I brewed a Berliner Weisse last September and it sat in a fermenter for 3 months and was sour as Hell from the day I tapped it. Naturally, it’s only gotten more sour. I have 6 growlers left of this beer and open one every few weeks when there’s a large group who can split it with me. I still think it tastes great but the sourness is extreme. I took that recipe and brewed this beer again. This time, I filtered the wort on brew day and on the day of kegging and used peach instead of Strawberry / Rhubarb so there was less tart and thus less acidity. Peach was a great choice, no seeds and slightly cheaper than rhubarb which I used quite a bit of in the last batch.
Also in this batch, I used more pounds of fruit (6.5 pounds) and only fermented this beer for 6 weeks instead of 12 weeks for the last one. The result is a very clean wheat heavy almost chewy beer with a touch of honey and pilsener qualities with an effervescent almost champagne like tart bubbly finish. The peach is apparent at the start but really comes through at the end. After blow off, trub loss and peach absorption of the wort, I had 4 gallons remaining of this 5 gallon batch. It’s a bright golden orange appearance and needs another 2-3 days before carbonation comes in. I have a very busy weekend planned so I wanted to get this post up sooner rather than last week when I forget.
This beer was brewed around the same time as my Apricot Brett Saison which is tasting great but at the high ABV, I think it needs a little bit longer in the keg to mature and balance out a bit. I brewed both of these for my beer group’s “Homebrew tasting” day for which I’m hosting. There are a few of my beers on tap but this is the one I wanted to contribute as well as the last litre of my Bourbon Barrel Vanilla-Bean stout.
I’ve learned my lesson on Berliners. Ferment no more than 2 months, drink fresh and consume in large quantities. 3.5% ABV is totally the sweet spot for these and try to avoid sour fruits with high acidity. My Girlfriend likes this beer which means it won’t last very long at the house.