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[[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 <ref>[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jib.550 Differences in protein content and foaming properties of cloudy beers based on wheat malt content. Xiunan Hu, Yuhong Jin, Jinhua Du. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/jib.550.]</ref>) 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>). 'No boil' beer or 'raw ale' has more free amino nitrogen (FAN), which might positively affect the fermentation <ref>[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03610470.2020.1795782 Wort Boil Time and Trub Effects on Fermentability. A. Mishra, R. A. Speers. Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists . 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03610470.2020.1795782.]</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 <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>, and was fermented between 16-20°C <ref>[https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/andreasdotorg-bucket/Groterjan-Doerfel.pdf Dörfel, A. Groterjan. 1947.]</ref>. 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>.
Using mixed fermentation in Berliner Weisse production resulted in several problems. Bottling conditioning times could be time intensive, mixed cultures were difficult to keep consistent, longer aged products could become more acidic than intended, and it required more effort. For these reasons, a man named Otto Francke patented a process in 1906 that more or less resembles kettle souring. Unboiled and unhopped wort was cooled to 45-47°C, and then inoculated with a culture of ''L. delbruekii'', and was held until the wort reached the desired pH. The wort was then heated to 80°C to kill the ''Lactobacillus'', cooled, and then ale yeast was pitched. ''Brettanomyces bruxellensis'' was added at bottling time. Although this process provided several advantages, it was not widely adopted by Berliner Weisse breweries <ref name="marshall">[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8CshC9nxYHdckhlbXFQN1hPbGc/view Kurt Marshall. CBC 2012 Presentation.]</ref><ref>[https://eurekabrewing.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/44-traditional-berliner-weisse/ Samuel Aeschlimann. Eureka Brewing Blog. "#44 Traditional Berliner Weisse". 03/10/2012. Retrieved 09/02/2017.]</ref>.