Berliner Weisse

I finally brewed my Berliner Weisse and it turned out simply fantastic. I used a 50/50 mix of pilsner malt and white wheat. After running off the wort and sparging, I added 88% lactic acid to get the pH down to 4.5, then pitched a 1L lacto starter and let it go for 48 hours. The lacto lowered the pH to 3.28. I proceeded with a 40 minute boil (was originally going to do a 20 minute boil, but I accidentally over-sparged a bit). I added 7 IBU worth of US Goldings. OG was targeted at 1.040 but came in at 1.031 and final gravity ended up at 1.004 yielding a 3.6% ABV beer. I ordered raspberry and woodruff syrup so I could try it "Mit Schuss" as is traditional. I found I liked the raspberry syrup more than the woodruff, however everyone who tried both seem to be split about 50/50 on which syrup they preferred. Although the syrup adds a bit of sweetness, I prefer to drink it straight.

I look forward to brewing this again next summer. I may also try to incorporate the sour worting process into another brew, perhaps a sour stout or a sour, dry hopped, pale ale.

Reflecting back on brewing this beer the process really isn't as intimidating as it originally seemed. I was put off for a long time stressing over keeping my wort warm enough for the lacto, but by using OYL-605 I was able to not have to deal with that.