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European Sour Ale / 23A

Berliner Weisse

Certified Beer Server Candidate Style Profile

Official BJCP guideline sections attached for full style exploration.

Certification exam alignment
Certified Beer Server Certified Cicerone® Advanced Cicerone® BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Exam
Source
BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines

Overall Impression

A very pale, refreshing, low-alcohol German wheat beer with a clean lactic sourness and a very high carbonation level. A light bread dough malt flavor supports the sourness, which shouldn’t seem artificial. A gentle fruitiness is found in the best examples.

Aroma

A moderate to moderately-high sharply sour character is dominant. Can have up to a moderately fruitiness, often lemon, tart apple, peach, or apricot, and a light floral note. No hop aroma. The wheat may be perceived as raw bread dough in fresher versions; combined with the acidity, may suggest sourdough bread.

Appearance

Straw in color, can be very pale. Clarity ranges from clear to somewhat hazy. Large, dense, white head with poor retention. Highly effervescent.

Flavor

Clean lactic sourness dominates and can be quite strong. A complementary doughy, bready, or grainy wheat flavor is generally noticeable. Hop bitterness is undetectable; sourness provides the balance rather than hops. Never vinegary. Bright yet restrained fruitiness may be detected as apricot-peach, citrus-lemon, or tart apple. Very dry finish. Balance dominated by sourness, but some malt flavor should be present. No hop flavor. No THP.

Mouthfeel

Light body, but never thin. Very high carbonation. No sensation of alcohol. Crisp acidity.

Vital Statistics

IBU
3 - 8
SRM
2 - 3
ABV
2.8% - 3.8%

Commercial Examples

  • Bayerischer Bahnhof Berliner Style Weisse
  • Berliner Berg Berliner Weisse

Similar Styles: How to Tell Them Apart

Use these guideline-based sensory contrasts to organize comparative tasting practice.

Both can be pale, wheaty, highly carbonated, dry, and citrus-leaning. Berliner Weisse is defined by clean lactic sourness and very low strength, while Witbier is a moderate-strength Belgian wheat ale whose orange-and-coriander character is integrated with the beer rather than a sourness-driven profile.

Compare with: 24A. Witbier

By aroma

  • Berliner Weisse has a dominant sharply sour, often lemony aroma, unlike Witbier's moderate zesty orange-citrus and perfumy coriander.
  • Berliner Weisse may suggest raw bread dough or sourdough with its wheat and acidity, while Witbier presents bready wheat with honey or vanilla and spice.
  • Berliner Weisse has no hop aroma; Witbier may have a low spicy-herbal hop note but is chiefly spice-and-citrus aromatic.

By taste

  • Berliner Weisse is driven by clean lactic sourness with undetectable hop bitterness, unlike Witbier's low to medium-low bitterness supporting orange, coriander, and subtle spice.
  • Berliner Weisse is very dry, low alcohol, and lightly doughy or grainy beneath the acid, whereas Witbier is a fuller moderate-strength wheat ale with bready malt and orange-citrusy flavor.
  • Berliner Weisse should not taste vinegary; Witbier should not be sharply lactic-sour like Berliner Weisse.

Quick tell: Sharp clean lactic sourness, not coriander-and-orange spice, points to Berliner Weisse.

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