I’ve never had a Sour before. Thought I’d give it a whirl. Having nothing to compare it too, I’d say this meets the style. My only real negative comments would be that it’s a bit one dimensional and the sourness seems a bit low from what I was anticipating. Overall a great beer. And since I’m getting it fresh (only an hour from the brewery) and that it’s only $2 per bomber at the local grocery store… this may become my lawnmower go to beverage this summer.
$2.00! That’s great! Does the bottle mention if it is sour mash or fermented with lacto?
I haven’t had it in a while but I do remember it being very one dimensional. For $2 I’d say it would be damn good, I’m sure I paid $5+ for it.
I’m pretty sure it’s not fresh though, I think they only made it one time
I think the Berliner Weiss was last summer’s special. By fresh I meant that it didn’t have to travel the hinterlands to get here. The current brewer’s share is a Weisen Bock, on deck are an Alt, then a Helles, then oatmeal stout.
Fortunately for me, Dave Logsdon’s Farmhouse Brewery is about an hour from home. I’ll be stopping in to try his funky beers very soon.
Steve, I think they used lactobacillus. Bottle doesn’t say. I suppose it’s possible they just used lactic and soured it the quick and easy way.
Hands down my favorite brewery! Being from Texas I was excited to try all the beers in OR, and was so lucky to stumble across this gem. I’m jealous…
Never had that one, but Berliner is a gateway sour. It should be fairly clean, lactic sourness and refreshing in a way similar to lemonade. But, I’ve definitely had berliners that were too clean. A little complexity is nice.
Then they nailed it, except for the monotone flavor. I’d say it’s a stellar beginner’s sour.
I really enjoy the Full Sail Berliner Weiss. The best I’ve had though is the Professor Fritz Briem 1809. If you can get your hands on it give it a shot. We were fortunate to get it on draught at the Green Dragon a while back and I kept going back to it again and again. The sourness is more intense and there’s just more complexity in general. I’d like to find a bottle sometime and see how well it stands up to packaging and shipping.
Since Full Sail is only a few miles from Wyeast’s place, I’m betting that it was similar to the BW the Wyeast was serving at the Philly conference. A little too one-dimensional. If I recall correctly from a conference seminar from a few years ago, they said a good BW does have a touch of Brett in it. An all Lacto sourness can be one-dimensional.
+1 to the 1809. That is a nice example if its fresh enough.
I’ve been looking for a good BW to see if I like the style to add to my repertoire. I tried the New Belgium Yuzo Imperial BW. Not a good representation of the style. Imperial and Berliner Weisse shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.
I agree. My favorites are soured by culturing lacto et al. off of fresh grain. It’s mostly lacto with light notes from other players.
Indeed, I’ve grown tired of the apparent drive to produce an imperial of every style. For my taste the lighter styles just don’t hold up that well and if the end result is a balanced beer I think what you have is often better described by a different style.