Now Beer This: The Beer Nerd Preaches on Berliner Weisse

If you had asked me six or so year ago, what European beer style is least likely to become popular in America, I’d have told you “Berliner Weisse, almost certainly.”

Why? Back in the day, there were two things that drove beer popularity: hoppiness and ABV. The Berliner Weisse does neither of those things well.

But here we are in 2020 and what are people into? Sours, for one thing, which is totally bizarre to me, but here we are. And lower ABV beers, which, as I’ve aged, I’ve come to appreciate a great deal more than I ever thought I would.

The BW is a sweet and sour wheat beer that’s probably best for quenching your thirst as you take a brief rest between the Berlin Wall and the Reichstag. “Mildly tart and refreshing,” is what virtually every review of every BW will and should say. These little guys aren’t the puckering sour that you see with some beers these days, but they are, as I said, “mildly tart.” The idea is to give you just enough air up your metaphorical palette skirt to make you feel something other than the overwhelming depression of being immersed in a northern European metropolis.

Examples of this style now abound in America. Breweries here love doing them because they can produce a sour without risk of contaminating their entire brewery like they would if they did a more potent sour. So they can at least touch on the sour market without risking their entire operation — and, low ABV beers are cheap to make, so it’s kind of a no-brainer.

But are we doing them right?! Eh. It depends. On the one hand, I like the style-bending that America has always embraced. What, the old world says you have to do it this way? “Ha! Well now I’ll never do it that way. You’re not the boss of me!” has been the traditional American approach to virtually everything. So we tend to make little baby tart beers and shoot ’em out for consumption. However, what we’re forgetting is that in Berlin, these beers are routinely served along with syrup options! What the what?!?

Traditionally, you’re given the option of Raspberry or Woodruff syrup. You know what the first one is, but probably not that other one. Woodruff is an herb with a kind of sweet, hay-like taste. For both of these options, the idea is to give something to help balance out the tartness. Of course, being a non-sour-beer dude, I’d ask then why are you drinking a sour beer, but no one cares so I’ll shut up. Even if you’re a fan of sours, these syrups add a little something to the brews, and it also helps to allow you to mix it up a bit; if you drink a particular BW without, with the raspberry, and then with the woodruff, you’ve turned one beer into three, and that’s always a good idea.

So, the next time you see a BW on the menu somewhere, go full beer nerd and ask if they have either of the traditional syrups for you. You’ll get 10,000 experience points and you’ll probably be accused of being a Cicerone, so good for you. Regardless, the Berliner Weisse, with or without the syrups, is a fun and interesting beer to try, so if you haven’t already, go chase one down and let me know what you think. Cheers.

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