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Berliner Weisse

Unread postPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:18 am
by skookum
Tach auch-howdy,
I'll try to answer gillmangs questions about Berliner Weisse as good as I can.
To my knowlege,there is only one company left that produces this beer-
The Berliner Kindl Breweries.
Without syrup this beer tastes real bitter-so nobody drinks it straight.
The green syrup(woodruf)is called Waldmeistersirup
the red syrup(rasberry)is called Himbeersirup.
The beer is always served with a straw,so you can fiddle with the syrup in the bottom of the wide mouthed glass until it has completely dissolved-the syrup that is.The foam will turn either red or green.
This beer is not as popular as it used to be and I think the main reason are the numerous Alkopops that abound nowadays.
You cannot compare it with a Bavarian Weizen beer-The Weizen is usually served in half-liter portions,the Kindl in one-third-liter portions.
Berliner Weisse is a hot-summer day drink,usually served with a meal.
You can drink two of them and not feel as buzzed as if you had drunk two
Bavarian Weizenbeers.
I personally don't drink the stuff as it is too sweet for my taste.
All in all I would say that with the fall of the wall and Berlin not being
a special western island behind the iron curtain,the myth along with
multimillion-dollar subsidies for products made in Berlin,has died.
And the Berliner Weisse is-sad to say-on it's way out.

I googled around a bit and found some more info.
There is another brewery producing this stuff-The Schultheiss Brewing Co. The beer has a wort strength of 7 to 8 %.
It is a real light beer by German standards-only 2,8%abv.It's bitter taste stems from using a top-fermenting yeast of the species BRETTANOMYCES
along with Lactobacteria,which makes this beer perfect for long storage.
The first time this beer was officially documented goes back to 1642.

Hope to have been of some help
Prost
skookum

Unread postPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:31 am
by sevenmag
Our local Brew Pub brewed up some Berliner Weisse and it didn't go over very well here. I talked to the brew master, and he told me he only did it because he loves sour beers and thought the women would go for it with the syrups he offered with it.

It's cellaring now and he's gonna bring it back on occasion until it's gone. I personally didn't like it, and can't make myself drink a beer with any sort of flavoring in it.

He's got a rye beer coming out this month, I'll be down there to give that one a try.

Unread postPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:22 pm
by Mark
Oh man, be sure to try that rye beer. Bob and I tried a rye brew about a month ago here (I think we mentioned it in a post somewhere, I can't remember the name or anything right now) and it was phenominal...

Unread postPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:43 pm
by Brewer
Berliner Weisse is DEFINITELY an acquired taste. When I first tried it years ago, I poured it out...couldn't drink it. I gave it a try again a couple of years ago and enjoyed it much more than the first time. On both occassions, I tasted it without any syrup added. For a summer thirst quencher, I'd still prefer a variety of other styles of wheat beer. But if you're a beer lover like I am, you owe it to yourself to try this...at least twice. :wink:

Unread postPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 10:37 am
by gillmang
Many thanks for that information, most interesting indeed. Isn't it a pity such an old specialty is going out? It is the original alcopop except much better and made by local people. And less alcoholic, which won't hurt anyone. I take your point about sweetness but the answer there is to add less syrup. I guess that is not always easy to do in a bar or restaurant setting. Interesting too about the Brett yeast, this is used in some Belgian beers too and has influence in some wines. It tends to impart a lactic/sour "horseblanket" taste. I had the Kindl weisse once here in Ontario, it was imported for a while, but no syrup was suggested for its use and I found on its own it was a little hard to drink, quite lactic and "austere". If it comes back I'll find some syrup to add. Thanks again for that information.

Gary

Unread postPosted: Sat Nov 12, 2005 5:52 pm
by Bourbon Joe
Mark wrote:Oh man, be sure to try that rye beer. Bob and I tried a rye brew about a month ago here (I think we mentioned it in a post somewhere, I can't remember the name or anything right now) and it was phenominal...


I used to drink a Bavarian Rye Beer called Roggen. I think it was brewed in Erding, Bavaria, hence Erdinger Roggen. The stuff is super but hard to find over here.
Joe