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[[File:Pattinson weisse book.jpg|thumbnail|right|160px|[https://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/weisse/paperback/product-zd9qqn.html"Weisse!" by Ron Pattinson.]]]
'''Berliner Weisse''' (German: Berliner Weiße <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Weisse "Berliner Weisse". Wikipedia. Retrieved 06/09/2019.]</ref>) is a top-fermented, bottle conditioned wheat beer made with both traditional warm-fermenting yeasts and ''[[Lactobacillus]]'' culture. Although many modern new world examples are [[Wort_Souring#Souring_in_the_Boil_Kettle|kettle soured]] and not fermented with ''Brettanomyces'', traditional Berliner Weisse mostly (if not always <ref name="marcus"></ref>) underwent a secondary fermentation with ''[[Brettanomyces]]'' <ref name="marcus">Private correspondence with Mike Marcus of Chorlton Brewing Co by Dan Pixley and Richard Preiss. 10/31/2016.</ref><ref name="Hubbe">[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1407620509266159/ Effect of mixed cultures on microbiological development in Berliner Weisse (master thesis). Thomas Hübbe. 2016.]</ref><ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1352210248140519/ Conversation with Richard Preiss regarding his results culturing from old bottles of Berliner Weisse. 08/14/2016.]</ref><ref>[http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2009/09/berliner-weisse-and-brettanomyces.html "Berliner Weisse and Brettanomyces." Ron Pattinson. Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. 09/14/2009. Retrieved 09/22/2016.]</ref>. Traditional examples are described as being generally very sour, clear wheat beers with good head retention <ref name="marcus"></ref><ref name="Hubbe"></ref>. Modern American examples are probably equally sour as historical versions, often have a rapidly vanishing head and a clear, pale golden straw-colored appearance, and often lack ''Brettanomyces'' character due to using a kettle souring process. The taste is refreshing, tart, sour and acidic, with a lemony-citric fruit sharpness and almost no hop bitterness. In Europe, the label "Berliner Weisse" is protected and can only be named that if it is brewed within the city of Berlin (see [[Berliner_Weissbier#Trade_Law|Trade Law]] for some details) <ref>[https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/1113176/DE DPMA Register. Retrieved 10/13/2017.]</ref>.
Served in wide bulbous stemmed glasses, today tourists in Berlin will often order one as a "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Himbeere" or "Berliner Weisse mit Schuss: Waldmeister". These are syrups that are added to make the sourness of Kindl Weisse more palatable, although this is not how Berliner Weisse was always served in Germany since Kindl Weisse does not represent other historical forms of Berliner Weisse. ''Himbeere '' is raspberry (red) and ''Waldmeister '' is woodruff (green).
Typical average alcohol by volume (abv) range for modern versions: 2.0-5.0% (traditionally, this range was 2.5%-3.5%).
<blockquote style="background-color: lightgrey; border: solid thin grey; padding:10px;">
For more information on historical German Berliner Weisse and its recent resurrection, listen to the [https://www.milkthefunk.live/podcast/2018/8/20/episode-006-the-history-and-resurrection-of-traditional-german-berliner-weisse-with-benedikt-koch-of-wilder-waldcom MTF "The Podcast" interview with Benedikt Koch], and read the book [https://www.lulu.com/shop/ronald-pattinson/weisse/paperback/product-zd9qqn.html "Weisse!" by Ron Pattinson].
