Maggie is almost fully carbed and looking sexy as hell in my Konings Hoeven goblet. Smells and tastes phenomenal. Noticeably tart on the nose with a bit of malty sweetness confessing the fact that it did not attenuate fully. Nice refreshing tartness on the palate, again with some residual sweetness. Very crushable on a hot afternoon in spite of a mouthfeel that's slightly too heavy for the style. Color is also off--way too "golden." A proper Berliner Weisse needs to be much more light and much more white.
So this beer is far from perfect, but as perfect rarely wins the day, I'm declaring this a huge success.
My next go at this beer will be drier, lighter, and hopefully much more sour. Version 2.0 is already on the drawing board, and hopefully I will get a chance to brew it soon. Just a few changes:
- Increasing white wheat to 50% of grain bill. This should hopefully lighten the color a bit.
- Cooling only to 120 before pitching unmilled grains. This should give the mash more time in the lacto temp zone, and I should be able to extend the souring rest to 72-96 hours for a hopefully more puckering tartness.
- Pitching a slurry of Kolsch yeast instead of Cal ale. Also over-pitching slightly. I used an appropriately sized slurry for a 1.032 wort, but based on multiple comments on HBT, that may not have been enough in this acidic wort.
- I've also dialed in the recipe as much as I could in Beersmith. In particular, if the software is accurate, then the second temperature infusion should take the temperature of the mash directly from 149 all the way down to 120 in a matter of minutes.
Hopefully Maggie 2.0 will be sour enough to warrant some fruit syrup additions in the glass. Only time will tell.
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