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berliner weiss recipe
Does anyone have a berliner weiss recipe that they have actually brewed? I had this in Germany in 87, and it was fantastic and refreshing. Looking to put some summer brew Ideas together for the anual 4th of july cookout.
I was considering this for my first sour beer attempt. So now I have to brew this before you one up me!
Here is the recipe I was going to use (from Brewing Classic Styles):
4.2lb Pilsner Malt
3lb Wheat malt
1.0 oz Hallertau (4%AA) 15min.
WLP011 European Ale
WLP677 Lactobacillus Bacteria
Pitching the Yeast and bacteria at the same time will maximize the sourness. To calm it down a little bit I would add teh bacteria after the first two days of fermentation. I think the technique is to make a starter with the yeast and just pitch the bacteria straight in from the tube.
My plan was to just pitch at the same time and see what I get.
The target OG for the recipe is 1.032 and only 4.4 IBUs
I didn't know a Berliner Weiss was a sour brew...One of my favorite beers to drink is Sunrise from Victory, which I thought was a Berliner Weiss. Also, I noted Brewchez, the IBUs are really low...is that normal for the style? And what style would it be under, BJCP wise. It sounds like a hefeweizen, with lacto added..... Either I'm subconciously drunk, or it falls under Weissbier...either way, I'm going to brew one of these this summer for sure! I love wheat ales, the taste, and how quickly they tend to finish..plus no secondary for clarity cuts a couple weeks from the wait......
MMM......now I want a Sunrise Ale from Victory....none in the fridge. Guess I'll have to settle for an Allagash Grand Cru, or two.....
IBUs are really low. The sourness pretty much is the balancing factor no bitterness.
In fact its just a 15 minute addition for flavor... I assume so it still tastes like beer.
Berliner Wiess is VERY sour. In fact in Germany they usually serve it with a fruit syrup in the glass to help sweeten it up for some. I prefer the strong tart sourness.
Wiessbier, hefewiessbier hefeweizen....
They are all wheat beers in Germany, recognized with the varying clove and/or banana flavors you think of with the "hefe" style. But in Berlin there was a special style called Berliner Wiess and it was sour and fermented with a neutral ale/lager yeast. No clove or banana.
Here are some references to BJCP:
What you are thinking about when you see "weiss/weizen"
Style 15A Weizen/Weissbier
What I am thinking when I see Berliner weiss
Style 17A Berliner Weisse
So now the question is whether Bruguru wanted a sour beer or another boring hefeweizen.
This is on my to do list as well. I always try to keep one sour going all the time. Course my lambics bulk aged for about a year in the carboy and my Flander's Red has been bulk aging for about 7 months now so it may be a bit until I get to it. You can't go wrong with any of the recipes in the BCS. Just sayin'.
andrew jensen wrote:
You can't go wrong with any of the recipes in the BCS. Just sayin'.
I agree with that. They are at least a great starting point to see if you like/understand the style. Then you can experiment from there.
Way better than just using some faceless recipe off of some internet site where the host hasn't logged in since 1998.... Just sayin'!
brewchez wrote:
So now the question is whether Bruguru wanted a sour beer or another boring hefeweizen
Definately a sour true to Style "Ich bin ein Berliner Weiss" beer.
They did have a few fruit syrups that you could drink with it, I had mine without the syrups, or the fruit, and it was great somthing new and somthing I have never tasted since.
If I get it right, I'll know it, I'll remember that taste right away.
Well see, as I didn't know it was a sour ale, I never checked under, Sour Ales 17a. Much better description there, obviously.
And Sunrise is just a Hefe, not a Berliner Weiss..hence why I didn't taste any sourness.
I need to drink more...
A guy in our club brewed a fantastic Berliner Weiss. Off the top of my head I can't remember if it won it's category or Best of Show in the competition he entered - all I remember is it was delicious! He just used the "throw some grain into the wort" method. Essentially you take something like a pound of grain, put it in a grain bag, let it sit in your wort for 12-24 hours, then pull it out and pitch your yeast.
This is a style of beer I haven't brewed yet, but really looking forward to it as it warms up.
DT
dmofot wrote:
A guy in our club brewed a fantastic Berliner Weiss. Off the top of my head I can't remember if it won it's category or Best of Show in the competition he entered - all I remember is it was delicious! He just used the "throw some grain into the wort" method. Essentially you take something like a pound of grain, put it in a grain bag, let it sit in your wort for 12-24 hours, then pull it out and pitch your yeast.
This is a style of beer I haven't brewed yet, but really looking forward to it as it warms up.
DT
A whole pound sounds like a bit much, but if that's what he did cool then.
I had contimplated using the grain technique to get the lacto in there. I was also thinking about trying a sour mash process too.
I don't know if i'd want to try the grain method right away, not enough control, and I wouldn't know when it was done getting sour, as I heard it smells like a mash tun left with spent grains in it for 3 days.
I'll try the lab quality bacteria first, then if it turns out good i'll start expirmenting with the grains.
brewchez wrote:
[ I was also thinking about trying a sour mash process too.
Acidulated malt?
thirsty wrote:
brewchez wrote:
[ I was also thinking about trying a sour mash process too.
Acidulated malt?
Nope.
Sour mashing:
Perform a minimash for about 20% of your total mash. After conversion, you'll hold the mash at 100F for about 2-4days. Grain is notoriously covered in Lactobacillius, a lactic acid producer. SO over the few days the mash will sour. Then you go and perform your normal mash procedure the day of the brew. Add in the sour mash before the sparge.
Lactobacillus prefers and oxygen deficient environment, so you'll need to be able to seal up the mash a bit. Pediococcus is also present on grain and it will make a foul smell if there is too much air present. (If you have ever let your spent mash sit overnight for cleaning, that's pedio that you smell).
I have a 2 gallon beverage cooler that I planed to use for the souring step. I was going to wrap it in a towel with my brew belt on it to keep it warm. The longer it sits the more sour!
The advantage to sourmashing is that you kill the bugs during the boil so you sort of lock in the sourness. The disadvantage is competing with pediococcus and holding the minimash temp at 100F for a few days.
I was going to try cultured lacto for my first try, but once the weather is warmer, I'll try the sour mash technique.
I'm thinking that I'd like to give this one a go, but I don't really use wheat too often in my grain bills. What kind of a mash schedule would you reccommend? And I'm going to guess that I'd want to ferment it on the cooler side of things? Like low to mid 60s?
Mortician607 wrote:
I'm thinking that I'd like to give this one a go, but I don't really use wheat too often in my grain bills. What kind of a mash schedule would you reccommend? And I'm going to guess that I'd want to ferment it on the cooler side of things? Like low to mid 60s?
Single infusion around 150F.
I'd ferment it at the normal 65F-68F.
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