Cambridge Berliner Kendall

Brewed by Cambridge Brewing Company
Style: Berliner Weisse
Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

(Draught) Pours a lightly hazy straw body with a medium white head. Aroma of wheat, musty basement, delicate lemon, and grain. Flavor of grain, nicely tart lemon, wheat, and light grass with a dry finish.

On tap at the brewpub. Straight, no syrup. Pours a opalescent translucent pale golden, with a crisp, clean white rim. Unique tart green olive aroma. Distinctly olive-like, that’s for sure. Flavor develops with kalamata olive bread. Very bready, doughy, and yeasty. Some distinctly medicinal band-aid character right up front. Foamy, seltzer quality. Acetate finish. Not nearly tart enough for the style. Not much unboiled malt character. Weak. Slightly stinging in the nose. This is a very poor rendition. Hard to finish.

On tap at CBC (250909). Authentic looking hazy straw/pale yellow colour. Aroma of sour mash dough. Just a whiff of something a bit chemical like drain cleaner too. Fairly sharp and lemony on the palate. Slight astringence on the finish. I know this is a rare style and all, and of interest for that reason, I find it tough to get much more from Berliner Weisses other than a sharp, tart, refreshing character. I’m not sure there is really supposed to be much more thsn that. So, although this is certainly pretty close to style, it didn’t really hit the spot for me. Might have been different, of course, if it was my first beer of the day and I wanted something thirst quenching to knock back.

Draught at CBC. Hazy straw with a small ring of white lace. Nose of wheat, some very light tartness, olives. Nice, slightly tart flavor. Refreshing if nothing else.

Originally reviewed 8/19/2008... Clean and crisp honey-lemon-pineapple color. Thin soap sud head goes quickly. Mild scent with even a little Pilsener texture, some yeast/wheat electricity and slight citrus sourness. The sour texture here is enjoyable. Strong wheat backbone with good yeast component. Crisp and fresh. Carbonation makes this nice and light - sour citrus pucker on back of palate expands to whole mouth on finish. Tart and tingly. Very drinkable and enjoyable - clean and good for hot summer day.

Draft at the brewpub. Poured a clear gold color. The head was white with good retention and lacing. Not much aroma other than whiffs of apple and caramel. Light bodied with only minimal acidity up front that faded quickly. Dryish finish with tart apple and pale malt flavors. Refreshing, but not the best I’ve had as far as the style goes.