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==Historical==
[[File:Marcus Berliner.jpg|thumbnail|360px|[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1352210248140519/ Historical Berliner Weisse samples. ''Brettanomyces'' was cultured from three bottles by Mike Marcus of Chorlton Brewing Co, and characterized by Richard Preiss of Escarpment Labs. Original image provided by Mike Marcus of Chorlton Brewing Co.]]]
Berliner Weisse originated sometime in the 19th century and evolved throughout its history. Historical Berliner Weisse is thought to consist of barley malt and a high proportion of poorly modified wheat malt (for head retention) in a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio, although at least two German Berliner Weisse breweries in the 1970's used 100% barley malt (the word "weissbier" originally referred to both barley and wheat air-dried malt) <ref>[http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/berliner-weissbier-in-1970s-part-one.html Berliner Weissbier in the 1970’s (part one). Shut Up About Barclay Parkins blog. 03/08/2015.]</ref>. Decoction mashing was also used and was thought to impart better flavor than a single infusion mash. Hops were added to the mash tun during the mashing process or boiled with the decoction. Sometimes the boil was skipped (or boiled for a short time - for considerations on DMS formation, see [[Dimethyl_Sulfide#Short_Boils_and_Raw_Ale|DMS in raw ale and short boils]]), and sometimes a traditional boil was used. In the late 19th century The wort was not boiled because brewers thought that this was necessary for the cultures found in the mixed fermentation, however after the turn of the 20th century it was discovered that the microorganisms originated from surfaces in the brewery (although Mike Marcus from Chorlton Brewing Co has isolated ''L. casei'' that survived sparging the grain bed, indicating that some lactic acid bacteria can survive sparging temperatures and might have in fact had a souring impact on Berliner Weissbier that was not boiled <ref name="marcus"></ref>). The mixed cultures during primary fermentation were made up of ''S. cerevisiae'' and lactic acid bacteria in a 4:1 to 6:1 ratio, and was fermented between 25-30°C. The beer was fermented in open vessels until fully attenuated, and then carbonated with 12% krausen for a high, champagne-like carbonation. Top cropping was a regular practice. The beer would continue to develop in the bottle due to ''Brettanomyces'' and lactic acid bacteria <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>.
The methods mentioned above were just some of the methods that were used to brew Berliner Weisse. For examples of other methods, see the [[Berliner_Weissbier#External_History_Resources|External History Resources]] section below. For an example of brewing a historical Berliner Weisse at home (scale up for commercial sizes), see [http://wilder-wald.com/2017/12/08/historic-berliner-weisse-homebrew-recipe/ Benedikt Koch's "Historic Berliner Weisse – Homebrew Recipe"] and its [https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1911351298893075/ related MTF thread].
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For more information on historical German Berliner Weisse and its recent resurrection, listen to the [https://www.milkthefunk.live/podcast/2018/8/20/episode-006-the-history-and-resurrection-of-traditional-german-berliner-weisse-with-benedikt-koch-of-wilder-waldcom MTF "The Podcast" interview with Benedikt Koch].
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===Microbiology and Fermentation Profile===