Dr. Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse currently is pouring at Common Haus Hall.
In late May of 1989, I flew into West Berlin for three days of sightseeing prior to transiting the German Democratic Republic into Czechoslovakia, and two months exploring in the East Bloc.
While in West Berlin I can remember buying a bottle of Berliner Kindl Weisse and taking it back to my room, where I poured it into my camp cup and was utterly shocked by the sourness. It seemed excessive, but then again I had no idea what a sour beer was supposed to be.
In the case of Berliner Weisse, it was (and remains) a pale, cloudy and effervescent variation on a theme of Northern German wheat ale, brewed from variable combinations of malted wheat and barley, and with a very low hopping rate.
Yeast mixtures might include regular ale yeast as well as a pinch of Brettanomyces (but this is not a lambic by any stretch). The brewing process encourages the creation of lactobacillus, or naturally occurring bacteria, hence the tart acidity.
Berliner Weisse dates to the 1600s and perhaps earlier, and was famously consumed by Napoleon’s troops, who occupied Berlin from 1806 through 1809, and suppos ......
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