Adjunct Misinformation

And Julius Caesar was in England before Jesus was born. He was tres sympa.

 

That was first edition.

 

Imagine what a plain Berliner Weisse (without added fruit) would be like without lactose, no body and almost no flavor.

 

I have no difficulty imagining this since a Berliner Weisse typically does not include lactose (milk sugar).

Cheers!

 

So there's a difference between lactose and lactic acid? I thought added lactose was the reason why Berliners taste and smell like sour milk.

 

A HUGE difference. Lactose is a sugar (powder) which is added to augment the body/mouthfeel of a beer style. Lactic acid is just like the name sounds: an acid. There are several ways to produce the acidic aspect of a Berliner Weisse and using lactic acid is just one way.

You can read more here about how to sour a Berliner Weisse beers:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/4-ways-sour-berliner-weisse/

Cheers!

 

Brutus wore them to, eh? Mirabilis!

 

No bell bottoms here:

 

Triumviri-tastefully

 

Quick followup question after reading that article. When people talk disparagingly about "kettle sours", are they singling out those that are made simply with lactic acid vs. the other more complex methods?

 

You can produce kettle sours via other methods besides adding lactic acid. For example you could sour the mash using lactobacillus.

I believe the larger issues of producing a beer via kettle souring vs. long term aging in a barrel are:

• Kettle souring tends to produce simpler (e.g., more one dimensional) beers
• It is viewed as a 'short cut' vs. producing sours in the 'traditional' manner via long aging in barrels

Perhaps you will find this article helpful to you:

https://vinepair.com/articles/what-is-kettle-sour-beer/

Cheers!

 

Since 1871 when Bavaria joined Germany and officially in 1949 it is for all intent and purpose Germany. And who cares if 1516 law applied only to Bavaria in history ? Waste of time conversation-

 

Sorry, I get that and must not have been clear. The article you originally linked explained 4 different ways to achieve souring in a beer like a Berlinerweisse, with adding lactic acid directly being the "simplest" as you note above.

I've always found it weird that some people refer to kettle sours so disparagingly (given their long history, in Germany no less) and was wondering if they are specifically singling out ones made the easy way with lactic acid. That would at least make some sense to me.

If people really are dissing the whole category (all 4 methods), that seems needlessly limiting to me. There's room for complex barrel aged/wild sours and simple tart ones.

 

Maybe you have been tracking this more closely than I have? I have never seen a person who disparaged kettle sours via specifically singling out a specific method of how the beer was kettle soured (i.e., using lactic acid vs. other methods).

Cheers!

 

I seem to be explaining things unclearly so let's just put this to bed. Thanks for the cool links though

 

I’ve definitely seen many disparaging comments about kettle sours too. So it’s not just you.

Cool man you do you. I’m Scottish but feel free to call me English. I live in NYC - that’s the state capital of NJ right? If not let’s just say that it is.

 

The point is that most of what is now Germany did not have Purity Laws, in fact the use of rice as an adjunct in brewing originated there.Most Germans didn;t want the so called Purity Laws (whose purpose was to ensure that there was enough wheat for bakers),nothing to do with beer quality.But Bavaria made their adoption a condition for reunification.

 

I know at least in my case, the disparagement of kettle sours has nothing to do with the souring aspect. I absolutely love a good berlinerweisse. What I don't love at all is the relentless 'add junk' aspect that has taken over the vast majority of kettle sours produced in the US.

Now before someone says "but woodruff!"; yes, I know that traditionally berlinerweisse can have syrup added. However, the addition of optional woodruff or cassis syrup to a beer is far different from a brewery producing lime-coconut-vanilla, imperial creamsicle, or grape kool-aid kettle sours without an 'add junk'-less version available. That's why I disparage 'add junk' kettle sours: because they have perverted the idea of what a kettle sour is supposed to be, and have supplanted what was an already great style to sell 'beer-for-people-who-don't-like-beer'.