Check out the rest of my recipes in the index.

Depending on who you believe, the Berliner Weisse was originally a specialty of the town of Hamburg, Germany that was copied and developed by the 16th century brewer Cord Broihan, or alternately brought to Germany by migrating Huguenots who developed the beer from the local red and brown ales as they moved through Flanders into Northern Germany. Whichever story you choose one thing is for darn sure: it really hits to the spot on a hot summer day (and boy there seem to be plenty lately).

The goal of this beer was to be a by-the-numbers sour mashed Berliner Weisse as a model for the presentation I was giving to my club and is one of the simplest grain bills in my recipe database. Don’t feel like a Berliner needs to be anything fancy (a bit of melanoidin malt is fine if you want to replicate a bit of the character from a decoction mash), what you’re looking for is a simple wheat base for lactic tartness and maximum refreshment. The recipe as-is is actually a really nice base for making a fruit beer (if you’re not the syrup type), I’ve had good success adding two pounds of kumquats in secondary to make a Kumquat Berliner that was really well received. Otherwise, feel free to sub out WLP011 European Ale with any clean, dry ale yeast. Some folks also like a bit of Brett character in their Berliners, so you can also pitch some Brett in addition to or in replacement of the Sacc.

Note: this recipe requires a sour mash, but please don’t be intimidated! Sour mashing is fun and easy to be successful at if you follow a few techniques. Really all we’re doing is creating an optimal environment for Lactobacillus and sub-optimal environment for things like Clostridium, Acetobacter, and mold. If you’re not familiar, please refer to my presentation on sour mashing, it should have everything you need to get started!
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