Berliner Weisse 2 Tasting

On July 4 I brewed a sour-worted Berliner Weisse, which I had allowed to sour four about 72 hours. I was aiming for a more sour beer than I had last time I used this technique,

Appearance: Golden hazy yellow, with a white head that quickly dissipates.

Aroma: Unfortunately I get a slightly off "trashy" smell from it, with a little bit of lemony tartness mixed in. I hope this smell goes away after a while as it did with my last use of this technique.

Taste: I get a pretty "clean" sourness throughout, especially in the aftertaste. It has a lemony quality, but not mouth puckering like it would be to bite on a lemon. Maybe a little bit of pilsner grain taste or very slight sweetnes in there, but the sour dominates.

Mouthfeel: Pretty thin due to the low gravity. I don't think it is quite as effervescent as my last one, so it doesn't have the enhanced mouthfeel that can come from high carbonation in a low gravity beer.

Overall: A light, refreshing, and moderately sour Berliner Weiss that probably should be more sour and more highly carbonated. Overall, I don't think it's much different than my last try at this style using the same sour-wort technique. Perhaps next time I'll sour longer, or maybe try the technique of adding lacto to the fermentation.


Other: I recently went with my with to Northern Germany, where her family lives, and took along a bottle of this beer. Her family generally do not drink Berliner Weiss, but they said it was pretty sour, and generally OK. However, they emphasized that the style is pretty much always consumed with sweet Woodruff or Raspberry syrups, in a shallow challice, stirred up a bit to get a nice thick head, and drunk through a straw. (Beer through a straw?!)