</blockquote>
===Microbiology and Fermentation Profile===
Information regarding the microbiology of historical Berliner Weisse is rare. A study from F. Schönfeld in 1938 describes the proportion of yeast cells to lactic acid bacteria cells through the first stages of fermentation. He describes the ratio as being 4:1 (yeast to lactic acid bacteria) at pitching time. After 18 hours, yeast saw growth, but after 40 hours the yeast population began to decline as attenuation completed. Another later study found that this ratio favors yeast growth, which hinders lactic acid bacteria growth and the production of lactic acid. Poor management of the microbes was blamed for not achieving enough acidity and was described as being a common problem in Berliner Weisse, as well as not achieving enough carbonation in the bottle. Berliner Weisse producers developed many methods for trying to achieve a certain kind of flavor profile in Berliner Weisse, which has been compared to that of [[Lambic]] and [[Gueuze]]. Indeed, an early study on Berliner Weisse by Frank-Jürgen Methner in the 1980's discovered that ''[[Brettanomyces]]'' was a typical and important part of the flavor profile of Berliner Weisse <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>. The flavor of Berliner Weisse was described as being flowery and fruity, and a product of ester formation by ''Saccharomyces'' and ''Brettanomyces'' (see [[Brettanomyces#Ester_Production|''Brettanomyces'' esters]]) <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>. See Benedikt Koch's [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CNrO46TPSFpjhO3HX1-CbKK5rhFd7uGWdpONf7AJAlU/edit#gid=0 compilation of esters found in traditional Berliner Weisse] with ''Brettanomyces'' versus Kindl Weisse that is kettle , which was a blend of ''Lactobacillus'' soured wort and beer fermented with ''Saccharomyces cerevsiiae'' <ref>[https://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2015/03/berliner-weissbier-in-1970s-part-one.html Ron Pattinson. "Berliner Weissbier in the 1970’s (part one)". Shut up About Barclay Perkins blog. Sunday, 8 March 2015. Retrieved 02/14/2022.]</ref>, and Belgian gueuze.
The most common lactic acid bacteria found in historical Berliner Weisse was ''Lactobacillus brevis'', although other species such as ''L. parabrevis'' were also used. ''Brettanomyces'' species often found in Berliner Weisse includes ''B. bruxellensis'' and ''B. anomalus''. ''S. cerevisiae'' (ale) strains were the primary fermenting yeast <ref name="Hubbe"></ref>.
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From these results, the overall occurrence of ''Brettanomyces'' species in historical Berliner Weisse was 25% for ''B. anomalus'' and 75% for ''B. bruxellensis'', with the bottle of Hochschule only containing strains of ''B. anomalus'' and multiple bottles of Schultheiss only contained strains of ''B. bruxellensis''. The bottle of Willner also contained living lactic acid bacteria and thus was determined to be better preserved and maybe the most representative of typical Berliner Weisse, giving the possibility of recreating what this beer might have been like. Preiss noted that one of the ''B. anomalus'' strains from the Hochschule bottle expressed "subtle Bretty notes". Escarpment Laboratories plans on fingerprinting the ''B. bruxellensis'' strains to see which ones are duplicates and which ones are unique <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1752889231405950/?comment_id=2288623791165822&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D Richard PricePreiss. Milk The Funk Facebook thread update about isolating ''Brettanomyces'' from old bottles of Berliner Weisse. 09/20/2018.]</ref>.
See also:
* [http://masterbrewerspodcast.com/131-brewing-berliner-weisse-at-the-august-schell-brewing-co MBAA podcast: Jace Marti explains the three historical methods of making Berliner Weisse, and how August Shell Brewing Co makes traditional style Berliner Weisse.]
* [https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipes-collection/10-berliner-weisse-beer-recipes-you-can-homebrew AHA 10 Berliner Weisse recipes (requires membership).]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0m-QpO9RTQ The Beer Ladies Podcast interview with Ulrike Genz from Schneeeule.]
====German Historical Texts====
* [https://vlb-books.myshopify.com/products/die-berliner-weisse-ein-stuck-berliner-geschichte Die Berliner Weiße - Ein Stück Berliner Geschichte (German book).]
* [http://herr-rausch.de/brewingbooks/methner.pdf Methner's thesis on Berliner Weisse, 1987 (German).]
* [http://herr-rausch.de/schoenfeld.pdf Partial scan of Schönfelds "Obergärige Biere und ihre Herstellung" (German).]