Professor Fritz Briem 1809 Berliner Weisse - Professor Fritz Briem

Suds

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

This is a fascinating and amazingly interesting beer. It's not an appealing beer to behold, being a little cloudy and full of floaties. The head is a soda-pop fizz that fades as quickly as it forms. The aroma, however, is complex and intriguing. Sour-smelling, lactic, horse-sweat, funk, grass, and straw. It's not as appealing as a lambic's smell, but it is interesting, and will surely keep your nose engaged. The taste is not really sour..but very well balanced. More funk, and a very appealing crispness. It would be quite refreshing on a hot summer day (too bad I'm drinking it on a cold winter night). Light body, with a relatively low carbonation. Great smoothness and texture...I love the mouthfeel. All in all, this is not a beer that I'd go out of my way to drink, but it's a wonderful experience. Hail the funk!

Serving type: bottle

01-23-2011 02:30:21 | More by Suds

GatorBeerNerd

Georgia

3.38/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

a 500ml bottle purchased for me from Jax in Cumming by OskarsBamaBlues for the clearance price of $2. Poured into its branded glass which is more of a weapon than a glass.

A: Very very light straw yellow color with quite a bit of carbonation at pour that disappears extremely fast. There is no lacing at all. According to the description the lack of head and lace is normal for the style.

S: The smell is an interesting lemony tart smell.

T: Quite a bit of lemony tartness from the first sip. You do not get much in the way of sweetness from the grain since the tartness is so much the life of the party, but it is there in the background. The tartness is even more overpowering in the finish. I can understand why people add syrup to make it less tart. If I had some, I would certainly try it.

M: Quite thin and almost watery. The tartness in the after taste leaves the mouth with an odd feeling that I can not describe. Once again, likely appropriate for the style so I won't dock it much.

D: This one is not drinkable at all for me due to the tartness.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2009 02:35:41 | More by GatorBeerNerd

zoolzoo

Connecticut

3.38/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

A: Pours golden, big white head. Lots of floaties.

S: Apple ciderish nose, citrus rind, accented with some must.

T/M: Tartness is present but subdued. Impression of lemons and yeasty bread. Light in body, high in carbonation.

O: A refreshing beer, excellent with a light meal with enough flavor to stand on its own. I liked the White Birch Berliner Weiss better, however.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2011 23:08:52 | More by zoolzoo

portia99

Massachusetts

3.35/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle poured into a Berliner Kindl bowl.

A - Pours a golden amber color which is a touch darker than I expect out of this style of beer. A thin soda-like head falls quickly to the surface leaving behind only the never-ending replenishment supply of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the bowl. Crystal clear - a beer you can read thru.

S - Acetic, sour, some apple cider vinegar nature, some slight lemony flavor too. Not as fruity or delicate as I'd like to see here.

T - Sour, as expected, acetic acid, a bit buttery, no real fruitiness, dry, a bit minerally, somewhat champagne like. Some breadlike malt character too...a bit heavy for the style.

M - Mouthfeel is thin and watery with good medium high carbonation. Puckering and quite dry and crisp. Pretty good overall.

D - I've had a number of Berliner Weissbiers and this one stands out as different from all of the others I've had...more alcohol, more malt character, darker color...all seem to be a bit off for the style. This is still an enjoyable beer, but I would call it a bit flawed for the style.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2010 22:29:02 | More by portia99

hooliganlife

Missouri

3.35/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

poured crisp clean yellow with hints of orange and copper. light fizzy head that quickly disappeared. little to no retention or lacing.

light vinegar with hints of funk and lemon. light malt presence.

light sweetness. very light lemonhead like flavor. malts were a bit dominant but blended with the sweetness.

light to moderate carbonation. not much dryness but a bit.

i was a bit let down by this. not as pronounced as i'd like or have come to known. lacks dominating flavors and is more or less a bit bland. overall, probably would not seek out that often but easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2010 00:39:37 | More by hooliganlife

chinchill

South Carolina

3.35/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

16.9 oz bottle served in a snifter

A - light yellow with particles, plenty of sediment despite careful pour.

S - not entirely pleasant

T - Surprise! Pleasant and shockingly tart. Typical German weisse flavor underneath but dominated by slightly fruity tartness.

