Hottenroth Berliner Weisse - The Bruery

potownbill

New York

2.25/5  rDev -44.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

This was the first Bruery beer that I have tried, and will try others with the hope that they will be better.
Appearance: straw colored with a decent white head.
Smell: Tart, but with a strange "spoiled" smell with no hint of wheat whatsoever.
Taste: Tart, nothing else. No hints of wheat, or any other grain. Tart!
Mouthfeel: Somewhat thin
Drinkability: This is the third drainpour I have had out of over 900 different beers sampled. It was just very sour, with no other characteristics that would give it at least some personality. The two friends I shared it with totally agreed.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2010 13:43:53 | More by potownbill

ne0m00re

Ohio

2.28/5  rDev -44%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

08/29/10- Had a 750 mL bottle of this one.
A: Very pale golden with a puffy white head that shrunk to a very thin film.
S: White wine, very sour apples, musty wheat, salty cured meat (salame).
T: Starts off great, but turns to a very moldy salame casing (the innoculated one you're supposed to remove before eating). Lemon pucker and cidery notes. For me, this isn't undrinkable, but it almost is.
M: Very thin and spritzy, like bad soda.
D: Not a big fan; this one is almost a drainpour.

I like sours and I still didn't like this one. Maybe I had a bad bottle or it is a little too intense for me.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2010 23:19:05 | More by ne0m00re

mikereaser

Pennsylvania

2.65/5  rDev -34.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Shared with Hophead101 on 12/29/09

A - pours a golden white with an inch of white foam that quickly dissipated to a layer of fine bubbles

S - pretty standard, tart green apples, wheat

T - watered down tart apple flavor, tart up front but you are quickly reminded how watered down the taste is

M/D - good carbonation, flavor starts out great, but quickly falls off, we were reminded of a tart coors light.

Tried again on 6/6/2011
I'm a fan of berliner weisse beers, just not this one. I was really hoping it was just me. This beer just seems to be lacking in content to me.

Serving type: bottle

07-07-2010 20:09:01 | More by mikereaser

pwoods

Ohio

2.68/5  rDev -34.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

I just didn't dig this one. The pour wasn't too bad. Light, hazy straw colored. Decent, loose frothy head on the pour, pearly white. Not a ton of retention but decent lacing. The smell was very interesting. Unconventional but interesting. Plenty of toasted wheat and some odd spices. Yeasty but not overly estery. Some tartness, but again, odd. The taste was full of the toasted wheat but with some unidentifiable off flavors, or what I feel were off. This was washed away but a lemon water or watered down lemonade type flavor. Some tart fruits before the lemon water but very light in both fruit and tartness. The mouthfeel was very watery and the carbonation couldn't help it. The low ABV would help the drinkability but the off flavors and watered down mouthfeel doesn't make me want to drink this.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2009 23:25:59 | More by pwoods

lacqueredmouse

Australia

2.73/5  rDev -32.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Pours an extremely pale yellow, verging on colourless, very cloudy with a thick fine head of pure white foam. Lacing is very good, and the extreme, fine carbonation looks like tiny streams of pure effervescence. A very sophisticated and refined looking beer, and just exactly what you want in a Berliner Weisse.

Loads of funk and acidity on the nose, tart citrus rind, grapefruit, composting greenery and crushed vegetation. A hint of wet burlap sack, and a more organic yeast character are also noticeable. Not bad.

Taste is far different from expected. There's only an initial tart character on the front of the tongue, which disappears almost immediately, leaving a thin biscuity character, and an odd flavour of marzipan. The yeast funk is noticeable, and the finish is left quite phenolic and rank. Mouthfeel is extremely thin, which I guess is average for the style, but without much acidity, it just leaves exposed the very mediocre back palate.

Everything just fell away once I took a sip; this beer ends up thin, bare and empty. Maybe this is a Berliner Weisse which really requires syrup to give it any character (or rather, to cover the weak, but unpleasant characters it has). It was promising on the nose, and it looked the part, but it couldn't hold its end up when it counted. A shame.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2009 20:23:39 | More by lacqueredmouse

rudzud

Massachusetts

2.73/5  rDev -32.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2.5

Picked up a bottle from Julio's a few weeks back. My friends bottle was pretty bad, but this one is slightly better.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a crystal clear super light yellow with a fizzy one finger head that immediately fades to leave no lacing or anything.

S - Yeah, slightly better than my friends bottle, but this one still has a horrific burnt rubber aroma that overwhelms whatever light funk and citrus/wheat thats there.

T - None of that disgusting rubber on the taste. Starts and runs through all one note sourness that has some nice wheat flavours but ends with strong funk/burlap sack.

M - Hands down the best part of this beer. Higher carbonation on this one results in a nice prickly feeling on the tongue that makes it very drinkable.

