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Tart Sour Ale (Berliner-style Weisse)
Champion Brewing Company
- From:
- Champion Brewing Company
- Virginia, United States
- Style:
- Berliner Weisse
- ABV:
- 3%
- Score:
- 80
- Avg:
- 3.46 | pDev: 16.18%
- Reviews:
- 20
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- May 19, 2018
- Added:
- Feb 18, 2013
- Wants:
- 2
- Gots:
- 9
Traditional sour wheat ale inspires by the German original. Made with wheat and pale malt, this beer is refreshing and quaffable with flavors of sourdough and citrus fruit.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by confer:
Rated by confer from Pennsylvania
3.92/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Oct 11, 2015
3.92/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Oct 11, 2015
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by superspak from North Carolina
3.58/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.58/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12 ounce can into tulip glass, no can dating. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy pale golden yellow color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy white head with decent retention, that reduces to a minimal spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of tart/sour lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape. hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/acidic yeast and light-moderate pale/wheat malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of tart/sour lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape. hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate lactic tartness and light yeast spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, red/green apple, white grape. hay, straw, grass, wheat, cracker, white bread, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast and light-moderate pale/wheat malt flavors; with a great malt/tartness balance, and zero puckering flavors after the finish. Moderately crisp/clean finishing. Light-moderate increasing dryness from tartness and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and light body; with a very smooth and moderately bready/grainy/acidic balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol expected of 3%. Overall this is a good Berliner. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast and light-moderate pale/wheat malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the mellowly acidic/drying finish, not overly lactic. Very flavorful and not too watery for the ABV. Nice fruity lacto complexity and solid pale/wheat malt backing. A nicely enjoyable offering. Pretty standard tasting, and well made style example.
May 19, 2018Reviewed by not_an_evil_overlord from Virginia
2.04/5 rDev -41%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.75
2.04/5 rDev -41%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.75
I think I got a bad batch. Had lots of berliner weisses before but this one had a lot of butyric acid taste to it. It tasted like someone vomited in a good beer. I'd love to try it again to see if it was just the beer I got, but it was awful when I had it.
Oct 23, 2016Rated by Clearlywrong from North Carolina
3/5 rDev -13.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3/5 rDev -13.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Refreshing
Sep 28, 2016Reviewed by Jason from Massachusetts
3.89/5 rDev +12.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
3.89/5 rDev +12.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.75
12oz can, sample from the brewery.
Crystal clear bubbly pale yellow hue, tight white lacing on top. Tart nose, bready and light. Crisp and light bodied, expected to be thin for its size. Even but semi-aggressive sourness throughout, a bit of lemon and exotic fruit within. Light cracker tone, finishes bone dry. Very drinkable, love that they went to this level and still made it very flavorful.
Sep 08, 2016Crystal clear bubbly pale yellow hue, tight white lacing on top. Tart nose, bready and light. Crisp and light bodied, expected to be thin for its size. Even but semi-aggressive sourness throughout, a bit of lemon and exotic fruit within. Light cracker tone, finishes bone dry. Very drinkable, love that they went to this level and still made it very flavorful.
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
3.87/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
3.87/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
I am off to Philly to see Mac Sabbath, a McDonald's character-themed band that does Black Sabbath covers, here in a little while, but I also want to CANtinue The CANQuest (tm).
From the CAN: "A traditional sour wheat ale inspired by the German original. Made with Weyermann malted wheat and 2-row malted barley, this beer is refreshing and quaffable with crisp acidity."
The Crack! was just the thing to kick off the holiday weekend & so I followed it up with an inverted Glug. The massive, puffy, foamy, bone-white head rose up in the glass, finally forming a two finger cap above the liquid before falling away to wisps. Color was Pale-Straw (SRM = 1- 2) with NE-quality clarity. Nose could be smelled from a distance. The tartness was already causing me to pucker my lips in CANticipation of what was to come. A good whiff really gave me a sense of the sour aspects, also. Mouthfeel was a bit thin, slightly watery. The taste was not as intense as it had been on the nose. In fact, it even had a honeysuckle breadiness to it that helped to mellow the tartness. I really felt a jolt on the finish, though, right at the hinges of my jaw! Phew! Man, I got a full-body tingle off of that one. I will be the first to tell you that I am not a tart/sour beer fan, but this was very drinkable and highly refreshing. If you are hesitant, I enCANourage you to give it a try.
Sep 02, 2016From the CAN: "A traditional sour wheat ale inspired by the German original. Made with Weyermann malted wheat and 2-row malted barley, this beer is refreshing and quaffable with crisp acidity."
The Crack! was just the thing to kick off the holiday weekend & so I followed it up with an inverted Glug. The massive, puffy, foamy, bone-white head rose up in the glass, finally forming a two finger cap above the liquid before falling away to wisps. Color was Pale-Straw (SRM = 1- 2) with NE-quality clarity. Nose could be smelled from a distance. The tartness was already causing me to pucker my lips in CANticipation of what was to come. A good whiff really gave me a sense of the sour aspects, also. Mouthfeel was a bit thin, slightly watery. The taste was not as intense as it had been on the nose. In fact, it even had a honeysuckle breadiness to it that helped to mellow the tartness. I really felt a jolt on the finish, though, right at the hinges of my jaw! Phew! Man, I got a full-body tingle off of that one. I will be the first to tell you that I am not a tart/sour beer fan, but this was very drinkable and highly refreshing. If you are hesitant, I enCANourage you to give it a try.
Reviewed by FriedSlug from North Carolina
3.41/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.41/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Very pale gold with a white head that vanishes quickly and leaves no lacing. The smell is wheat, sour, with perhaps a bit of lemon. The taste is like Wheaties and sour milk with a lemon tartness at the end and a tiny bit of sweetness. The sourness in this one does not smell or taste pleasant to me. This is not one of my favorite of this style.
Aug 07, 2016Rated by GlennWB from West Virginia
3.04/5 rDev -12.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.04/5 rDev -12.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Light clear thirst quenher. Not extremely sour.
Aug 06, 2016Reviewed by baconfromwalmart from Pennsylvania
2.9/5 rDev -16.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
2.9/5 rDev -16.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
L: A 1 finger white head that dissipated quickly. Super pale, see-through yellow.
S: Not much nose, slightly metallic funk.
T: Very light body that wasn't really that tart... I like sour beers that turn your face inside-out and this didn't even register. There was a very slight zing when I imagined it as a pilsner or something, but it didn't make my jaw twitch in the slightest. Disappointing.
Mar 18, 2016S: Not much nose, slightly metallic funk.
T: Very light body that wasn't really that tart... I like sour beers that turn your face inside-out and this didn't even register. There was a very slight zing when I imagined it as a pilsner or something, but it didn't make my jaw twitch in the slightest. Disappointing.
Reviewed by Treyliff from West Virginia
3.2/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
3.2/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Pours almost clear on color, small fizzy head tat disappears completely. Tart and wheaty aroma. Taste is very thin and tart, with a hint of lemon. Finish is dry with toasted wheat. Light body and carbonation, pretty simple, a nice palate cleanser but nothing else
Feb 20, 2016
Tart Sour Ale (Berliner-style Weisse) from Champion Brewing Company
Beer rating:
80 out of
100 with
91 ratings
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