Double Fruited Berliner Weisse
Stoneface Brewing Co.

Can at the Thirsty Moose Manchester.
Hazy reddish purple in color with a pink tinged head that is large and persists. Huge berry aroma and flavor moderate sweetness light to moderate lemony tartness. As much a slushy as a beer but really tasty.

I recall Stoneface being heavily focused on IPAs just a few years ago, so it's very interesting to see them shift a bit into the fruited sour realm. I believe I've had one or two of their Berliners before, but this "double fruited" varietal seems too delicious-sounding to pass up! Brewed with lactose, raspberries, and blackberries, I'm happy to say that this 3.7% darling absolutely delivers.

The pour is pretty much straight-up raspberry juice, though it has a darker bent to it for sure. There's a definitive opacity to it as well, and a tightly-defined head that stands quite a bit apart from most other fruited Berliners I've ever had. I'm very impressed by how great this looks! That head stands with a small ring of eggshell-white foam even after 10 minutes in my glass. Now that's tenacity!

The nose is, of course, pure sour berries. This beer is saturated! It's slightly jammy and a tad bit grassy as well, with a pushy lemony twang that stands out quite a bit. Even though there are no blueberries in this beer, it feels like their essence lives on for whatever reason... perhaps the blackberries bring a little bit of that weird stemminess I discern from blueberry sour beers. Whatever the case, just know that this smells amazing; very fruity, very juicy, very sour, and incredibly appealing.

Upfront flavor is sweet and jammy, though the mid-palate pushes the sourness to intense levels, as the wheat malt helps define the entire profile and feel. I think this might have one of the best and most prudent lactose additions I've had in a sour; it does nothing to make this "creamy," but it helps immensely in taming the acidity toward the finish. As such, the beer finishes fruity instead of bracingly tart. I love the way this sits on the tongue; it has such a nice evolution of flavors, and the raspberry/blackberry elements are well-defined. Moderate carbonation and a wheat-laden, heavy-ish (for a 3.7% beer, anyway) body make this a perfect, fruity treat. I would definitely return to this one, and wish Stoneface luck in following up this monstrously-delicious beer!