Berliner Weiss recommendations

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4909/65752

Easily the best Berliner I've ever had. I've only had it once and I've only seen it once. I think about it every time a Berliner is mentioned. Need more!

 

Well Read Temptress was amazing but I actually poured out the Flower Child. It might have been a bad batch or something but it tasted funky as hell (and not the good funky like in a saison). The description that comes to mind is sauerkraut that's been in the sun all day

 

He was probably wondering why you recommended a beer the OP had already listed as having seen and passed on. I believe he was calling your reading comprehension into question. Your response did not strengthen your case I'm afraid.

 

I dont want to argue but that statement collectively removes about 75% or more of the beers listed on this site as berliners.

 

Yes it is. Rave is the wholesaler I get it from.

Also Bahnhof is very good, they also have Gose and a Brett one that is very limited. Another is Berliner Kindl

 

We're pretty lucky down here in fla. tons of good Berliners from ccb and Wakefield (every one of his berliners are freakin world class) Haven't had any 7th sun, but hear there's are fantastic as well. As for more readily available ones, I'll second this:

 

Yeah it's hard to pay attention to all these really long threads. 'Specially after a few beers.

 

A bunch of other people suggested beers the OP would probably have to trade for, which would also put him over his apparent $9 limit. For some reason that's not a problem though.

 

There are probably less than five Berliner Weiss beers for sale in Virginia. Buy all of them regardless of price.

 

“that statement collectively removes about 75% or more of the beers listed on this site…” Boy, I am unsure how to comment to that. All the Berliner Weiss beers that I have tasted have all been very tart forward. Some of my personal favorites are from local brewpubs: Nodding Head in Philly and Iron Hill (multiple PA locations).

Cheers!

 

That's not too bad. The Wegmans around us is actually one of the better priced places around. They must get ridiculous discounts because I have seen them sell beer for less than my cost at my bar which is only a few miles away...kinda sucks.

 

I disagree totally. The Briem 1809 isn't sour enough, is the wrong strength, isn't carbonated enough and is too dark. It fails on pretty much every count.

As an officially old bastard, I've been lucky enough to drink Berliner Weisse from several different Berlin breweries. The Briem version is nothing like any of them.

And the 1809 date is a joke. Before 1840 Berliner Weisse was brewed from smoked malt.

 

He's not using a traditional recipe. He just brewed what he thought Berliner Weisse might have been like in 1809. He did no research at all.

 

Ah, so he Sam Calgioned it

 

Well, that does it. I want a refund for two bottles of 1809.

I didn't like the beer and now I see Dr. Breim is a fraud, so I demand reparations.

 

Ive tooted the horn of Nodding Head and Iron Hill for a long time and they fall pretty much middle of the road and balanced as far as their level of acidity (not taking into account batch variation.) Perhaps it is just an evolution of palate or change in preference? Many of the beers some folks are suggesting are a whole new level of intense sourness that seemingly exceeds what one might consider natural. For example, Bear Republic Tartare is #1 on the top Berliners list and in my opinion is too fiercly sour to the point of being unbalanced. Some others that are fruited and come from Florida are also extreme examples of sourness in a berliner but it seems that the more extreme a beer is in this case, the more recognition it gets.

I agree Oarsman is on the softer side of tartness. So is Telegraph Sour Wheat, Smuttynose Short Batch Strawberry Berliner, 7venth Sun midnight moonlight, weyerbacher zulu, heretic tartuffe, pizza boy turkey burglar and even Berliner Kindl is very soft on the tartness. Doesnt it all come down to personal preference? I think that just because something is not sharply tart does not mean it cannot be in the style. Just my opinion.

 

The Berliner Weisse brewed in Berlin was extremely sour. The same level as the sourest lambics. I know because in the 1980's I drank both.

 

Schultheiss still to this day is one of the best Berliners I have had and it indeed is sour. As sour as some lambic i have had? Quite close. But it also displays plenty of other characteristics and not just tongue-numbing acidity like some of these newer creations.

 

For me the definitive Berliner Weisse was from the East German Schultheiss brewery on the Schönhauser Allee. Uncompromisingly sour and totally delicious. The West Berlin Schultheiss wasn't a patch on it.

Unfortunately, both versions are no more and all that's left is the shitty Berliner Kindl.

I've drunk lambic as sour as it comes and East German Schultheiss was up there with the sourest. That's why no-one drank it straight, apart from the crazy English bloke.

 

“I think that just because something is not sharply tart does not mean it cannot be in the style. Just my opinion.” I recognize your opinion.

Permit me to opine. I do not think it is a requirement that a Berliner Weiss be “sharply sour” but I do think that the dominant/primary aspect of a Berliner Weiss is its tartness. In this regard, Oarsmen does not fit that description. Just my opinion.

Cheers!