New Glarus Thumbprint Series Berliner Weiss

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013

Style/ABV: Berliner Weiss, 3.0% 

Reported IBUs: ?

DAE New Glarus beer? About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Berliner Weiss is part of the New Glarus' 2013 Thumbprint Series, and rolled out in May and June. If I'm reading New Glarus' description correctly, this beer is barrel fermented and features Riesling grapes and Wisconsin White Wheat malts. This beer is bottle fermented with five proprietary yeast strains. 

New Glarus Berliner Weiss

The beer pours into a super hazy yellow/straw body, and kicks up two or three fingers of fluffy, super white head. The head is sustaining with some authority, but doesn't look quite par the course for a wheat beer. You can tell that something is up, hopefully a good infection. Bright light confirms the hazy, lemonade-colored body, and bright white head. There's a mix of peppery carbonation and big carbonation bubbles popping upwards. It looks like a Berliner.

The aroma is pretty subtle and subdued. I'm getting some nice lactic funk: there's some fresh rain, musty attic, wet leather, and some lemon funk. I'm also getting some nice hints of wheat on the aroma. 

This is super nice, with bright sweetness...there's some nice lactic funk and lemon tartness, and some watermelon, tart apple, and hints of grape. As I swish this beer in my mouth, I pick up some of the creamy wheat, and then BIG watermelon starts popping on this...almost like watermelon bubblegum. The tartness is driven by lactic-lemon goodness.

Good lord, this stuff is fantastic. This is super refreshing and super drinkable. You want to buy this up by the case to savor in large quantities during the hot summer months. Palate depth is great, and there's some nice complexity. This also has a nice balance of funk, tartness, and flavor. I get kicked with lactic-lemon up front; that rolls into big watermelon, some apple and grape; the back end dials up the watermelon and ends tart and dry. If you swirl the beer in your mouth you pick up some creamy carbonation and watermelon. The mouthfeel is light-bodied and refreshing. Tart.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. What a great beer. I admit I'm a bit biased as I love these light, tart, wheat beers...but yeah. I'd love to have a case of this in my fridge come July or early August. I would pair this beer with a fruit or vegetable salad, grilled chicken, white fish, and summer/patio food. The best part? 4-packs of this retail for like $10. 

Random Thought: Just wait...there's still a lot more New Glarus left...