M - tartness is main feature of the mouthfeel.

O - not being a fan of middle-of-the-road German weisse, I actually prefer this tart variant.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2011 22:56:32 | More by chinchill

nick76

Florida

3.33/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The aroma has sour wheat, sour kraut, barley, and yeast with virtually no hops. The appearance is hazy with gold color and a nice head. The flavor is sour but not overly so and very much like the aroma. The palate is thin but just right. Overall it's close to being good.

Serving type: bottle

11-09-2008 06:16:36 | More by nick76

adamette

Ohio

3.33/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Live review. Poured from the "1 pint, .9oz" bottle that I purchased at World Wines & Liquor in Mentor a few days ago for $2.99 into my SN Anniversary Ale pint glass.

A Huge, 4 inch white meringue like head that stuck around for a few minutes. The head was very active, popping with carbonation as it dissipated rather quickly down to a trace island in the middle of the beer. Body is very light yellow, kind of boring. 3.5

S Effervescent, citrus, barley smells. Beer also smells "light." 3.0

T/M Very light feel, bubbly, effervescent with carbonation dancing across my tongue in a light, citrusy dance. Taste is not very strong frankly with some light citrus and distant barley tastes. I cannot say that I really like this taste as it is too distant for me. Festina Peche (the only other Berliner Weisse that I rated) was more flavorful. 3.0

D Highly drinkable and I am sure refreshing on a hot day, say after yardwork or something. This thing is that I would not reach for this in that situation, I would probably go with a more tasty and more available beer such as SNPA. 4.5

Serving type: bottle

09-12-2009 02:57:37 | More by adamette

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.33/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This beer poured out as a very pale hazy looking yellow color. The head was white and had a light lacing on the glass. The smell of the beer was kind of on the tart side, wasn't really thinking it'd be like that but it was. The taste of the beer was also a little tart but subtle. They offered some Woodruff syrup to add into the brew and I found that to be interesting. I liked the beer more with the syrup which is probably frowned upon by some people. The mouthfeel was light and refreshing. Overall the beer was refreshing the tartness was tolerable and would probably be most enjoyed on hot days.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2011 04:08:02 | More by Knapp85

musicforairports

New York

3.3/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours straw colored, cloudy as the bottle gets towards the bottom. Nothing really as far as head or lacing goes.

Smells like tart, lemony funk.

Taste is light, tart through and through. Dry lemon flavors, some barnyard-style funk and not too much else.

A bit fizzy and very light.

This one is as easy to drink as seltzer water. Nothing bad here at all, and while I've never had a Berliner Weissbier before, I'd like my sour beers with a bit more going on than this.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2011 02:20:10 | More by musicforairports

chefelf

New York

3.3/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

I wasn't really familiar with the Berliner Weisse style before having this beer. After one sip I'm sure I'll never forget it now. Not expecting the lemon wallop that hit me in the mouth I thought there was something wrong with the beer at first until I read up a little on the style.

Reading the reviews here I wonder if I'm more sensitive to lemon. I read here that some people thought this was a "subtle" lemon flavor. To me this was a sharp, intense, lemon flavor that was shockingly tart.

While this is not really my style of beer at all I did enjoy trying a very different beer than what I'm used to. I appreciated it but I don't know if I'll be rushing out to try more beers in this style.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 13:53:07 | More by chefelf

VaterRoss

North Carolina

3.3/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Serving: poured from 500ml bottle into Blue Moon weizen glass.

Appearance: wow! huge frothing head that forced me to ease up on the pour. Clear straw yellow color with vigorous carbonation. Fun to watch the head from the top as it actually surges and bubbles for minutes.

Smell: dry with a hint of lemon citrus. Slight wheat smell.

Taste: dry with lemon, then you get the intense bitter sourness.

Mouthfeel: light, extremely carbonated and dry, slightly mouth puckering.

Overall: Very interesting, almost like a mix of a dry champagne and sugarless European citrus soda with some wheat grounding it in beer territory. While I am willing to try this style again, I found the dry sourness to be a bit intense. Luckily I was able to pair this with some food (baked salmon), but I do not think I would drink this without food.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2011 03:18:40 | More by VaterRoss

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -20.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bought at Beertopia, Omaha, NE.

