Hottenroth Berliner Weisse - The Bruery

hoptrip619

California

3.68/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Allow me to preface the following diatribe with the fact that I did not approach this beer with an open mind. Following the Backstreet Brewery "Pink Stink" incident a while back, I swore to take a break from this particular style. It's not that I don't like or appreciate a good Berliner Weiss, it's just I wasn't prepared for what transpired on that particular occasion. With this being said, I wasn't at all disappointed by this offering from the Bruery.

A- The beer pours a hazy white/yellow color with champagne-like carbonation. This head dissipated rather quickly, as would champagne head. My duff shaker pint was not the appropriate glassware but nobody's perfect on Sunday.

S- Citric acidity of meyer lemon zest, sourdough bread, slight but detectable funk.

T- Slight sour character upfront, which almost immediately subsides into a very bready malt flavor. Berliner Weiss for beginners would be my first reaction.

M/D - Very light in body and quite sessionable. Could have been a bit more adventurous in the sour/funk department but a good Berliner for the uninitiated.

Serving type: bottle

11-30-2009 18:37:28 | More by hoptrip619

ausonius

New York

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Light blond color.
Frothy/foamy head settles to a thin patchy head with some lacing.

Huge fragrant nose. Mealy, grainy, round, slightly toasted aroma. Hint of lemongrass & fresh Ialian semolina bread.
Wonderfully fresh, fruity/flowery & slightly lactic.

On the palate: Very light body with pretty big flavor.
Fresh, slightly sharp lactic, lemon/lime, grainy wheat. Slightly sour - which fades from mid-palate to finish.

Clean. Lots of flavor & great balance.

This is a wonderful, characterful, big flavored brew.
You feel like you could drink this stuff all day ... if necessary!?!

. . . @ 3.1% ABV, maybe you could!

93 Points

Amazing brews coming out of this place!

CHEERS!

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2010 19:25:33 | More by ausonius

Hoops4life511

New Jersey

4.13/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle poured into Chimay chalice. 2011 vintage.

Appearance - Pours a pale lemon yellow, hazy with an effervescent white head. Head quickly falls to a patchy white cap and then disappears all together.

Smell - Light on smell but what smell is there is fresh. Lemony fresh and grainy wheat. Light and pleasant, perfect for a hot day.

Taste/Mouth - Taste is on line with the smell, light but clean and fresh. Tart up front with a ton of effervescent bubbles on the tongue. Finish leaves you with an ever so slight musty hay flavor. Slightly acidic and fruity keeps things interesting. Refreshing and thin bodied, perfect for these 90 degree days.

Overall - Don't look for this one to blow you away with appearance, smell or taste, but it is fantastic to the style. Perfect thing for a hot day especially with the 3.1% ABV, you can drink these all day if you can afford it. Will definitely buy some more and share them with the non craft crowd, see if I can sway a few.

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2011 23:39:20 | More by Hoops4life511

edrachman

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Delicious summer beer (being drunk in downtown Manhattan in the calm before Hurricane Irene and I'm required to evacuate).

Poured into champagne flutes and the appearance would easily pass for champagne. Pale yellow and very bubbly with nice head after a vigorous pour.

The tartness comes through the smell and background of sweet miscellaneous candy.

Taste is very tart light wheat beer -- as its my first Berliner Weisse, I would imagine its typical of the style, but very tasty although nothing to knock my socks off.

Mouthfeel is like slightly tart champagne. Carbonation comes through strong and very drinkable.

Overall, a better beer than my review likely indicates. I wouldn't want this on a cold winter day, but a fantasticly refreshing summer beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2011 23:26:02 | More by edrachman

weezyfart

Georgia

3.93/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Pale straw in color. Lots of foamy activity when I initially poured the glass, but quickly relaxed and formed a minimal at best head. What made me give it extra points is the lovely bed of bubbles that lay at the bottom of the glass. Not unlike sparkling wine!

The smell is easy enough to pinpoint. Lemon, green apple, bisquit and yeast (again, quite champagne like).

I love the lemony flavors that provide the backbone of this beer. not too strong and not too light.

