New Glarus Unplugged Berliner Weiss

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

( 12oz bottle thanks to mar) Pours a clear very pale yellow with no head but nice lacing. Nose is funky, lemon zest. Taste is sour with more lemon, tart and puckeringly sour on the cheeks. The linger on the palette is absolutely fantastic.

Cloudy yellow pour with a white head. Slightly fruity aroma, some tartness. Flavor is light fruit, and tart. It is a different beer for me, as in something new and in a good way. It had a dry finish.

12oz bottle courtesy of photomike. Light straw colored with a medium sized white head of creamy texture. The aroma strikes me as very pinot grigio, with a dusty yeast and wheat undertone. The flavor is relatively light in impact and the beer is certainly light on the palate overall with a spritzy carbonation level. There is a light tartness and almost chlorine bite that melds with light fruitiness and faint malt. The grape elements seem to be less than seemless in their integration, but this still comes out pleasant and very drinkable.

Bottle courtesy photomike. Poured into a 400 mL goblet. Bright clear gold color with a thin white head. Aroma is champagney and very vinous with some lemony acidic tartness. Flavor is lightly lemony with wheat malt, green apple, and wine grapes. Solid lactic character, doesn’t really taste like a German berliner weisse though, it’s got more fruit and body to it. Mouthfeel is almost medium, drinkable and moderately refreshing.

I am a big fan of this style, but there just aren’t many examples of it! And the American craft beer community hasn’t taken a lot of interest in this style. Of the American examples I’ve had, they’ve been pretty disappointing (most are really apple-y; I think that is ethyl hexanoate). So I was a little skeptical of how much I’d like this beer. But I had no reason to fear - this beer is really good! It is light (in color, flavor, viscosity, and mouthfeel) and decidedly sour and tart. And they have the right proportions I think; IMO the sourness of a Berliner Weisse should be decidedly intense, but shouldn’t have the thickness, staying power, or fruity notes found in say a Flemish sour. I found this beer to be refreshing and appropriate for the style, and thought it might play well with the syrups (raspberry, woodruff) that are sometimes mixed with these beers. My only real criticism of this beer is that it’s not a regular offering. Might be a good competitor for Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, and a little more appealing to craft beer fans. I’d love to see this beer make it into New Glarus’s regular seasonal line-up.

Really good. Lots of sour apple and lemon, very tart. Very clean, with no "off" flavors at all. Simple and delicious, I could drink this all night. Thanks to lithy for the trade!

2008 Bottle - thanks motortoddhead! - Pours a clear dk yellow with a small white head...aroma is grainy malt, light lemon and light spice...flavour was a complete 180 from my expectation, lively carbonation, subtle fruit, barely there malt and a pungent acidic sourness that leaves as fast as it arrives...grape presence was unnoticed by myself, and the brew somehow pulls off creamy in spite of its edge, just oddly fun to drink...

Bonused bottle from Cliff. Thanks!!! Seriously, the dude bonused me a want list beer. Awesome. Sunny yet tarnished gold in the glass, somewhat dry and footy with some dusty wheat on the nose. Actually sweet and reminds me of lemonheads. Not crazy tart, maybe the bottle is old because while it is quenching, it doesn’t seem to fit.