Summer Berry Weisse
Pennsylvania Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from bottle into pint glass

Appearance – The beer pours a hazy orange amber color with a two finger white head. The head has a decent level of retention fading to give a lighter level of lacing.

Smell – The aroma is of sweet berries and a little bit of biscuit. The fruit is heaviest of a raspberry aroma with some lighter notes of blueberry and strawberry. Sweet and fruity.

Taste – The taste starts out of a wheaty and bready flavor mixed with some lighter berry sweetness. The sweetness gets stronger more towards the middle of the taste with the raspberry being he strongest. In the end a yeasty flavor joins the sweet and wheat and leave a lightly sweetened berry flavor to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the thinner side with a carbonation that is average to above average. The lighter body is nice for the berry and wheat flavors of the beer with the carbonation level making it quite drinkable.

Overall – A refreshing berry brew. Very easy drinking, not too sweet and rather authentic fruit tasting. Not too bad.

 

Received this beer in a Pennsylvania Brewing sample case that I bought for a picnic, and as I had all the others (pilsner, koelsch, pale ale, and weissen) , i'm reviewing this one as a toast to the founder of Penn Brewery, the tied brewpub, Tom Pastorius, who passed away recently and was the father of craft beer in Pittsburgh. Did not know Tom other than to see him at the brewpub, which opened while I was in college here, and the rest is history. Never put out a bad beer, and was also a fun joint to visit. So raise a glass to Mr. Pastorius.

Not a big fan of fruit beers, so don't have a lot to compae it to, but I'd generalize and say it's a good summer beer. Poured into a pint glass, nice head, nice and pronounced berry aroma, and drinks very smooth. The berry taste s prominent, but not overwhelming or cloying and it's very drinkable. I prefer the Penn Pilsner or Penn Dark or my favorite, St. Niklaus Bock, but not a bad choice as a summer beer, They sell the beer at PNC Park, so try it if you visit. A salud'.

 

 

 

 

Hazy muddled gold color. Cascading bubbles from the bottom. A ring christens the surface.

Smells of sweet raspberry and general artificial berry. Not much malt screaming through other than some biscuity aroma. No hops discernible.

Fresh raspberry and blackberry skins with some artificial blueberry. No off-flavors present. Just a blatant showcase of fruit flavors that a mildly biscuity malt has been almost blindfolded. Light rigidity to counter the fruitiness in the finish that leads me to believe I stumbled upon some hops.

Drinks easy. Medium carb and pretty much medium body. Nothing to talk about.

One of the lower-tier Penn brews, but I see what they were going for. Not a bad fruit beer, I guess. But, a lack of showing from the malts makes me shrug.