O - Yeah, not sure what to make of this. The first time I tried it no one could get past one sip, this is slightly better but not by much. Incredibly disheartening.

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2011 23:26:54 | More by rudzud

ptykozoon

California

2.73/5  rDev -32.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Hazy yellow hoegaarden color.

Sweet apple, lemon. Citrus.

Sprite with alcohol basically. Lemon/lime. Nothing below the surface however, and the taste is generally lacking.

Great texture. Refreshing I suppose.

Meh! Not the best Bruery beer out there.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2011 20:57:07 | More by ptykozoon

taylor714914

Pennsylvania

2.81/5  rDev -31%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

Huge disappointment. Really expected more but was letdown. Pours like yellow fizzy swill from a can, no head whatsoever.

Smells of tartness and granny smith apples, maybe a hair of pilsner malt.

Taste is pretty straight, tart tang and some back end grains with a bit of granny smith.

Way to much carbonation, which was especially surprisingly considering I could get any head with my pour. So much so I swirled some of it out

Overall, a big let down. Would grab New Glarus or bells Berliner before this.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 04:04:38 | More by taylor714914

FosterJM

California

2.95/5  rDev -27.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

109th Review on BA
Bottle to Tulip
750ML bottle

App- A dark yellow with a large three finger head that was very fast dissolving. This was a lot darker than I thought it would be.

Smell- Tart & Yeasty with a somewhat mild earthiness.

Taste- I'm leaning towards saying they put sour liquid in a vat and called it beer and bottled it. This thing is tart and tangy, a bit much for me.

Mouth- Its a big flavor rush on this. Its crisp and clean and sweet.

Drink- I finished the bottle. If all sours are like this, then I don't think they are for me.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2010 05:30:18 | More by FosterJM

TexIndy

Texas

2.98/5  rDev -26.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Shipped back from my San Diego trip (bought at South Bay). Poured from a 750ml capped bottle into a tulip. No dating info. Was a hazy pale straw color with lots of carb from the etching. No lacing. It had a fizzy white head that quickly evaporated into nothing.

The description, style and other reviews had me believing I was going to get some tart and sour in the aroma and taste but not in this one. The aroma was very subtle. Some sour and lemon but very faded. Very disappointing. The taste matched the aroma. Very muted sour and lemon flavors and not much else. Extremely watery. Almost like an iced lemonade that had all the ice melt into it. Mouthfeel was watery.

Overall, a very disappointing beer that continues my hit or miss from the Bruery (2 great and 2 so-so). I love sour beers so had high hopes for this one but not much here besides lemon tinged water. Can't really recommend. Rotation: not avail here. One and done as I didn't find much flavor to it.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2009 01:51:49 | More by TexIndy

SiphonKing

Illinois

3/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

Pours straw in color. Acidic aromas, tartness and puckery are the best descriptors here.
I was recommended this from my local retailer, and I am a fan of sour, acidic/tart beers including this style. It could use a splash of woodruff or raspberry syrup as tradition dictates. Decent beer, it's nice to see someone attempting this style at all in the U.S.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2009 21:19:01 | More by SiphonKing

KeefD

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -26.3%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours the palest yellow I've ever seen in a beer, with a large white fluffy head that left little lacing. A lot of raw wheat in the aroma, grainy, husky, light sourness. Taste is more sour than the aroma lets on, light funk in there, grassy, lemony, with a lovely wheaty twang and a dry finish. Crisp body, easy to drink. Never becomes too sour. Really not digging the raw wheat aroma when I take a sip, as I it takes away from the good flavor, I try to hold me breath. Wish I had some raspberry syrup to pour in this thing. Not bad, but there's still no Berlinerweiss that can hold a candle to NG's Unplugged version.

Serving type: bottle

02-03-2010 00:44:44 | More by KeefD

scoots511

California

3.08/5  rDev -24.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Note: The comments below are from beer tasting notes written in early 2009. I will update this with my next tasting.

Highly carbonated

Slight sour fruit and citric taste

Berliner Weisse production notes: Mashed hops (into grain, hops not boiled) will impede the pedicocci and lactobacillus which imparts flavors to this sour wheat beer (50% wheat). Popular in the 19th century, Napoleon liked it. Germans cut it with syrup, raspberry.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2010 20:11:49 | More by scoots511

cjgator3

Florida

3.1/5  rDev -23.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

750ml bottle

A- Pours a very pale and slightly hazed straw yellow color with a fizzy white head caused by the high amount of carbonation.

S- The aroma is tart, making my mouth water and tingle with every smell from the tartness. There is hints of lemon and yeast.

T- The taste like the aroma suggests is very tart and mouth-puckering for me. Behind the tartness, I can pick up on hints of lemon and some yeast as well.

M- The mouthfeel is light bodied with a high amount of carbonation.

