TBHC 8 - Virgin Free for All - Entry #5 Review Thread

[coldcrash1]

Please post your reviews for beer #5 here.

Scoring should give consideration to how much you enjoy the beer, as well as the beer’s adherence to the declared style and the presence/ absence of any technical flaws. After all, this is a competition to showcase our brewing skill and ability, and adherence to prescribed parameters is a great way to showcase that. But what’s the point in brewing a technically perfect true to style beer if it’s not also enjoyable to drink?

Feel free to refer to the BJCP Scoresheet for guidance and descriptors.

And here’s a link to the BJCP style guidelines for anyone who wants to brush up on a given style.

For entries without any declared style, you can assume the brewer would like their beer to be judged 100% hedonistically.

50 total points

Aroma/12
Appearance/3
Flavor/20
Mouthfeel/5
Overall Impression/10

 

[coldcrash1]

Blackberry Berliner Weisse


A: Nose caught me off guard right out of the bottle with a blast of banana followed by subtle phenolics. Not at all unpleasant, just unexpected. As it warms, blackberry becomes apparent. 7/12

A: opens with a nice hiss. Beautiful pink hue with a 1/2” Snow White head. 2/3

F: flavor is spot on Berliner Weisse- nice clean lactic tartness gives way to an almost sourdough breadiness. Finishes with a lemony punch and some minerality. Just a hint of blackberry at first, but as in the aroma becomes more apparent as it warms. Was expecting a blackberry bomb but I’m not sad the fruit takes an appropriate supporting role to the base beer. 15/20

M: Light and dry, with assertive prickly carbonation. 4/5

O: nice beer. I could crush a few of these. Not overly sour, just a refreshing tartness. Thanks for sharing. Curious to hear about the brewing process on this one. 7/10

Total: 35/50

 

[More Betterness]

A: Slight phenolic clove initially followed by light jammy berry character and small amounts of lactic. Fruit becomes more prominent as it warms. Wouldn’t have identified blackberries specifically but think that’s a good thing as the fruit is integrated with the other aromas rather than the focal point.

8/12

App: Inviting garnet hued and slightly hazy body (expected in a Berliner) with a fizzy white head. Retention is high for the style which I know isn’t easy to do when lacto is involved!

3/3

Taste: Very clean and mellow lemony tartness followed by some doughy breadiness. Fruit character again is a component of the overall taste rather than center stage, and becomes more evident as the flavors linger on the palate after swallowing. Not the most complex flavor profile on the planet, but it’s very clean and the light acidity gets you salivating and coming back for more. Assuming this is on the lower end of the already low ABV range for a Berliner?

14/20

Mouthfeel: Light bodied and airy with spritzy carb. Drilled it.

4/5

Overall: Crusher! ISO a six pack of this next summer. Most of the Berliner’s ive been drinking recently have been either much higher in acidity, more aggressively fruited, or both. It was refreshing to drink something that didn’t fatigue my palate in the least and was defined by its subtlety. Nice work!

7/10

Total: 36/50

 

[Ziggy]

Aroma: slight sourness, and the classic berliner acidity and lactic acid smell upfront. Medium amount of berries coming through. Smells more like cherries than blackberries to me for some reason, but pleasant anyways. 9/12

Appearance: nice clear body with a light red hue. Good amount of head when poured. Head still lingers after poured. 2/3

Taste: mild sourness up front. Sweetness counteracts the acidity pleasantly and the fruit flavor is subtle yet balanced. Very clean flavor profile. The sweetness of the berry flavor lingers and is refreshing. 15/20

Mouthfeel: nice fizzy carb, light body. Finishes clean. 4/5

Overall: a very nice berliner. Fruit flavors are subtle but the acidity is just right for me. A very easy drinking, refreshing beer. 7/10

37/50

 

[axeman91821]

Aroma: Lactic sourness up front. Nice blackberry component to the aroma. There's a phenolic presence that sits somewhere between hay and band-aid and clashes a little bit with everything else. (8/12)

Appearance: Pours bright red, with great clarity.Two fingers worth of white foam crowns the beer and has good retention. Very nice looking beer. (3/3)

Flavor: Just a hint of pale, cracker maltiness up front. Acidity is prominent, but not overbearing. Well balanced for a berliner. There's some blackberry, but it's not as assertive as on the nose.That same offputting phenol is still there, but it fades as the beer sits in the glass. (13/20)

Mouthfeel: Very well attenuated, and with lively carbonation. If I wanted to split hairs I would look for even a little bit more carbonation, but it's a small thing. (4/5)

Overall: Very solid fruiter berliner weisse. The phenolic character I was picking up on could be either from an intentionally pitched brett strain or something picked up off the fruit addition. Otherwise, aside from the fruit character not all coming from the aroma through to the flavor there's not really much to dislike. (6/10)

34/50

 

[dimensionx]

50 total points

Aroma 8/12
Lactic sourness up front with some clove/phenol on the backend, fruit presence was subdued but definitely there.

Appearance 3/3
Nice pink hue, completely clear, with perfect, light foam that stuck around.

Flavor 16/20
Clean lactic tartness and subdued fruit flavor come through straight away. Clove character seemed to fade as it warmed. The fruit character was a nice compliment without being overbearing. Acidity was perfect, making this very easy to drink.

Mouthfeel 5/5
Light and dry as one would expect with a Berlinner, fluffy carb.

Overall Impression 8/10
Very drinkable and enjoyable, I rarely see a Berlinner that nails the acidity as well as this one. I tend to avoid the style because most commercial examples come off as too "yogurt-y" for me but I really enjoyed this. Would definitely crush more of these on a nice day. Definitely curious to know what your production technique is like.

40/50

 

[liquiddegenerate]

Aroma: All lemony lactic acid 6/12

Appearance : Nice purplish color. Thin bright white head that disappeared in a snap. 2/3

Flavor: Classic Berliner. Grainy, bready, great lemon taste. Blackberry is secondary to the lemon but is definitely there, nice balance. 16/20

Mouthfeel: Very dry, lite body, medium carb 4/5

Overall: Really enjoyed this and it absolutely came across as a Berliner and not one of the juice box sours that are so prevalent. 8/10

Total: 36/50

 

[ShawDeuce221]

Results are in so here are my notes:

Brewday 9 SEPT 2017

3.5# Belgian pils
3.5# white wheat
.75# carapils

1oz styrian golding celeia (1.4%AA) 60min

1 can blackberry purée
1 vial of lacto delbrueckii
3 tbsp of Saison/Brett (3726 & TYB 184) cake that was washed

OG: 1.031
FG: 1.004

9 SEPT chamber set to 68°
22 SEPT raised to 70°
24 SEPT crashed to 4°
29 SEPT added 1oz of 88% lactic acid to full batch to add a hint more lactic character
30 SEPT carbed to 3.0 vols with corn sugar

As for firsts...this is my first time brewing a “Berliner”, first time purchasing lactobacillus, and first time putting fruit directly in primary

I still have some of this left and it’s been getting better and better as the brett develops. Glad everyone seems to enjoy this especially after the piss poor entry I had last comp.

Cheers