Winter Weissen
The Grey Parrot

Grey Parrot's Winter Weissen is accidentally good. I say accidentally because I'm sure it was not designed to taste as it does. The same issues of contamination affecting the Parrot's other beers similarly make their presence known here. But where other beer styles are quickly annihilated by the unintended intrusion of infectious souring, this seasonal hefeweizen is actually enhanced by these same qualities.

Weizens are tart by design. Brewers traditionally augment this property by serving the beer with a wedge of lemon. In this case, the potential sourness of lemon flavor is replaced by the thrust of bacterial mayhem that infected the beer from its inception. Traditional Bavarian esters make their presence known. But this is offset by the characteristic sourness of a stealth fermentation agent. The result is a beer of clouded daisy-eye yellow with an elegant white crown of foam, a breezy, quaffable body, and smooth drinkability. The sourness is vivid and appealing though I'm certain it's unintended.