Lychee Weisse
Fat Bottom Brewing

Actually liked this one

 

 

 

extraordinarily interesting beer, but a weird one at that. not a lot of fruited berliners going around, and lychee is a rare commodity, especially in beer, so this is a neat concept, and i think the execution is pretty nice as well. its super pale, yellow, the fruit, if you arent familiar, is almost colorless in its peeled form, and this shows no signs of fruit visually. it smells like a berliner, with a front side sour, either mash or kettle, with young but robust lacto that produces a prominent acidity along with some mellow farmy funk, likely on wheat malt. the lychee doesnt contribute much to the nose, and the same is unfortunately true with the taste. its s subtle flavor to begin with, and any of it that was here seems to have been crowded out by the lacto sourness. i try and try, but really cant taste the lychee as a lychee. that said, i think the fruit does do something to the overall complexion of this beer, its just really hard to place specifically. overall a refreshing and enjoyable session beer, something i could really hammer down. its interesting enough, and its a good base berliner too. i just wish the fruit was more unique in it, thats all. i would buy this again in a heartbeat.

 

 

 

Fat Bottom Lychee Weisse
on tap @ Flying Saucer, Nashville - 6 April 2015

Ahhh, Lychee Weisse. Based on my interactions with several women who work in the service industry in Nashville, this is a hit. They drink it themselves, and they promote it to customers. They love the sour tang and slight funk, as well as the lower alcohol level. Not one of them, however, mentioned the fruit while we were talking, and I think that's where it falters - notice that I didn't say "fails", just 'falters'. It's got the "lychee" name tag attached to it but it doesn't really display lychee, at least not in a way where you'd say "Oh, that's lychee". Of course there are two other sides to that that you can't really blame the brewer for: #1, most people in the U.S. are unfamiliar with lychee, and #2 lychee is a hard fruit to pin down anyway... it's distinct, but restrained... kind of like a floral grape. If you had lychee water it'd probably be quite clear, but this is beer, and a Berliner-style weisse at that! So how to evaluate this beer? You can't just go with looking at it as a Berliner Weisse because of the fruit, nor is it 'really' a "fruit beer" - let's just go hedonistically. It's clean, other than the light funk of the Lactobacillus, which is the most important point. It's balanced because there's barely any bitterness, and it's supposed to lean towards sharp tartness. The fruit is a kind of a middling addition to the mix, and if you look hard enough you can find it. I guess my main questions would be: 'Does the fruit really help it, or is it just an expensive addition?', and "Is it really tart enough?" - but both of those work on a simply hedonistic level, so let's see... I didn't think the fruit really helped it, nor did it hinder it; and I felt it could have been even more sour but at the same time I felt it was fine, and probably more commercially acceptable as-is. Would I have it again? Absolutely. And I certainly think it's worth giving it a shot just to see what it's all about.