Berliner Weisse talk, anyone?

I'd love to try @JackHorzempa 's Grodziskie (which is probably a better name for that kind of beer than Gratzer). A good one is a delight. When trying the Briem version, keep an open mind, but also understand that the sour aspect of that beer makes Pattinson's blood boil. Have you had Off Color's 15 Feet? If not, give that a shot too.

 

I can't recall if I have ever purchased a Berliner Weiss in a bottle/can, although I've had it on tap a few times at various breweries. I'm fortunate that my local German-inspired brewery (Territorial) has their Berliner on tap each summer, and they normally offer schuss flavors of woodruff and raspberry, which I've never chosen either to go with my beer. I suppose it's a personal choice whether you select neither or one of those flavors, and it's not a 'tradition' to have one, but one of these times I'll give each a try to see what I'm missing.

 

I was recently sent a great version by @Premo88 - Independence Brewing's Redbud, out of Austin. It has a wonderfully full doughy/bready malt character backing up a lively amount of lemony tartness- not quite a maximum zippiness, but definitely up there, yet it remains a real pleasure to drink. Very well done, and I really enjoyed it.

 

I'm over them. Everyone makes one it seems, and they all taste like crusted Yoplait. No thanks.

 

I wonder what Dr. Frtiz Briem thinks about that beer!?!

Cheers!

 

1809 by Prof. Fritz is a great one for sure. I recently had Bruery's Terreux Frucht Rasberry and thought it was outstanding for a nationally available one. The Answer out of Richmond makes some spectacular ones made with fruit puree added, but those are very hard to acquire (have to drink on-site for many). Would recommend a stop if ever in Richmond.

 

It seems the Berliner Weiss is a lighter version of a gose (esp fruited), and is approachable by those who don't always drink beer.

 

New meaning to the term "bottle bombs"!?!

Cheers!

 

I've only ever had the opportunity to try two fruit-flavoured Berliner Weisse's: Mango and Melon from Brasserie Durham (Durham, Quebec). Both were great and I really enjoyed them, but I would love to try a non-flavoured brew.

Unfortunately, coming across Berliner Weisse in the wild (at least in my locale) is pretty rare.

 

A few years back options were abound, but at the moment I'm certain that my local beer store does not have any apart from that new one from Sweet Water (Mango, Guava, Passionfruit) which I can't seem to get myself to take a chance on.

I prefer them without fruit - but am not against the idea of it. I have no purist sensibilities, especially for a style that is virtually dead in the land that spawned them.

Gose has take over as the preferred kettle-sour beer style in the US. Or at least it seems that way. They basically scratch the same itch for me.

The cherry and blueberry tart beers from Peak were underwhelming, which I believe were meant to be berliner-style beers.

 

That's because brewers saw slightly more potential to make "funny" beer names with Gose. Here Gose Nothin'. Gotta have priorities.

 

Well, sure, since Mikkeller cornered the market on 'Ich bin ein Berliner' names...

 

Do you get DESTIHL products in your area? If so, give their Wild Sour series a try.

 

Had quite a few good ones, none of which I remember, and a few terrible ones that are seared into my memory.

I wonder how the quality control departments of some of these breweries allow poorly executed sour mash BW, which taste of bile, out the door with their labels on them. As one of the accessible sour styles these brewers do the beer world an injustice by putting would be sour enthusiasts off the whole concept.

 

I had my first Berliner at Nodding Head in, probably, 2001. It was definitely a "WOW!" beer for me. Had never had anything remotely like it. It was an unfruited Berliner, but their recommended serving style came with a generous squirt of woodruff syrup to coat the sides of the pint glass. I loved that stuff and found ways of getting to Nodding Head often.

When I first moved to "beer mecca" -- the Portland, Oregon area -- in 2006, most of the folks in the homebrew shops and brewpubs I asked about local examples of the style hadn't even heard of it.

I'm sure if I went to a good bottle shop, I probably could have found some -- but I still bought my "at-home" beer from grocery stores those days, and never thought to search for beer on the Internet. As such, I could only satisfy my Berliner cravings when I'd occasionally travel back to the East Coast for work -- once with a side trip to Nodding Head during a work trip in 2007 and once at the old Brickskeller in DC, which at that point I'm pretty sure was already renamed the Beer Baron.

Then, one day, I was in a CVS just outside Portland and happened to glance over at a old timey-looking bottle on the shelf. It was some sort of one-off Berliner from Full Sail. Shortly after that, it seemed the Berliners and Goses exploded on the scene. And that's more info than you probably ever wanted to know.

 

Yup, Ich Bin En Berliner Weiss was indeed a tasty beer!

Cheers!