Sour Berliner Weisse made in America pre-Prohibition?

Reads 2254 • Replies 33 • Started Wednesday, March 25, 2015 11:53:02 AM CT

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Message joet P admin beers 2900 º places 125 º 11:53 Wed 3/25/2015 Ron Pattinson seems to think so... http://barclayperkins.blogspot.nl/2015/03/american-weiss-beer.html
Message fly P beers 1490 º places 271 º 12:02 Wed 3/25/2015 Actually would not surprise me. + Would love to know what other wonders from the past were out there.
Message Oakes P admin beers 30677 º places 1135 º 12:02 Wed 3/25/2015 I should think it would have been. German immigrants would have brewed whatever they were familiar with, and that would have included that type of wheat beer. It was very common 100-odd years ago.
Message bartlebier beers 4526 º places 177 º 12:35 Wed 3/25/2015 Nice research, thanks for linking. Would have come in handy last week when we were trying to find as many "immigrant experiences" connecting Anchor Steam and Urban Chestnut Ku’damm, one of the better=balanced modern day US Berliner Weisse I have had the joy of tasting. Interestingly, I have come across historical accounts that originally the taste, if not the recipe for Berliner Weisse in the 17th century travelled from the Low Countries either via the French Calvinist Huguenots during Counter-Reformation or via the Hanseatic trade routes over Hamburg and Hannover (broyhan).

Message joet P admin beers 2900 º places 125 º 12:44 Wed 3/25/2015 Ron was not certain the beer was sour. There’s no direct evidence in his post that it was.
Message CLevar places 23 º 12:46 Wed 3/25/2015 Originally posted by joet Ron was not certain the beer was sour. There’s no direct evidence in his post that it was. Yeah, seems like the word "sour" doesn’t really fit with the evidence that Ron presents. Was that just wishful thinking JoeT?
Message bartlebier beers 4526 º places 177 º 13:09 Wed 3/25/2015 "So we have a low-gravity, low-alcohol, highly-attenuated beer. All characteristics of Berliner Weisse." Interesting discussion on "Mid-Atlantic Weiss", and partly also whether it was sour, here: http://www.dcbeer.com/news/what-was-mid-atlantic-weiss Christine Rhodes in her slightly dated The Encyclopedia of Beer: The Beer Lover’s Bible (1995, via Google Books) claims in the entry BERLINER WEISSE: "This type of beer was quite popular in pre-Prohibition America." ...
Message lithy beers 2996 º places 156 º 15:32 Wed 3/25/2015 But which neon color was it?

Message Oakes P admin beers 30677 º places 1135 º 15:37 Wed 3/25/2015 Originally posted by lithy But which neon color was it? And where did they source their passionfruit?
Message lithy beers 2996 º places 156 º 15:38 Wed 3/25/2015 Maybe they used beets instead.
Message Brigadier P beers 4930 º places 334 º 07:14 Thu 3/26/2015 Originally posted by joet Ron was not certain the beer was sour. There’s no direct evidence in his post that it was. If it is anything like Kentucky Commons, which were popular in the area before Prohibition because they had quick turnover, it doesn’t surprise me. Nobody knows if the sourness was intentional or just some byproduct of the storage and delivery process and there aren’t any good records left. Either way I am sure there is an enterprising brewer out there figuring out how to make it. I hope they can because sometimes I get tired of the extreme arms races (most sour, most ABV, most ingredients, most barrel aging, etc).