Off Color Fierce

Breewed By: Off Color Brewing in Chicago, IL

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Berliner Weiss, 3.8% 

Reported IBUs: 3

Tonight's beer makes a strong case for why session beers rock. About Off Color Brewing:

Off Color Brewing is a brewery founded in 2008 according to their Facebook, or 2014 according to their website, or 2013 if you follow their release party and the logical timeline. It really doesn't matter, I suppose. What you need to know is that this brewery is the brainchild of former Goose Island barrel guru, John Laffler, and former Two Brothers brewer, Dave Bleitner. The duo are both graduates of Siebel, and share a passion for brewing exotic, off-color beer. For more info, check out the brewery's ABOUT page.

The Fierce is a low-ABV Berliner Weiss-style beer. This beer is brewed with Pils, Wheat, and Flaked Wheat malts; features "a little" hops; and uses some kettle souring for that slightly tart and sour note. More specifically, this features an "overnight kettle souring with our house lactobacillus culture, the wort emerges furious at what we did to it." This one is fermented with saison yeast. 

Off Color Fierce

This pours into a hazy, melon-yellow color, almost like a murky Reisling. It's hazy and well-carbonated, yielding a finger of white, fluffy head that hangs around after the pour, leaving lacing like my loser kids leave their loser friends around my house. If this mash got the clinic, it looks it. Except that it is a Berliner...the kid gloves wheat beer of soured beers.

On the aroma: big lemon, wheat, big straw, funk/barnyard, faint malts in the form of cracker/biscuit, and some nice pineapple. There's a wet rain note, and you get some of that lactic funk, with some definite sour mash coming through on the nose. 

This is fantastic, with lemon-pineapple and wet rain crashing against that lightly funky lactic mash. It's like drinking Greek Yogurt spiked with lemon. The lemon dives into notes of citrus, pineapple, maybe a dash of orange and grapefruit...it's all rounded out with some wheat and straw notes. 

The wheat malts really build as you work through this...they provide just enough density to substantiate the body, but it's light citrusy and incredibly drinkable at 3.8%. Like...it's almost a shame this comes in a 4-pack, but I know that this takes work to brew. This has great palate depth and duration for the style, and it's complex too. Up front is a nice blast of sour mash, sour lemon, lactic punch, wet rain, and big pineapple/lemon; that rolls into wet rain, wheat, straw, some more orange/grapefruit, nice attenuated citrus notes ala a white wine; the back end lays on some nice bread/cracker notes, with malts, and then finishes dry and pleasant. This is really quite nice, and super drinkable and refreshing.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this...I love this style and this is a fun, tasty brew. Would buy again. I mean really, at $9 a 4-pack...you can't go wrong with this. And the 4-pack format means you can take this to a party or barbecue and drink the whole damn thing! And you won't even get that drunk. Nice. Food pairings here include fruit salads, maybe white fish...lighter foods. Good.

Random Thought: Dat glass defect, right?