Berliner Weisse - forgotten?

No mention of New Glarus or Three Floyds? That's a bit lazy of any Chicago writer who's writing about beer.

 

No mention of Festina Peche, which lands itself in summer craft beer top ten lists on a yearly basis?

 

Also, Pipeworks? Really Chicago beer writer?

 

What leads you to believe that our journalist AREN'T that lazy? Have you ever read our papers?

 

Lots of truth to what you just wrote.. though I have a RSS feed to the Tribune and its not a terrible source of information. Not that I rely on it to read about beer.

 

hahaha, Tribune is the... *gulp* ...best we have to offer, but good lord, the sun times is trash.

 

I agree with your sentiment about the article, but there's still a notion of truth in what he's attempting to say here. For nerds like us, the suggestion that berliner weisse is forgotten is completely ridiculous (as proven by your data above), but for the average drinker or craft beer newbie, this probably isn't one of the most accessible or easy to locate styles. Even for myself, it's easier to find lambic or wild ales than berliners (unless I want 1809 which is around all the time).

If you were to walk into a bar and ask a group of people about berliners, I wouldn't be surprised if they all glazed over with a quizzical expression. Ask them about IPAs or pale ales however, and I'd bet they know what you're talking about.

 

I don't consider this to be an entirely inaccurate statement, although there is admittedly a hell of a lot more going on in the world of craft beer than hops, if anyone cared to look.

 

New England is releaseing the new Weisse Trash Culture (in cans) in the next couple of weeks.

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

Remember this is the Trib, a huge newspaper to the masses. There needs to be suggestions to purchase that are actually on shelves in Chicago. Although New Glarus and FFF are close, the average Chicago Trib reader who wants to actually try a Berliner Weiss won't get to FFF for Deesko or WI for NG Berliner.

 

I mean...ummmm....uhhhhh....Heady is overrated?

 

Night Shift Brewing !!

 

and...?

 

Jules, don't try to bring actual thought or logic to a BA post criticizing a Trib article: it's the epitome of futility. And, come on, are there any breweries in the world other than Three Floyds and New Glarus, anyway? Anything else is just trash...

 

Exactly. It was in the Lifestyle section of the of the Sunday paper of the largest publication in the Chicago metro area. It wasn't in BA Magazine for the beer literate... the article is meant to appeal to a broad range of people and introduce a concept to them that more than likely they didn't know existed.

You cringe at the fact that Berliner Weisse would get a mention in a major mainstream publication? I would say taking up space in the Sunday paper of a major metro paper to highlight an obscure style is pretty badass. Maybe it'll inspire more people to try a berliner weisse and then more brewers will make them. The article probably could have mentioned Bell's Oarsman as well, as that is the most accessible pseudo-berliner
in the Chicago market. But really, I don't get what your gripe is? He isn't the tribunes beer writer and the trib has a great one at that in Josh Noel. I think it's pretty cool that another writer at the trib was able to write about beer and it got published and past his editor. We didn't solicit the article in anyway and it's pretty obvious you don't know the Chicago beer scene at all (essentially how new it really is... the media and bar owners are just now getting into the same frenzy over 'drink local' that other cities had a decade ago, so please forgive our general ignorance); not sure what your 'advert' comment is about.

Also, we are the first brewery in Chicago to put a Berliner in bottles. So maybe that's why he chose us to reference...

 

Here's the thing. My experience is that journalists, by and large, are lazy. That said, there are some that do some fantastic work and they serve an important purpose in our society....blah blah blah.

I am most certainly not a celebrity or anything close to it. But I have been interviewed on the radio about beer and have been interviewed more than once for magazine and newspaper articles that were published where I was quoted and or written about. In every case, I had to immediately email people who would care because the journalist either completely did not understand what I was saying and regurgitated it incorrectly before moving on (live, on the radio), or just plain misreported what I had said (in the print articles).

To be honest, it was an amazingly eye-opening experience. We trust what we read almost implicitly in this society. I suspect they get the big stuff right, but the lack of attention to detail I got has made me question pretty much everything I read or hear in the media.

 

One of our locals, Beach Brewing, had a limited batch a few months back called Sour Puss. I enjoyed it. I think it's hardly forgotten if a small outfit from Virginia Beach is mixing it up with a Berliner. The writer of that article is a nerd, and should be ridiculed.

 

Stakem, still owe you some glassware (and other Chicago things). If you are still willing to accept our peace offering. Since it's obvious you are keeping up with our Facebook page you know I mean it this time =p. The shipping boxes will be here Wednesday and yours will be the first to go out if you'll still have it.