Hard pour produces a pale, off-white head several centimeters in height. Some residual lacing on glass, and after each sip. Beer's body looks like cloudy, yellowish water. Carbonation is visible through the rather murky beer.

Scent is fairly faint, with very light lemon citrus notes, wheat mash, clovers, field grass, and a distinct brettanomyces yeast scent in the background.

Taste is best characterized by its subtlety, it's all very light and tentative. Light flavors of citric lemon intermingled with what I always taste with beers soured with Brettanomyces yeast, kind of a musty, wet dog funk. The wheat is there, but pretty ghostly. Overall, kind of a watery, old-tasting, soured wheat beer mash flavor.

Feels just fine in the mouth. Carbonation is medium, satisfactory for the moderate body the beer offers. Finish is expectedly dry, nothing wrong here.

I've had another Berliner Weiss about five years ago at a German restaurant in Manhattan, NY. That one was radically different than this one: sharp in nose and taste, robust citrus sourness, a light complex fruitiness. Judging from other reviewers, I may have gotten an off bottle of this, and will certainly re-investigate in the future, but I'll be wary of this one until then.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2011 01:10:29 | More by falloutsnow

bruachan

Rhode Island

3.23/5  rDev -21.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

a huge wheatiness spews forth. spice also, and it really smells like a wit. as i would have expected: some tartness. the head was huge up front, and fell steadily. very light, slightly hazy

the tartness is quite a bit more prevalent in the taste, and really carries the rest of the flavor profile on its back. some sweetness, but the citricity is the most noticeable of the flavors. coriander and other spices come through. caraway?

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2007 00:56:53 | More by bruachan

froghop

Washington

3.2/5  rDev -22%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

pours a semi-hazy sunshine yellow, with a large white bubbly head, live carbonation, and not much of a lacing.

smell is of wheat, light citrus, and a touch of spice.

taste is crisp, lots of lemon (too much), and yeast, ends on the sour side.

overall tastes better than it look or smells, refreshing, leaves mouth clean.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2009 00:10:12 | More by froghop

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy thick yellowish orange color with a one finger foamy white head that quickly disappears, leaving no lacing. Kind of sludgy looking and unappealing.

Citrusy aroma with hints of corriander and orange peel as well as some funky sour tartness. Slightly spicy with hints of peppery lemon zest.

Funky sour version of a heffe. Bready yeaty bosy with hints of corinader, lemon and orange peel as well as some subtle grapefruit and ripe banana. The tartness is subtle and not as dominant as I was expecting and/or hoping for. Slightly tart finish but otherwise just tastes like a muddy earthy german wheat beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2009 09:03:41 | More by corby112

GuzzLah

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Pours a hazy light yellow with a huge head and a ton of carbonation.

Aroma is bubblegum, green apple, hay and loose tobacco.

Taste is similar to the aroma with wheat and some green apple tartness, but not super tart. I don't pick up any lacto. The finish is relatively dry and slightly tart.

Overall, this was somewhat of a disappointment. It just tasted like a boring, fizzy wheat beer with a little bit of tartness. I'll conclude that I prefer the modern American Berliners with a more robust lacto component than this traditional Berliner.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2013 23:46:45 | More by GuzzLah

Thanby

Ohio

3.1/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear pale honey color with a small white head that leaves a crown.

Smells like a lemon explosion. Reminds me of a white wine. Very acidic, white grapes, sour apple, hard to pick out the malt.

Tastes like a lemon explosion. It tastes more like a tart pinot grigio than a beer. The malt comes through at the end as a pale dry wheat and is quickly drowned out by the after-effect of the tartness.

Light but a little sticky, very tart and with so much acidity it's hard to pick out detailed flavors because my glands are secreting as much saliva as possible in response to the tartness. Something of a confusing experience.

This was not at all what I was expecting. However, re-evaluated under the category it actually fits, it appears to be a fairly complex and interesting brew.

But it still is like a whole tree of lemons exploding in my mouth.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2011 00:07:51 | More by Thanby

AgentZero

Illinois

3.08/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A - Cloudy yellow with a small head, ton of floaty yeast or something in there. Nice dissipation leaving some very intricate lacing around.

S - Yeast and malty with a tart smell. Apples and pears come through on the nose.

