Sarah Hottenroth, this traditional ale can be served with raspberry or woodruff syrup, or simply enjoyed as is! Our Berliner Weisse is suitable for aging up to year when cellared properly. Best stored and cellared around 55° F (13° C) in a dark place. Ideal serving temperature is 45° F (7° C). Please pour carefully, leaving the yeast sediment behind in the bottle. Best enjoyed in a wide rimmed chalice or a tulip.”

From the Bruery website: “Hottenroth Berliner Weisse is brewed in memory of Fred and Sarah Hottenroth, Patrick’s grandparents. This tart German-style Berliner Weisse is as authentic as it gets. We used lactobacillus and a hint of brettanomyces to sour this very unusual, low gravity wheat beer. To cut the tartness for those with sweeter tastes, raspberry or woodruff syrup is a traditional way to sweeten the beer. Almost an extinct style, we hope to help revive the Berliner Weisse in memory of two great people.”

ABV: 3.1%
IBU: 2

(2/13/2010)

66. Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Yet another in the long line of Dogfish Head beers—we like ’em, and we’ll keep drinkin’ ’em. And, by proxy, you’ll keep reading about them. That is, unless you start ignoring us (which would also reciprocally assume that you actually paid attention to us in the first place). And that would be downright mean, I say. We had this on tap at the Trolley Stop.

Festina Peche is a hazy straw color with a light white head that has small bubbles like champagne. The nose is tart and fruity with a slight peachy aroma. It starts tart and sour mixed with a light peach flavor—the two flavors marry nicely together in the front of the beer. There is a building sourness in the middle with some light sweetness, along with a drawn out finish—there is a slight chalkiness from the sour at the back of the tongue and some lingering malt and bready notes. The mouthfeel is sharp and crisp, but also a bit thin. While Festina Peche is lighter than many other sour beers—there is less candy sour tartness and a thinner body—it is nonetheless an excellent and well-crafted beer. And we say this as a couple of people who are hesitant about fruit beers.

From the Dogfish Head website: “A refreshing neo-BerlinerWeisse fermented with honest-to-goodness peaches to (get this!) 4.5% abv! Because extreme beers don't have to be extremely boozy! Available in 4-pack and draft during the sweaty months. Sadly, there are only a few breweries left in Berlin still brewing the BerlinerWeisse style which is characterized by its intense tartness (some say sour). There were once over 70 breweries in Berlin alone making this beer! In addition to fermentation with an ale yeast, Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup - open and enjoy!”

ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 8

(9/4/2009)