The mouthfeel is, as expected, quite tart. Yet it is not shocking in its snap. There is an underlying body that keeps your taste buds conscious. Could turn off berliner purists if there really are any.

I could drink this beer any day. Its kinda cool outside right now and I feel that it isnt out of place even now.

I would love to have a taste of what a chef could build around this beer!

Serving type: bottle

11-25-2009 22:12:23 | More by weezyfart

SneezyAchew

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

For whatever reason, this beer has improved enormously with the second glass I just poured for myself.

Served in a Hill Farmstead snifter. First glass was clear, this one pours a bit more murky. Lemondae-like appearance with quickly fading bubbles.
The smell does have a hint of burnt rubber and pepper to it, but also some sweetness in there.
Some tartness lingers on the tongue as it goes down. But I would describe it mostly as zesty, lemony, and almost Sprite-like, except more full, pronounced, tasty. A bit similar to white wine. Not overly carbonated.
Mouthfeel is bubbly and pleasant.
I've had better low abv beers. The Alchemist's Shut the Hell Up! comes to mind. Overall, I could imagine drinking a couple glasses of this outside in the heat, but the price is a turn-off. I feel like I am paying for the bottle, and that the presentation works against this particular Bruery beer. A 4/6-pack would be prefered.

Serving type: on-tap

06-19-2011 06:20:59 | More by SneezyAchew

Willibomb

South Carolina

4.78/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Love this beer!!

Very unique tart and sour finish, while still maintaining the beer notes that I would expect. This beer has a hazy yellow color with a very thin white head. If you smell it, you can't tell immediately what lies ahead for it has a very grainy and refreshing hop scent.

The drinkability and taste is where this beer really shines. I could drink this beer all day and never feel heavy or due for sugar shock, it ranks right up there with the light beers in refreshingness, and back with the dark beers in satisfaction and depth.

Simply a must try!

Serving type: growler

05-03-2010 22:05:45 | More by Willibomb

azagthoth

California

4.15/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I received this pour from the Bruery's tap line in their tasting room.

Appearance - A light hued pale straw-straw in color. The befitting level of carbonation deservedly awarded a 1 inch head to this brew. The layout of this beer hinted at a humble drinking experience which is precisely what I was in for!

Smell - Zesty indications of lemon and pale bread made way through my nose. In addition, the wheat presented itself accordingly as to leave this unadorned ale properly suited for its style.

Taste - Tart, first off! The omnipresent brettanomyces was well observed as I reminisced on some of the finer sour ales that I've consumed. The taste isn't convoluted, in the sense that the wheat and lemon bind nicely together to create outstanding freshness.

Mouthfeel - Sour initially, however the lemon and grainy components coalesce to make this one hell of a revitalizing brew! Lighter in body, but rather an irrelevant recollection as there is more than enough in the mouth for this berliner weisse to hold its own while ranking in at 3.1% ABV.

Drinkability - Commendable drinkability! This should be the archetype session beer for any occasion, although one might find it most refreshing during the warmer months. The diminutive volume of alcohol levitates the drinkability, too! I could see Hottenroth as a portal into the craft radius.

Serving type: on-tap

11-14-2009 00:28:48 | More by azagthoth

Pfeifer

California

3.9/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 5

Poured into Hefeweissen glass
A - Very pale yellow, pours with one inch head that dissipates quickly. Some lacing
S - Faint whiff of bacteria. Light citrus, grass and bread.
T - Light and smooth. Watery is the first thing that comes to mind. Wheat and a little citrus.
M - Very light, almost watery. Appears to have more carbonation than comes through upon drinking
D - At only 3.1%, as light as you'd expect. quite refreshing

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2009 21:16:51 | More by Pfeifer

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

jbtice0315

California

4.25/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Reviewed from a glass poured on tap at the Bruery Tasting Room.

A - pale, thin, and very cloudy. The head was champagne-like and dissipated quickly leaving little to no lacing.

S - the sour and funk are present in large quantities with corn, lemon, green apples. Others I was with said it smelled overpoweringly "eggy", however I could only get a hint of DMS.

T - The sourness and funk are right on target. The alcohol is only ~3% - refreshing and puckering at the same time.

