1809 Berliner Style Weisse

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

Nice, I tend to like this style. This is my 2nd one, and I’d say its just a half step down from the Berliner Kindl weisse. Cloudy yellow gold color, a little still in the glass despite a palate clearing carbonation. Minimal head. Aroma hints at a mild spiciness and minty wheatiness. Flavor is pleasantly tart, with a strong wheaty graininess. Finish is tart and light.

Bottle. Head is initially small, fizzy/frothy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium yellow, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain), lightly to moderately yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of lemon zest, clove, apple skin, banana. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively/fizzy carbonation. Not sour enough IMHO, but still nicely balanced. The aroma is quite nice for the style, though certainly showing a fair bit of Weissbier character.

Golden-yellow in colour, thin white coloured head, light lacing. The aroma is lightly acidic and sour, wheaty, floral, grassy, herbal. The flavour is sharp, mild sourness, some cheese, herbal, lots of lemon citrus. Mildly acidic mouthfeel, medium/light body, medium/high carbonation. Finishes tangy, citrus, acidic and dry.

Pretty nice, a stronger Berliner in terms of alcohol % but you wouldn’t know it. An excellent thirst quencher.

500ml bottle obtained in a trade with kkearn, thanks Keith.
Opened on December 25, 2007.
No date.

Bottle. Pours a clear pale yellow with faint head. Aroma is lightly sour and faintly wheaty. Flavor is lemony, tart and citric, far more sour than the first bottle I had. Moderately sweet in the finish with some light mineral type flavors and additional fruitiness. Still in appearance though lively and heavily carbonated in the mouth. Pleasant overall to drink and quite refreshing.

Bottle… RBSG 07… Murky, straw-colored ale with no real head. The nose is of lemon oil, orange peel and green banana with undercurrents of white pepper and white bread. Tart flavor with nowhere near the acidity of the Fitgers Champagne of the North, which I tried earlier in the evening. There is plenty of rich pale and wheat malt and fruity esters to dumb down the pungency, while never overriding or disgracing the beer’s acidic nature. Medium to full-bodied with a lightly creamy, then astringent mouthfeel and lively carbonation. As if threatened and attempting to defend it’s honor, the acidity fights back to provide a lengthy, crisp, sharp-tasting finish. Kudos to SoLan for bringing this fine brew from way down in Florida!

Bottle. Pours cloudy gold with a fluffy white head. Stands tall above the surface of the beer. Aroma is yeast, very strong lemony tartness, wheat/grains and soft malts. Very tart once it hits the tongue, but not Cantillon tart. Strong lemon and yeast notes complimented by wheat, grass, unripened fruits, and soft malt sweetness. Body is light, very carbonated, and dry with light astringency. Finishes with more tart fruits, lemon juice, wheat and big yeast flavors. Very nice summer drink!

Can’t gibve it a good aroma, but other than that I really enjoyed this beer! Definetely tart and acidic. Too much for my taste, but the overall beer was fruity and tasty. It grows on you the longer you drink it!

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.