Berliner Weisse Tasting

A few weeks ago I made my first sour beer, Ich bin ein Berliner Weisse, by sour-worting for about 20 hours, followed by a 15 minute boil. The sour-worting technique avoids the long aging times necessary for the "bugs" to do their thing, but can be an unpredictable process because the conditions of the sour wort and the growth rate of the microorganisms can be hard to control.

Appearance: Hazy straw yellow. White head with small bubbles that disappear quickly but leave a white lacing around the side of the glass.

Aroma: Lemony, with some sourness and a hint of funkiness - not putrid exactly but a slight whiff of trashy smell.

Taste: Mildly sour. Not puckering by any means. No bitterness. The funky weirdness of the smell is not present in the taste. Not a complex taste.

Body: Spritzy due to the carbonation of about 3 volumes. A bit tingly on the the tounge, again because of the high carbonation and low gravity.

Overall:  A mildy sour, lemony beer with light body. Refreshing and drinkable. Slight funkiness, so not a completely "clean" sour flavor. Overall pleasant but not a strongly flavored beer. Good refreshing summer beer.

For Next Time: Longer sour mash to get a much more prominent sour smell and taste. Perhaps inoculate the wort with a commercial tube of Lactobacillus. The sour mash of only 12 - 24 hours, though recommended as a good starting point, has not in this case produced a very sour beer (to my palette), certainly not compared to the reference beer I used, Bell's Oarsman (which BTW is itself only considered mildly sour).

Update: As of August 31, the slightly trashy smell is no longer present. I'm not sure why or how. I am really seeing the value of aging homebrew at least 5-6 weeks before drinking it, as many harsh or weird flavors seem to disappear as the bear ages.