Berliner Weisse
Photo: Uruku13 · CC0

History

Berliner Weisse was first brewed in the late 16th century and reached its peak in the late 19th century when over 700 Berlin breweries produced the style; Napoleon's troops in 1809 reportedly called it the Champagne of the North. Production collapsed through the 20th century to two industrial brands (Berliner Kindl Weisse and Schultheiss Berliner Weisse), both heavily sweetened. The 21st-century revival was led by small Berlin brewers including Brauerei Lemke and Berliner Berg, who restored the wild-fermentation traditional methods alongside contemporary takes. The syrup tradition (Schuss Waldmeister green or Himbeer red) dates to the 1950s.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 5Hands-on 2 hrTotal P14DDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 2kg pilsner malt (Pilsner)
  • 500g unmalted wheat (Weizenrohfrucht)
  • 20g Hallertau or Tettnang hops, low alpha
  • Lactobacillus plantarum culture (homebrew supply)
  • American or German ale yeast (Wyeast 1007 or similar)
  • 5L brewing water adjusted to soft (low calcium)
  • Optional: woodruff or raspberry syrup to serve

Method

  1. Mash the pilsner malt and wheat in 12L water at 65C for 60 minutes to convert starches.
  2. Sparge with hot water to collect 7L of sweet wort.
  3. Boil the wort 60 minutes with the hops added at 10 minutes before flameout (low bittering).
  4. Cool the wort to 38C, transfer to a sanitised fermenter, pitch the lactobacillus culture. Hold at 38C for 48 hours; the wort will sour to pH 3.4 to 3.6.
  5. Cool to 18C, pitch the ale yeast, ferment 7 days until gravity is stable around 1.005.
  6. Bottle with 5g per litre of corn sugar for carbonation, condition at room temperature for 14 days before refrigerating and serving in a wide coupe with a syrup shot.

Tip from the editors. The lactobacillus sour-step before the yeast pitch is what creates the distinctive tartness; skipping it leaves a flat wheat beer.

Where to eat berliner weisse

Berliner Weisse in Berlin

Berliner Berg Brauerei ★ 4.0

€€ BreweryLager, Berliner Weisse, pale aleNeukoelln

Berliner Berg Brauerei in Neukoelln brews a Berliner Weisse and a pale ale from a landmark 1920s building; the courtyard beer garden opens April to September.

Directions

BRLO Brwhouse ★ 4.8

€€ BreweryBerlin craft IPA, lager and sourGleisdreieck

BRLO Brwhouse sits in 38 upcycled shipping containers in the Park am Gleisdreieck, brewing a full range of craft lagers, IPAs and seasonal sours.

Directions

Vagabund Brauerei ★ 4.3

€€ New AmericanWedding

Vagabund Brauerei in Wedding's former boiler house brews American-influenced craft ales and a proper Berliner Weisse from a building most Berliners have not.

Why locals goVagabund sits in a Wedding Kesselhaus on a street most visitors never reach. The brewery's American-influenced craft ales are better-known in San Francisco and London press than.

TipThe taproom runs live events most Fridays; check the calendar before showing up mid-week.

Directions

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