North Country Brünette
August Schell Brewing Company

750ml bottle at share. cloudy amber pour, small bubbly head. Aroma is citrus, fruity, tartness, funk. taste is mildly sour, lemon and some light lacto notes.

 

 

 

750 mL bottle. Pours deep clear brown. A few bubbles but no real head. Smells of toasted malts and bread. Dark fruit acidity. Tastes pleasantly tart. Cherry. Bready malts. A little vanilla. I feel like I get some of the wood tank, but maybe I'm making that up. Light body with low carbonation. So I found this in my fridge and it definitely should have been consumed... 3 years ago? But this is simple, well made, and has no signs of degradation.

 

 

 

 

A great Berliner Weiss. Sour on the nose and the tongue. Great carbonation and a quick finish. Darker then it should be for style.

 

 

 

 

this series has almost single handedly forced me to reconsider what a berliner can be. this one is a berliner style marzen lager, which i think is a brilliant move, combining a couple of disparate but classic german styles. nice amber color to it, but surprisingly clear for what it is, especially compared to the other murky bathwater looking beers in the series. lots of carbonation too. the nose is malty first, unlike the others, which have been a major lacto punch right off the get go. nutty and sweet malts make it smell like an octoberfest from the top, and the lacto doesnt come in until the end, with a lemony aroma and decent acidity. the flavor is just like the nose, but the malt never gets cut off, it carries all the way through, with a red apple flavor for a second, toffee sweetness, and an overall autumnal vibe. the lacto is pretty aggressive too, sharp and hot, cutting the sweetness way down, and leaving a citrus bitterness on the palate as it swallows. ive always thought the marzen lager was the final evolution, like it couldnt be taken any further, but here schell has done exactly that, and the result is a wonderfully complex and unique brew, well worth what they ask for it. i need to get my hands on the rest of the series! berliner lagers are pretty cool these guys have proven...