1809 Berliner Style Weisse

Brewed by Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan
Style: Berliner Weisse
Freising, Oberbayern, Germany

Pours with a white fluffy head. Aroma is of clove, sour fruit, and a little banana. There is a medicinal quality to this beer, as smhncabot pointed out, but it is not offensive. Rather, it accentuates the cleanliness of the beer in the malting and the sourness and lends some small structure to the beer. Overall, a very quaffable beer. Very good for what it is, but still nothing I would go out of my way for necessarily-unless it was summer and I was very hot.

pours cloudy with one inch head. aroma is clovey with underlying banana. the bouquet also brings good wheat and an almost medical gauze-like dullness. taste is spicy wheat and very tart. very refreshing and pretty good but not quite wow to me.

Pours quite hazy, with a yellowish straw color and is topped by a frothy, initially three finger thick, fluffy, off-white colored head, which dissipates fairly quickly. The beer is quite aromatic, with aromas reaching my nose as I pour this beer; at first aromatic notes of clove and banana reach my nose (like found in a traditional German Hefeweizen). In fact even when I go in for a better sense of the aroma, these notes are still the most noticeable. There is a solid, grain-like wheat character, a light tartness, which gives the nose a hint of an edge, as well as fruity notes of lemon zest, apricot and green apple. Once you start digging around in the aroma a distinct, funky note reminiscent of cheddar cheese becomes noticeable. In fact once noticed, this funkiness becomes quite apparent; funky cheese, but a musty cotton thing, and some mushroom like notes. The funk, as it were, remains fairly subdued; this allows the traditional yeast and grain character to come through quite well; though I could certainly wish for a touch more funkiness in the nose.

The taste is quite a bit tarter than the aroma would suggest; it is by no means hard, but has a nice lactic edge to it that is immediately noticeable. Wheat and lightly kilned malt notes come through quite well, supplying a bread-like note as well as some soda cracker notes. Despite the fact that the head disappeared quickly, the beer is still quite well carbonated; this adds a zesty textural note of fizz as it hits the tongue. The beer is quite light and drinkable, though it is on the heavy side for a modern style Berliner Weiss. It also has a bit more alcohol than the modern versions, but given the allusions on the bottle, it seems to be trying to be a stronger, earlier take on the style. I would guess that a traditional Hefe-Weizen yeast was used here as those flavors are here too; notes of banana and clove are definitely distinguishable and are a welcome addition.

The second pour yields a taste that is a touch more yeast, and thus bread-like and perhaps a touch less tart. This is a tasty beer; I would be really curious as to how this will bottle condition over the years; I certainly wish I had more of this right now, so I will have to pick up a couple bottles the next time I have a chance. I think that this beer might get considerably better after some age on it.

Pours hazy bold yellow with a large white head. The aroma is tart with orange peel, some mustiness, sour lemon and lactic notes. Medium lush body with very pleasant tingly carbonation. The flavor starts with smooth fruitiness (peach, lemon, orange) and pleasing tartness. The finish has a touch more sourness, lactic acid and yeast. This is a great summer refresher. While this isn’t exorbitantly priced, if it was priced lower I’d be drinking this thing all summer long.

Cloudy golden-yellow color with a dissipating white head. Aroma is subtly-banana-ey with some tart citrus, wheat/assorted sweet grains and maybe some light spices. Taste is tartly citrus with some smooth and sweet wheat flavors. Nice tingly mouthfeel and overall very refreshing. Probably the best you can find in the original style, but I can’t say its much above average overall.

Bottle from Eaglefan538; Nose is wheaty like a hefe with a bit of light banana, and hints of citrus and tartness; very cloudy yellow with a blood red tint added and a medium yellow-tinged head; Flavor is reasonably tart, but not too much with some breadiness, and definate lemon.

Clear gold pour with a fizzy white head that quickly dissipates. Not much by way of lace. Excellent carbonation. Medium bodied. Dry citric aroma. Acidic fruit and very dry

in the 500 mL bottle from John’s grocery. pours a canary yellow with a thick bright white head that lasts a while then subsides to a thin white film. aroma is a bit lemony. something of unsweetened grapefruit juice. the beer has as very dry taste. it is crisp and tart. has a great refreshing lemon flavor with grapefruit sourness and bitterness at the finish. there is no weird or bad off flavors to this beer. when you smell the yeastcake in the bottom of the bottle, you get a great banana aroma.