M - tart, dry, light, refreshing.

D - excellent! This is my favorite berliner weisse. The nose is a little off, but overall a great example of the style.

Serving type: on-tap

05-07-2011 18:25:43 | More by jbtice0315

ohiobrewtus

Ohio

4.05/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

750ml poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance - Pours with a tight, fluffy, 1 finger white head, dark straw to light golden in color, slightly opaque.

Aroma - slight malty sweetness (pils/wheat) and sour tartness with hints of apple and pear.

Mouthfeel - medium body, medium to medium full carbonation. Smooth, slightly prickly from carbonation.

Flavor - Mild sour tartness with wheat/pils sweetness. No perceptible hop bitterness or flavor. The tartness/prickly carbonation combination provides very good drinkability.

Overall - One would expect any 3.1% abv beer to be easy to drink, but this beer combines the crisp sharpness of the carbonation and the sour tartness to provide great drinkability regardless of abv.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2010 20:27:32 | More by ohiobrewtus

Erzengel

Germany

3.55/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Nice 0,75l bottle with crowntop. Thanks to kappldav for this beer!
Very pale in the glass, no head, light sour smell.
The beer in the mouth starts slightly sour, much less than expected. It continues with this light sour tone, that has a pineapple-like flavour in it. Quite interesting and unexpected for a Berliner Weiße.
The mainpart of this beer is very smooth, mild, the sourness leaves the mouth and is nearly gone with the finish. A bit disappointing, but it leaves a mild-smooth mouth-feeling in the end.
--> Great, light summer-refreshing beer. A bit lighter and less sour as its German counterparts.
The only thing I complain is the price - my bottle says 13,50$ - (which is ~ 9,20€). In my eyes far too expensive for such a beer. It's a good beer - but here in Europe you won't even sell it for half of it!

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2011 19:11:07 | More by Erzengel

JoeProbst

Virginia

4.83/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I am really smitten over this beer.

Funny story: My mom "hates" beer. Up until a few days ago she has not had a bottle of beer she enjoys. I took the label off this guy and brought it home to my folks, and said it was a rare champagne with no label and it had been given to me by a friend as a gift.

I poured her a glass of it and she just dug right in. She absolutely loved and raved about how nice and refreshing it was. Only when I told her it was beer did she realize how much her pre-dispositions had warped her appreciations.

Appearance: Brightly yellow. A foam of bubbles. Looks like an oasis of liquid gold.

Smell - Smells a bright, tart, delicious 'yellow'. You can almost taste how the beer is from the nose alone.

Taste - This Berliner Weisse is really friggin' delicious. It goes down SO easy. Why don't we make table beers like this any more? Acidity is spot on--it's really hard to take your lips off the glass.

Mouthfeel - The highlight of the beer. It is so delightfully thin, drinkable, bright, yeasty. Uhn! The high level of carbonation carries this tarty tingle all over your mouth. It's like winning the lottery. I could drink this beer for ages, especially in this Virginia Heat.

Overall - Exemplary. Refreshing. A delightful burst of refreshment. Only gripe is I wish I had about 30 more bottles of this nectar.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2011 14:46:21 | More by JoeProbst

Sterby

Pennsylvania

4.16/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

On-tap at Hempen Hill in Hagerstown, MD. Poured into a 10 ounce chalice.

A - Pours a translucent yellow straw with a white foam that dissipates quickly.
S- Lemon Citrus.
T-Multi-layered flavors including lemon, granny apple, and wheat. The wild yeasts are really doing their thing.
M-A pleasing effervescence that zings the tast buds in the back corners of the mouth.
O- Overall, an incredibly refreshing beer that is easy to drink and allows you to maintain your sobriety.

Serving type: on-tap

05-08-2013 20:23:04 | More by Sterby

BrotherDylan

California

4.56/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Fantastically dry and painfully delicious. It invites sip after sip with a mouth stripping sour dryness. So tart, so delicious. Its better than candy ever could be. Its a sadomasochistic dream of a beer. Drink the 750ml to yourself but its better shared with friends. After all, how much fun is sadomasochism by yourself?

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 05:20:41 | More by BrotherDylan