Berliner Weissbier
Berliner Weisse is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and Lactobacillus culture. They have a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-coloured appearance. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness.
Served in wide bulbous stemmed glasses, tourists in Berlin will often order on as a "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Himbeere" or "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Waldmeister". These are syrups that are added to make the sourness more palatable. Himbeere is raspberry (red) and Waldmeister is woodruff (green).
Typical average alcohol by volume (abv) range: 2.0-5.0%
General Best Practices
- Don't sour mash. Its too risky for off flavors
- Limit CO2 and do not aerate before pitching
- Pitch Lactobacillus between 90F and 120F depending on your Lactobacillus strain or blend for ~ 1-4 days (for more details see the Sour Worting page).
- Create a 1 liter Lacto starter for each 5 gallons at least 2 days in advance of brew day.
- Pitch Brettanomyces after cooling down after Lactobacillus fermentation phase
External Articles/Resources
- Perspective on Brewing Berliner Weisse Style Beer, Jess Caudill of Wyeast Labs, NHC 2012 Presentation.
Milk the Funk Berliner Weissbier Recipe
Description
The Milk The Funk Berliner is an 8 gallon recipe for a semi tart, fruity, wheat beer. This recipe is an 8 gallon, no boil recipe, and is made for a system with 73% efficiency. Please adjust the recipe to fit your system.
Stats
- 1.035 OG
- 1.004 FG
- 4.0 ABV
- 1 SRM
- Mash 60min @ 145°f
Fermentables
| Malt | Weight | % |
|---|---|---|
| Floor-Malted Bohemian Wheat (DE) | 3 lbs | 30 |
| Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner (DE) | 7 lbs | 70 |
| Extract Version * | Weight | % |
|---|---|---|
| Briess CBW® Bavarian Wheat Dried Malt Extract (or similar) | 3 lbs | 50 |
| Briess CBW® Pilsen Wheat Dried Malt Extract (or similar) | 3 lbs | 50 |
- * Note about the extract version: Devin Bell has also used 70% wheat DME to 30% pilsner DME and 100% wheat DME with good results. Briess CBW® Bavarian Wheat DME is 65% wheat and 35% barley.
Hops
No hops if possible. If hops have to be used for legal reasons (for commercial breweries, for example):
| Hop | Weight | Time | Use | Alpha Acids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golding (UK) | 2 oz | 10 min | Mash | 8 AAU |
Yeast / Bacteria
| Name | Laboratory | Product ID | Attenuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lactobacillus Blend (brevis, delbrueckii, and plantarum) * | Omega Yeast Labs | OYL-605 | N/A |
| Brett Sacc Trois | White Labs | WLP644 | 87.5 |
- * If OYL-605 is not available, substitute it with a probiotic culture such as Goodbelly Mango or Swansons Plantarum. See Culturing From Probiotics [1].
Steps
- 1-2 days before brewing make a 1 liter starter of 1.040 wort, and add your vial of WLP644. Let it sit at room temperature until use. Also make 1 liter of 1.040 wort, and pour OYL-605 into the starter. Incubate 24-48 hours at room temperature to increase the cell count.
- Mash in at 145°f for 60 minutes; if hops have to be used, then make sure to add the hops to the mash.
- Sparge as normal.
- Bring the wort to a boil and then turn the heat off.
- Adjust PH ~4.2 to limit growth Clostridium butyricum and other potential off-flavor bacteria. Not necessary, but this is a best practice suggestion. See How to Pre-Acidify for instructions.
- Chill the wort down to 95°f, and transfer to a CO2 purged carboy or keg. Add the 1 liter of OYL-605 Lactobacillus Blend starter. Allow it to sour for 24 hours. No external heating is required.
- After the souring phase, pitch WLP644 Trois (boiling to kill the Lactobacillus before adding the WLP644 Trois is optional; see kettle souring). You can aerate if you feel necessary. After 2 weeks a stable gravity should be reached.
- Rack or transfer off as normal to bottles or a keg.