1809 Berliner Style Weisse

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

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.

Pours an effervescent bright golden with an airy, spotty-lacing frothy white head. Aroma of lightly sweet wheat, some grass and a hint of tart lemon and earthy citrus along with a touch of funk. Body starts fairly full for the style, semi-sweet and sticky with a nicely balanced fresh lemongrass tang. Finishes semi-dry and tart with mild bitterness and clove. A very nice Berliner Weisse.

Draft at hamiltons: Pours a processed grapefuit juice color starting out with a nice bright white head but settling very thin and really only a ring around the glass. Nose exhibits nice, lemony lactic twang. Flavors are wheaty with a bit of sourness, but really it tastes a lot more like a hefe than a berliner...there isn’t much if any graininess common with berliners...and the lemony twang is more wheaty and a product of a hefe-type yeast than any lactic funk. Its tasty of course, but within what I would call style guidelines of what I refer to as a berliner weisse, I don’t think so...

RBSG 2007 Grand Tasting - Lightly hazed yellow, fizzy white head. Nose held delicate notes of sour banana, candle wax, and lemon poppyseed muffins. Flavor is softly sour and tart with wheaty fruit-like tones from start to finish. Light bodied, soft carbonation, quick drying, citric finish. Highly drinkable...

Bottle, aged 3 months, drunk on 10/27/07
Lovely white head that shows stronger retention than most berliner weisse. Mostly clear golden body with large bubbles in solution. Light lacing as well.
Fruity and full of lacto in the nose. Dry wheat as well, with even some soft honey notes from the malt. Light banana, but lemon and tangerine as well. Smells very similar to a hefe weizen, but with more complex fruitiness and just a tinge of sourness. To be honest, this and the last German berliner weisse I’ve had have been less "to-style" than the American ones I’ve had. The lacto, while more seemlessly integrated in to the German ones, becomes less distinctive and the line between a hefe and a berliner weisse are blurred. Which isnt very problematic, as the styles are very similar and a "to-style" version certainly does not exist. Still, this is unique and far different from the bone-dry, almost nutty, lactic, lemon/yoghurt versions I’ve had.
The flavor has a supple wheat softness and chewy nuttiness, with lightly tart acids and plentiful citrus. Delicate honey notes continue to balance, and some light banana joins the mix. Tight carbonation and no alcohol or flaws round out this vivacious brew.

500ml bottle: Quite fizzy on the pour, but then quickly fades to a silent stillness with just a bare head of tiny bubbles. Reflects the color of unfiltered pineapple juice, and the aroma darn near starts making me think this is a fruit punch. It’s not quite that sweet, though, pretty tart I suppose, but not nearly as puckering as I’d expected depending on all the smack talk about the style (this is the first Berliner I’ve had in the 5 yrs I’ve been on RB). Instead, it’s pleasantly sweet and lightly tart, and quite drinkable. Why would anyone put fruit syrup in this? (#2993, 6/27/2007)

Large white head, good retention and lace. Nose is tart, spicey, citrusy, lemony and yeasty. Body is lightly medium with a tangy feel. Lightly doughy malts, citrus, juicey. Finish is dry, fruity and refreshing. Nicely tangy and tart. Groovy little brew!

Very dense white head, as whipped eggwhite, but not very lasting; verdigris-yellow beer. Fresh lemony-acidic nose, but with obvious (summer)grain as underbuild; slightly lactic ending. Again first lemony/citrussy, but with a backing as from a very fine, light consommé , stock-ish. Celeri, some grain; ending quite tart. Extremely refreshing, very titillating MF. A good Berliner Weisse is always a treat. But historic or not; believe it or not; I prefer the Schultheiss. Thanks, Seb!