D- Overall, I'm not a huge fan of this style overall. However, I can appreciate that this is a good representation of the style. Worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

02-06-2010 04:43:39 | More by cjgator3

zrab11

Indiana

3.15/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A- Pours a golden straw Color with thin head

S-Has a lemon smell to it not much else.

T-Mostly tastes of lemon with a little hint of spice in it

M-Light bodied with good carbonation

D-Didn't really do it for me.. Might just be how this style is. But this mostly tasted like water with lemon juice squeezed into it. Easy to drink but not really much flavor or a very desireable flavor at that. will try others of the same style but prob. wont get this one again

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2011 19:04:05 | More by zrab11

Oxymoron

Colorado

3.23/5  rDev -20.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Hottenroth, related to David Lee Roth? Pours a slightly hazy lemony yellow hue with no much on head retention and lacing. Ok for style though.

The nose is subtle overall. Some light grainy and wheaty notes but very limited on the sourness. Some lemon and a light yeast note that is closer on the Belgian style than Berliner Weisse. Some pepper notes and a light DMS character but not over bearing.

The taste is closer but still misses the mark for style. The sourness is present but limited. The malt comes out with more noticeable wheaty and pilsner flavor. Some lemon juice notes that leaves a slight citrus finish in the aftertaste. Some minor funk and barnyard notes but subtle.

The body is light but has some lingering sweetness. Overall Berliner Weisses are tough. Not bad, just missing some more sour/lactic quality.

Serving type: on-tap

10-29-2008 22:03:28 | More by Oxymoron

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Cat piss and cider. And I am quite familiar with the style and its production, and this is not quite right. It's not horrible (well, unless you think all Berliner-style weisse is horrible...), but it should be better, somehow cleaner, and definitely less cidery. Oddly, it's an incredibly easy beer to make. And this is a little known fact, but because of that, it was actually quite common in the U.S. at one point. I digress, you are kind of at the mercy of the 'unknown' in its production, but you do have some control, and you do have taste buds... it's also an easy beer to blend if something goes astray! I've never had another beer from The Bruery so I can't judge it against anything else they've done. Hopefully what I had was just a bad batch. Oh, I should mention though, that it was well-received by the rest of my party.

Serving type: on-tap

10-07-2008 00:58:08 | More by NeroFiddled

jammapamma

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

So after having 1809 this just feels a little weak to be honest. I get a lot of one dimensional lactic acid from this, that gets boring quickly. I don't get any of the lemon, citrus or anything like that, I was hoping for so much more from the Bruery.

The carbonation was a little light for the style, which is supposed to be highly carbonated around 4 volumes. This felt more like 2.5, similar to an American pale to me.

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2010 03:13:24 | More by jammapamma

coreyfmcdonald

Georgia

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

750ml bottle into a tall tulip

A: Very nice looking beer - pours a transparent light golden color with active carbonation throughout. Two fingers of fluffy head forms. Retention is very good.

S: Lemon tartness upfront with a good dose of wheat. A bit of stone fruit as well. Very clean smell.

T: Lemon tartness balanced by a good dose of wheat and a bit of fruity sweetness. I get a bit of and off flavor in the aftertaste - Almost a mustiness, maybe a bit of wet cardboard.

M: A tad thick for the style, with appropriate carbonation.

O: The aroma on this was great, but I had a hard time getting over the off flavor described. It's not bad, but not one of the better Berliner Weisses I've had.

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2013 02:01:49 | More by coreyfmcdonald

kojevergas

California

3.28/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Served on-draught into a beer flute at The Bruery's tasting room in Placentia, California. Reviewed from notes.

A: Pours a one finger head of average cream, thickness, and retention. Colour is a cloudy copper-gold. Semitransparent.

Sm: Bretts and off notes (like baby food and carbonation). A moderate strength aroma.

T: Very structurally brief. Sweet peachy syrup is present, with wheat and lactic notes on the finish. Balanced but muted and restrained. Simple and a bit boring. Lightly sour on the finish, which I like.

Mf: Smooth. Wet. Moderately complementary of the flavours.

Dr: Highly drinkable, but boring and of limited quality. I wouldn't have it again, but with work it could be a good example of the style done right.

B-

Serving type: on-tap

01-17-2012 04:38:26 | More by kojevergas

callmescraps

Massachusetts

3.33/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Blue Palms, was intrigued.

Appearance - A couldy light gold. A ton of haze. Very light. Nice rocky head. Almost lemonade looking.

Smell - Ok, so NeroFiddled called it "cat piss". Um, I definitely see where it's coming from. Some tart lemon, but then this musty stinkiness that was very off-putting. Not good and funky, but more like a couch that an alley tom cat had used to mark its' territory.

Taste - Surprisingly better. Very tart. Quite tart. Some citrus and lemon. A hint of funkiness, but that weird mustiness disappeared. Nice and light, but so thin and tart that it's a little tough.

