Friday, October 28, 2011

Berliner Weisse II


No better beer on a hot day

I love Berliner's and this was the second go-around brewing the style. Both turned out well. The first time, Eric and I brewed it together, using only the Wyeast Berliner blend and it was off the charts good. Light, refreshing, tart and delicious. I made a batch of woodruff syrup for that brew but we both discovered we liked it better minus the sweet and green addition--although it made it taste like a green Lifesaver. This time around I used a clean yeast and a pouch of Wyeast Lactobacillus and it is more tart and growing more sour everyday, while the Berliner blend seemed to age gracefully for a wheat beer and remained solid, if not better over time. I would recommend using the blend if possible but this is still very good.  I can't find my recipe for this but it was basically equal parts wheat malt and pils malt at a total of about 5 lbs. of grain and a 30 minute boil. For hops, keep it light and noble, we used Hallertau--no more than 1/2 oz at 30, or split it at a 1/4 oz first wort and 1/4 oz at 30 minutes. There are many ways to brew this including no boil and open fermentation, but for sanitary sake, I would recommend the short boil and a Berliner blend. Of course it is a style to get adventurous with, so let me know if you have success or failure using other methods.

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