Berliner Kindl Weisse

Shortly after I tried it for the first time, it disappeared from store shelves and was reduced to being a fond memory, at least until I spotted a six pack on a Massachusetts retailer's shelves today.

Berliner Kindl Weiss has always struck me as being a great summer beer for several reasons. It is very light golden in color with a very low alcohol content of 2.5% by volume, which makes it a perfect beach beer in my opinion. Aside from that, however, the beer is extremely sour from a lactobacillic fermentation and has a very light bodied wheat character; these qualities make it incredibly quenching. In Germany the beer is sometimes served with a dash of raspberry or woodruff syrup, but I prefer it straight in all it's puckering glory. A bit of yeast is now present in the bottle, something I don't recall being there before. One of the world's most unique beer styles.

Update: February 28, 2003: Fair warning: I’m about to go on a bit of a political rant. If you are disinclined to read such, please scroll down the page a tad to read the review of Berliner Kindl Weisse. Of course, I think what I’m about to go on about is relevant, because it concerns the reason I’m drinking Kindl Weisse right now, a beer I usually prefer in the hot summer weather. Then too, Berliner Weisse beer is no stranger to the vagaries of politics.

As the reader is probably already aware, there is much debate going on right now about whether or not we should be going to war with Iraq. My personal opinion is that at this point in time we have more to lose than to gain by such a war. Many nations, including Russia, China, France, and Germany don’t think a war with Iraq is a good idea either.

Recently, I have been hearing a lot of bashing of these nations going on. There have even been calls to boycott French and German products, and some bar and store owners are dumping stocks of French wine and German beer. I don’t think this is a good idea, at all. Politics are often discussed over a beer, but beer should not be avoided because of politics.

The governments of these nations have a right to their point of view, and it is ludicrous to me to stop buying their products because they do not see things our way. That is a dangerous path to tread, and by doing this we invite similar treatment to American products.

So, I went out and bought some French and German beer. I bought wheat beers from Schneider and Tucher and Erdinger. I bought Schlenkerla Rauchbier and Fischer Amber. And I bought a six-pack of Berliner Kindl Weiss.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled beer review.

Berliner Kindl Weisse is not your average wheat beer. Most beer enthusiasts are familiar with the traditional German Hefeweizen style, a cloudy, tart, and refreshing brew bottled with yeast and often hinting at clove and banana. This is the traditional Bavarian style of wheat beer, and it is available in several variations, though all are generally recognizable as belonging to the same family.

In Berlin, they have their own ideas about wheat beer. To be sure, you can certainly get a Bavarian style wheat in the German capitol, but you can also buy Berliner Weisse there, a sour and tart beer that is a local favorite and prized by beer lovers worldwide.

Berliner Weisse is unique because it undergoes a separate fermentation with a lactic culture called lactobacillus delbruckii. This is what imparts the refreshing sourness to the beer and makes it eminently drinkable, much the way lemonade is.

Not everyone prefers their beers so tart, and because of this Berliner Weisse is sometimes served with a dash of syrup, usually either raspberry or woodruff. I prefer the beer unadulterated, enjoying the magnificent sour character in all its glory. Berliner Weisse is traditionally served in large, stemmed bowl-shaped glasses.

The style is low in alcohol. The Germans call such low strength brews Schankbier. Kindl Weisse has an alcohol content of about 2.5% by volume, roughly half the amount found in most beers. This means you can drink it and be refreshed without becoming inebriated. Combined with Kindl’s refreshing tartness, this makes it a perfect beer to be enjoyed in hot weather. I find it to be a wonderful beach beer, something you can sip to quench your thirst without having to worry about alcohol and hot sun drying you out to the point of dehydration.

Kindl Weisse is on the expensive side at about $17 a six-pack. That is mostly because it is a very rare style. The last time I checked there were only two remaining brewers of the style in Berlin, Schultheiss and Kindl. Both have been acquired by larger brewers in recent years, Schultheiss by Dortmunder Union and Kindl by Binding. The Kindl at least does not seem to have suffered for the buyout.

Political problems are nothing new to Berliner Weisse beer. When Napoleon conquered the German states, he and his troops were said to have been much enamored of the style, calling it the “Champagne of the north.” When Berlin was divided during the cold war, West Germany got the Kindl brewery; East Germany took over the Schultheiss facility and converted it to a state-run enterprise.

Berliner Kindl Weiss pours to a light golden color with a big spritzy but quickly fading head formation and an appetizingly tart nose. The palate is light, refreshing, and immediately sour. The sourness intensifies into the finish and imparts the quenching character the beer is much prized for. You won’t notice much in the way of hops here, as with most wheat beers they are less than an afterthought. It could be said that the sourness of the brew is so pervasive that the beer is rather one-dimensional because of it. Still, that one-dimension is truly wonderful.

Because of the price, this isn’t a beer everyone will want to try. The sourness may be too intense for some, and paying $17 for a six-pack you don’t like would leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. Anyone with a serious interest in beer, however, should definitely try Berliner Kindl Weiss. It’s a classic example of a rare and very unique style.

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