Berliner Weisse

[Kellanved]

Poll question: Berliner Weisse

Thanks to the recent good weather, I have (re-)discovered one fact:

Berliner Weisse is the best beer for hot weather!



Edit
To add an explanation:
Weisse is a Wheat Beer style only brewed in Berlin (the name is protected). It is bottle fermented with lactic acid, what gives it a fine yeast aroma, low alcohol content and makes it very sour. To take the edge of, it is usually mixed with fruit syrups.
Traditional Weisse is far harder to make than most other beers; it takes up to one year and has to be handled like champagne; it is called the "Champagne of the North", even Napoleon commented about the beverage.
AFAIK it was pretty popular in pre-prohibition America, but was never really re-introduced.

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. I like 'em both, but I had to go with the green.

The syrup's hard to find in the States, though.

[Kellanved]

Green is IMHO better

The best is real woodruff syrup, but that is illegal in Germany. Yes, I've heard about the syrup problem stateside. Many people I've met did not even know woodruff.

[Kellanved]

2. Dupe

The best is real woodruff syrup, but that is illegal in Germany. Yes, I've heard about the syrup problem stateside. Many people I've met did not even know woodruff.

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. Sometimes, you get a bottle of syrup if you buy a case.

I bought a sixer once, but could not garner the syrup. :(

I drank it straight -- it's still good, but if one wants a weissbier without external flavoring, one goes to Munchen.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. Why is it illegal?

Is the syrup derived from the Sweet Woodruff plant?

[Kellanved]

12. exactly

Real Woodruff (syrup) contains coumarin and thus got banned in the 80s. The artificial stuff varies: some tastes like "green apple", others are almost right - yet none smells right. I have to admit that the artificial stuff does well with Weisse, but calling it "Woodruff" can be ridiculous.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. Hmmm

I've got a patch of that in my wildflower garden... :evilgrin:

[Canuckistanian]

3. Pure for me

An acquired taste for sure, but very satisfying. If I wanted a fruity beer, I'd go with one of the belgians.

[On the Road]

5. Got to Go with the Raspberry

[CBHagman]

6. Berliner Weisse mit Schuss!

I haven't had one of those since the summer of 1982. Mmm, LECKER.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. If you like that,

try Cantillon Gueuze:

Read about it here: http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/beerProfile.asp?BeerID=38&x=23&y=15

[Magrittes Pipe]

8. I prefer Lindeman's Geuze "Marriage Parfait"

But Cantillion's is good, too.

[Kellanved]

9. Not quite

No Belgian Fruit Beer is as crisp and as refreshing; nor are the Brandenburg Fruit Beers. If for nothing else, it is the alcohol: Weisse only has about 2%.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. Gueuze isn't a fruit beer,

though the Cantillon brewery offers excellent examples of fruit beers as well.

And while the alcohol content is 5%, I've yet to find a muggy, miserable Washington day that wasn't made more bearable by this brew.

[Kellanved]

13. Oh

Thanks; I've only seen/tried the Cherry Type. I will look for the Gueuze.

[bobbieinok]

14. tried both, think I liked both-----------1991 ca 3 weeks in Berlin

[jakefrep]

16. I'd give anything (within reason)

for a six-pack of Berliner Weisse or Berliner Kindl.

[arwalden]

17. I Fell In Love With The Raspberry Flavored When I Visited Frankfurt

Ausgeseichnet!

[Obamarama]

18. Oh my GOD...this stuff ROCKS....

I first had the green as an exchange student in Berlin the summer of 1980. I thought I was one cool 16 year old, drinking this stuff down on the Kudamm.

[JVS]

19. Ohne Schuss

If it must have syrup, I prefer the green to the red.

What is your opinion of those cans of pre-mixed Weisse?

[Kellanved]

20. pre-mixed? yuck!

That stuff is awful: sickly sweet without any Weisse flavor left. Of course it is no longer sold in cans, but it hasn't improved the beverage: tastes like Jell-o or dissolved Gummy Bears.

The Pure vs Syrup question is not that easy for me: some Bars have really good syrup and know how to mix it. The places using Bavarian-style Weisse of course leave only one answer: pure.