Helmut | Berliner Weisse | BeerCo All Grain Brewers Recipe Kit

A regional speciality of Berlin; Berliner Weisse was affectionately referred to by Napoleon's troops in 1809 as “the Champagne of the North” due to its lively and elegant character.  This lightly soured low abv Berliner Weisse is designed to taste great straight or form the base for fruit additions and further sour beer fermentation.  Helmut would approve and Deeter Sprockets says", Prost!

Vital Stats:

Batch & Boil

• Batch Size: 20 Litres / 5.2 US Gallons | Boil Time: 15 mins

Properties

• OG 1.032 FG 1.008 IBU 5 ABV 3.2% Colour 5.1 EBC

Malt:

Amt        Name                                             Colour            % Grist

1.80 Kg     Malteurop Pilsen Malt                   3.7 EBC            64.9%

0.90 Kg     Joe White Wheat Malt                       5 EBC            32.4%

0.075 Kg   Dextrose                                               0 EBC              2.7%

2.775 Kg  TOTAL                                                     5 EBC             100%

Hops:

• 25 gm Saaz CZ Hops - Alpha: 2.7% – 15 minutes from end of boil

Yeast

Dry | Lallemand

·        WildBrew™ Philly Sour Pitch  2 x 11g Sachet

Liquid | Bluestone

• N/A

Water Adjustments (Optional):

• ½ teaspoonful of calcium chloride and
• ½ teaspoon of calcium sulphate added to the mash per 5 gallons of finished beer.

Method:

1. Mill the grains and dough-in targeting a mash of around 3 L of water to 1 kg of grain (a liquor-to-grist ratio of about 3:1 by weight, approx. 8.1 L) You may need to make an allowance for a false bottom.
2. Hold the mash at 65 °C until enzymatic conversion is complete (approx. 45mins).
3. Fly Sparge slowly with around 13 Litres of 75.6 °C water, collecting wort until the pre-boil kettle volume is around 21 L.
4. The total boil time will be 15 minutes.
5. Hops - Add 25g of Saaz CZ at the beginning of the boil.
6. When there is 5 mins of the boil remaining add the Dextrose. Note: The Dextrose addition adds OG but not ABV as it is converted to lactic acid by the WildBrew^TM Philly Sour Yeast.
7. Primary Fermentation - Pitch both sachets of WildBrew^TM Philly Sour Yeast into the wort at 28°C - 29°C for the first three days of the fermentation and then dial down to 25°C for the rest of the fermentation.  Do not be afraid of the high temperature, this drives lactic acid production, fermentation performance and produces red apple and stone fruit aromas.
8. Approximate fermentation time is two weeks. Once the gravity stabilizes condition for a week or two at 21°C - 27°C (70°F  - 80°F) in the primary fermenter.
9. Secondary (Optional) - If doing a prolonged or complex souring rack to secondary in oak or a glass demijohn once primary fermentation is done. Add your mixed sour cultures in now.
10. Prime and bottle condition* or keg and force carbonate.
11. Target a carbonation level of 3.5 volumes of CO2.

*Note: Bottle Conditioning with WildBrew Philly Sour™ is not recommended since the priming sugar will be converted into both lactic acid and ethanol, so levels of lactic acid, ethanol and CO2 in the beer may be inconsistent. For best results, use a separate strain such as LalBrew CBC1

Food pairing and Glass Match (Goblet):

o   Aged Ham on Pretzel Bread

o   Havarti

o   Cheesecake with Raspberries

Credits & Sauces of Brewspiration & Further Reading on the Style:

• Berliner-Style Weisse | CraftBeer.com
• Berliner Weisse | Napoleon's Champagne | BYO.com
• Sacred Sour Berliner Weisse Recipe | Craft Beer and Brewing
• Designing and Brewing a Berliner Weisse | Sour Beer Blog

What’s in the box:

*Indicates items included only with specific variants.