Changes

(In Progress)

Historical Berliner Weisse is thought to be consisted of barley malt and poorly modified wheat malt (for head retention) in a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio. Decoction mashing was also used, and was thought to impact better flavor than a single infusion mash. Hops were added to the mash tun during the mashing process or boiled with the decoction. Wort was directly cooled after the decoction mash, and not boiled further. 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. 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. Due to the difficulty in controlling the level of acidity, and re-using yeast slurries that were under stress from mixed fermentation, methods such as [[Wort Souring]] were developed to pre-sour the wort with ''Lactobacillus'' first before pitching yeast <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>.