1809 Berliner Style Weisse

Aroma of some light banana, clove, and a good amount of lemon. Hazy light yellow pour with a huge head. Big bubbly carbonation. Initial hefe flavors of fruity esters followed by big tart and acidic lemon notes. Incredibly thirst quenching. Nicely tart. Some nice stuff here! I love that it can be so flavorful, yet so quaffable and light.

Bottle from Binny’s- Chicago South Loop. Extremely light bodied and highly carbonated-- almost like a sparkling hefeweizen. Lactic taste is there, but not overwhelming. Drinkable, enjoyable, but a little light bodied for my palate.

Bottle from Sam’s. Nose is very tart, though not in a Lambic way. Sweet and grainy with a lactic acidity. Quite different, really and nice. Pale cloudy blonde withe a disappearing head. Very tart with a bit of a caramelized finish. It’s interesting because I always used to taste that caramelly richness and never knew what it was until I started to brew and now know it to be the decoction. Very tart and different. Nice.

Tastes like a lemon spritzer! Refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemon-citrus fruit sharpness. Spritzy, champagne-like carbonation. $5.99 for a 16.9-oz bottle from 99 Bottles in Federal Way, Wash.

500ml Bottle $5.49 West Lakeview 1809 pours a great looking slightly hazy straw golden with a great deal of carbonation. Streams and explosions of carbonation rushh to the surface and help keep the fingers worth of micro-bubbled head intact. 1809 just looks refreshing and leaves some decent but thin lace down the glass. My nose is immediately greeted by a very noticeable wheat twang and a nice sour wheatiness as well. Once I dig beyond the wheat there’s a healthy dose of mouthpuckering lemon juice. The sourness of the wheat and lemon make this all at once smell refreshing and makes my mouth water. I didn’t catch it at first but with a little warming there seems to be a low key banana by-product from the yeast used that adds another layer of complexity. I can’t get my nose out of this glass. Very champagne like in the mouth. The wheat is all over the tongue along with a puckering lemon sourness and a damp(sour) wheatiness. The lemon really plays a huge role in the flavor and this beer is better because of it. Not much, if any, banana in the flavor but there does seem to be a green apple like tartness floating around in there. Each sip quenches your thirst and then leaves a slight pucker which makes you want another drink. The mouthfeel is right on. Again, very champagne like with big yet smooht carbonation rolling over the tongue. Light bodied with a nice puckering ability and a slight drying on the back of the tongue. This is one of those ultimate warm weather drinkers. If it didn’t cost so much I would buy this by the case and sip the Summer away. 1809 turns out to be a great brew that is lower on the abv but packs a lot of flavor. A definate session beer and something to be enjoyed while outside on a warm day. I will pick this up again without question. 4/26/08

Largely opaque yellow-gold, pale but saturated. Rapidly fading big-bubbled white head. Sweet and tart aroma, wheat funk, lemon rind, quite acidic - lactic mostly. Wheat overarching in the taste, funky both from the grains and the lactic note. Very slight citrus, but funk prevails. Finish is quite dry, back-palate is sour, and the aftertaste lasts considerably with a grainy, almost metallic note. Lively carbonation but certainly doesn’t cut through the extremely unique and strong, distinctive flavors.

Bottle. Medium sized very fizzy white head that quickly dissipated, spotty amounts of lacing, transparent, fast rising carbonation, and a yellow hue. Nose was malt, sweet, sour, lemon tartness, and fruity. The flavor was sweet, fizzy, acidic, sour, tart, malt, fruity, lime, and a dry finish. Mouthfeel was spritzy and dry. Light-medium in body. Makes one kind of pucker due to the amount of sourness and tartness in this beer. Thanks, but no.

Hazy golden with medium white head. Sweet fruity aroma with wheaty and orange peel notes. Sweet fruity flavor with yeasty and wheaty notes. Edds sweet.