After 3 weeks of carbonation, I couldn't help laying my paws on the Berliner Weisse. I was obviously not poisoned by it, but here are some of the tasting notes.
Appearance
The bottle opened with a satisfying hiss, and no gushing (woohoo!). Colour was straw yellow, with a thick mouse-like white head which remained persistent due to a lively effervescence. The beer was mildly hazy. I was surprised that the head retention was so fantastic, given the level of acidity.
Aroma
I really don't know how to describe this. It has a definite funk to it, but not the Brettanomyces kind of funk. It's more fruity-mixed-with-earthy kind of funk. There's also a sharp acidic aroma for sure, but not the sort that'd make you cringe.
Mouthfeel
Very light, almost like a shandy, but it finishes really dry. Like parch your throat kind of dry, which is accentuated by the acidity. Of course, I sipped it through the straw, so it really felt like I was drinking some sort of funky lemonade.
Flavour
First thing you get up-front is a blast of acidity. It's not unpleasantly sour, but I'd compare the sourness to be almost on par with that of Cantillon Gueuze. Almost, but not there yet. There's also the taste of raw, wheaty, breadiness as well, and no yeast or hop character.
Overall
I'm rather pleased with the attempt. So many things could have gone wrong with it! I plan on aging the other bottles a little more to improve on the clarity, and hopefully brew up another batch. Of course, there's still the other 2 split batches that I've yet to taste and report back on, before deciding which method produces a superior weisse.
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