1809 Berliner Weisse

July 25th, 2012 by Scott in Other Beer Reviews

Back at The Avenue in New Orleans, my friends and I were hanging out upstairs near the bar ready for a second drink. The menu is a clipboard of yellow sheets of paper; the beer is divided into sections for the upstairs bar’s taps, the downstairs bar’s taps, and bottles. This is important because taps at the downstairs bar aren’t duplicated at the upstairs bar. One of the first beers that jumped out at me was Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve #10 in a 12oz bottle for $6.50. I thought that was quite reasonable as DR10 is going on two years old and no longer produced. However, I have a couple of bottles at home still, so I suggested my friend get one while I headed downstairs for my second beer, 1809 Berliner Weisse.

Hailing from Freising, Germany and brewed by Professor Fritz Briem, 1809 Berliner Weisse is a lighter, effervescent sour beer. Instead of the usual beer tastes, this has more of a sour apple taste and very little hop flavor. The wheat base balances this beer out nicely. It has just a little bit of a musty aftertaste, but it’s not off-putting; it fits the beer nicely.

I took a chance on this beer as I’ve never had a sour beer before and I was quite pleased. I’d definitely drink an 1809 again and would highly recommend it if you run across it at your local pub.

One more from The Avenue coming soon!