Serve in a goblet at 4-7 °C
What it tastes like
Berliner weisse is the lightest sour beer most people will drink. It is pale, cloudy, very bubbly and sharply tart, usually around 3 per cent alcohol. The sourness comes from lactic acid bacteria, the same family that turns milk into curd, working alongside a normal ale yeast.
Berlin brewed it in huge numbers in the nineteenth century, and the old way to drink it was with a dash of raspberry or woodruff syrup to soften the acid. Purists drink it plain. Hops barely register; the beer is about the clean, lemony sourness and a bready wheat note underneath.
Modern brewers usually kettle sour it, letting Lactobacillus work on the wort for a day or two before the boil. Older versions were sometimes fermented with Brettanomyces too, which adds a dry, slightly funky edge. A good one is bracing for the first sip and then very hard to stop drinking.
Style profile
- Look
- Very pale straw, hazy, with a big white head that drops fairly fast because there is little protein to hold it.
- Aroma and flavour
- Clean lemony lactic sourness over light bread and grain. Hops almost absent. Older styles may show a faint barnyard funk.
- Mouthfeel
- Very light body, high spritzy carbonation, a sharp and dry finish.
- Ingredients
- Roughly equal parts wheat and pilsner malt, very little hopping, Lactobacillus plus a clean ale yeast. Sometimes Brettanomyces. Often served with fruit syrup.
In India
A cold, sour, 3 per cent beer makes complete sense in an Indian summer. It drinks like a grown up nimbu soda and works for a long afternoon. The catch is that sour beers need careful cleaning, because stray Lactobacillus can spoil every other beer in the brewery, so brewers here make them in small, controlled batches. Expect seasonal releases, often with local fruit such as pomegranate, kokum or jamun in place of the old raspberry syrup.
At the Indian table
Food pairings contributed by Anuradha Rao
- Pani puriTangy, spiced water and a tart beer make one long sour, cooling bite.
- Kerala fish moileeA creamy coconut curry needs acid to cut through, and the low alcohol keeps the fish delicate.
- Aloo tikki chaatCurd, tamarind and fried potato love a sharp, fizzy beer to reset the palate.
- RasgullaSweet syrup and soft chhena against a lemony sour beer is a clean, light contrast.
Brewed in India
- Dalimb Berliner Weisse (with Kadak), Babylon Craft Brewery source
Want the long read? Berliner weisse