Mouthfeel - On the lighter side, but some nice carbonation.

Drinkability - The tartness and lightness might be great on a hot day, but it's almost so tart that you don't want too much more.

This is a strange style, and I get that. However the smell was simply bad. It reeked. The flavor was much better and pretty nice. I'd like to try some more examples of this style, but I just didn't think it was a great beer, frankly.

Serving type: on-tap

08-01-2009 18:18:20 | More by callmescraps

OneDropSoup

Pennsylvania

3.38/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a stemmed tulip: Hazy, pale yellow that lights up like stained glass. 2 fingers fluffy white head that drops within a couple minutes. A few streams of bubbles, a few specks of sediment.

Smells of sour lemon, with a big yeast smell that's doughy & an egg/sulfur smell that's kind of a turn-off. I get it, but it's not exactly appetizing.

Mad tart! Lemon sour, wheat tartness with an aftertaste like raw bread dough and soft pretzel. Really subtle sweetness. Thankfully none of the sulfur found in the smell.

Very acidic, a little sharp, with a thickness in the aftertaste -- as in, it makes my saliva more thick & viscous.

Not super complex, kind of relies on 2 notes, but interesting nonetheless. Good but challenging, one's enough for an evening.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2010 10:24:17 | More by OneDropSoup

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.38/5  rDev -17%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

From: Binny's, IL
Date: 2012 summer
Glass: Tulip

This is a very pleasant beer, fairly pale in color, aroma, and flavor, and could be seen as a good, refreshing, summertime beverage. By pleasant, I mean mostly non-offensive, complicated, or expressively bold: if you were seeking out a malt beverage that was vaguely sour and soda-like, then the Bruery's Hottenroth Berlinerweisse would be your target. Slightly disappointing, given the brewery's reputation for sour styles, this is an easy-drinking Berlinerweisse that could be a gateway sour. Otherwise of interest for aficionados of the style, and then probably only once.

Pours a 4cm tall head of clean, white bubbles that are small in size. Retention is less than a minute, the head fizzing away fairly rapidly, leaving a total absence of foam upon the body of the beer or the sides of the glass. As such, lacing is nonexistent and one is left looking solely at the beer's body once the head has burned through itself. The body is a transparent, pale yellow color, with light making the beer almost appear as clear as water. Carbonation is visible, the streams sparse, but somewhat vigorous in floating to the surface.

Aroma is dry, slightly sweet, a touch grainy, and with a modest hint of underlying soured mash tartness and Lactobacillus presence, like a lightly grainy Champagne with a touch of tart yogurt. Not bad, just a bit underwhelming.

Taste is not particularly sour, more of just a light tartness with additional flavors of unripe apple and wheat malt. Front of palate is primarily sweet, slightly grainy, with very light lemon flavor, but almost no tartness. Mid-palate is lightly sweet with the slightly bready wheat base malt being noticeable, also a touch sour, with faint lemon and yogurt-like flavors. Back of palate is slightly more tart, with light lemon and diluted plain yogurt being the most common associations, along with a light sweetness from the wheat malt and some brighter, sour apple-like esters. Aftertaste is of light yogurt-like tartness, sour apple-like esters, and some slightly bready wheat malt.

Beer is light in body, with carbonation levels of high intensity, resulting in a beer that's fizzy at first, then gradually becoming foamy and smooth on the palate; rather soda or Champagne-like. Closes quite dry, with little residual stickiness on the palate.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 23:36:37 | More by falloutsnow

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Had this at the Cigar City/ Bruery Takeover! at Redlight Redlight in Orlando.

A-very pale cloudy yellow with a thin white head

S-smells like aged corn, wheat, and some sour green apple. medium strength

T-comes in with a mouth puckering taste of corn and wheat. possibly a hint of green apple. the sourness lasts quite awhile, even in to the after-taste. there's a corn taste that also lasted awhile. its a unique brew but I'm not thinking this is a completely worthy one that i'll be buying again. definitely is a treat for the end of a night.

M-medium to high carbonation with a crisp finish

D-its definitely an easy drinker, but the taste isn't exactly something i want a whole lot of.the corn flavor isn't very desirable to me.

Serving type: on-tap

04-11-2011 20:49:10 | More by AdamBear

brdc

Wisconsin

3.45/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Thanks portia99 for this one.
Large corked bottle poured into a tulip.

Slightly hazy, very very light yellow, noce bubbly white head. Decent retention and lacing.
Aroma is slightly tart and citric, but not a lot beyond that.
Very very light on the palate, with a pleasant but fairly non descript taste. It is tart, and acidic, with fruity notes, but all a bit too light. Perhaps on a very hot day it would taste better. It is certainly not bad, but not really good either. New Glarus makes a significantly better version.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2009 21:11:44 | More by brdc