T - Quite tart, but not quite sharp enough. A little creamy, pear taste is just a little too much like juice to be good. Don't get me wrong, pretty pleasant to drink, but missing the sharpness of the berliner weisses that I prefer. Nice yeast hints with some malts appearing on the backend.

T - Creamy, slipperly, light. Would have liked a touch more carbonation.

D - For some reason this beer just was not super drinkable for me, surprising considering the low ABV. Maybe it's just the sweetness becoming overpowering. Had trouble getting through the single bottle.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2010 21:27:59 | More by AgentZero

tmoneyba

Ohio

3.05/5  rDev -25.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bottle from Keg Liqour on 09/17/2007.

Poured hazy yellow color with a large frothy white head that mostly lasted with fair lacing.

Moderate wheat sour fruit aroma.

Light to medium body.

Light sour fruit flavor with a light sour finish of moderate duration.

Interesting, not my style.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2008 16:29:25 | More by tmoneyba

jsh420

Illinois

3.05/5  rDev -25.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

pours clear yellow with a 1 finger white head that fades fast and leaves no lacing

smell is tart sour apples

tastes the same as the smell tart sour apples with maybe some lemon - not a fan

mouthfeel/drinkability - its a very light beer but overly carbonated and added to that tart sour taste make it almost painful to drink

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2009 00:04:44 | More by jsh420

aasher

Indiana

3.05/5  rDev -25.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This beer poured a very, very clear light apple juice gold in color with a three finger self destructive white foamy head. The head appeared to consume itself before setting as a light white lacing around the edges of my snifter. It's probably the clearest Berliner Weiss I've seen to date. The aroma is of light yeast with the lightest of tartness. It definitely isn't as aromatic as the other Berliners I've had. The flavor is very subtle and very light. It gives off slightly sweet pale malts, dry yeastiness, with just a tad of sourness. It's so light that I'm not even sure that sourness is the right word. It's drink fine but isn't dry like most of the style are. Perhaps this was an old bottle. I don't know, it just wasn't nearly as good as advertised.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2011 02:49:20 | More by aasher

bowersdm

Ohio

3.03/5  rDev -26.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

16.9oz bottle poured into a nonic.

A - the color is reminiscent of a dehydrated person's urine. pale yellow. A tall white head quickly formed and then quickly dissipated...kind of like pouring 7-up or sprite into a cup. Even though there was no head, there was continual carbonation making its way to the top of the beer. very unappetizing appearance

S - lactic acid, wheat, and grape jelly?

T - way too dry for my enjoyment. I'm not sure whether the tanginess is due to the lactic acid, the wheat, or both. If it's because of the lactic acid then there was no malt flavor to notice. It was a very, tart, sour fruit flavor with a very acidic, biting quality to it. The beer was dry throughout.

M - a very bubbly beer, like champagne.

D - i was not a fan of this beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2009 03:22:00 | More by bowersdm

AndoBrew

Georgia

2.55/5  rDev -37.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

*did not really mind would not buy*

app: icky cloudy yellow with white bubbly head

smell: oh no, smells like a heffe with some steamed greens in it. like canned spinach.

taste: lil sour lil bananas lil of the green smell sneaks in through the nose. mostly a sourish heffe

mf: nice alive and soothing

drinkable?: sure, sept for the greens

Serving type: bottle

09-08-2007 02:31:53 | More by AndoBrew

Oxymoron

Colorado

2.55/5  rDev -37.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Hope that isn't the best buy date. Pours a very hazy yellow color with some straw colored hue through out. A good pour left a very sad and bubbled head. Which quickly dissipated. Lacing, whats that?

The nose is limited. The wheat comes out nicely with some spicy notes. Some grainy notes on the back end as well. Some lemony and some herbal notes. Not much in the sour department though. Very clean yeast aroma as well, would have liked more funk.

The taste is similar. The malt comes out but at least there is a slight tart/sour note on the back end. Really would like more of sour note overall. Some nice spicy wheat notes come out. There is a slight lemongrass finish coming more from the yeast than hops. Some minor funk/horse but could use more.

The body is light but some of the lemongrass gives it a fuller feel. I would like this to be much drier. Carbonation is non-existent. Overall a pretty boring berliner weiss.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2008 18:17:11 | More by Oxymoron