New Glarus Unplugged Berliner Weiss

Formerly brewed at New Glarus Brewing Company
Style: Berliner Weisse
New Glarus, Wisconsin USA

At Vero, thanks to Cheeseman for sharing! Mainly clear, apple juice color. Big juicy apple and pear bouquet. Big carbonation. Apricot fuzz. Toe-tingling. Not too tart. Smooth, hardly lactic. Really well-rendered. Refreshingly tart, light, tasty, and good.

Pours a crisp lemon yellow with a thick layer of white head that dissipates to a thin layer. Aroma is cidery and tart. Flavor is pear, apple, definite tartness. Champagne-cider-like flavor. A dry white/champagne flavor comes across. Definitely not my style beer but it is well done.

Hot damn. Danny Carey is amazing at brewing beer. I look forward to the release of these unplugged beers more than i do my own birthday. Always different styles, made with unique ingredients in unique ways. I love it.

Aromas of white wine, light sweet wheat, light funk and tart citrus. Pours a hazy yellow gold with a nice head and big bubbles. Tart flavors of fruit, grape, green apples. Acidic and a little lactic. Dry mouth feel, lots of tartness. A touch of funk comes through in the finish. Bitey carbonation works nicely with the acidity. Light and complex. This would be a great out in the heat beer.

Smells like a fruity white wine. Also some tartness. Cloudy pale yellow with a thin head. Tart flavors of pear and apple. Good tartness on the palate. Balanced crispness and tartness. Very smooth.

I’ve been looking forward to trying this one. Pours a chardonnay color with a big white head that quickly dissipates into sparse white patches. Aroma of light malt, grass, white grapes, and chardonnay. Flavor is full of fruits: cherries, light grapes, even some pineapple. I detect a bit of cheese towards the end. A tart finish. Pretty great beer: both well-done and unique.

FIFTH TRIAL: pours a saturated golden yellow, with a tiny wisp of head that sticks to the very edge of the glass; faint fruit aroma that’s almost not even there, with a hint of something sour; flavor is a bit of lactic sourness, but also the same sort of funk that I associate with a gueuze; lots of carbonation in the mouthfeel, but the aftertaste is surprisingly smooth, with a bit of puckering sourness. Overall, although I’m a giant Berliner Weiss fan, this won’t be getting a near-perfect rating. Far be it from me to say that something isn’t brewed to style, but to me, this feels more like a gueuze than a Berliner Weiss... I like gueuze too, but as a wise friend (BeerBelcher) once said: If a craft brewer brews something and it comes out different from what they expected, why not just change the label. A great advantage of being small is being nimble... it’s not like New Glarus had millions invested in marketing this as a Berliner Weiss. So, why not just change the name and set the right expectations?

(12oz bottle, thanks kmweaver) Small white head with hazy apple juice body. Aroma is medium sweet, lemon, light funk. Taste is medium sweet, lemon, some straw, light horseblanket. Light body, some acidity.