Berliner Weiss at Over the 9
When’s the last time you had a beer that tasted like champagne? Yeah, that’s what I thought. But if you stop by Over the 9 at the edge of Portland (it’s at 120 S. 10th), you can try just that. The beer is Berliner Weisse, Falls City Brewing Co.’s take on a German beer that dates back more than four centuries.
Brewer Dylan Greenwood was inspired to brew it last year when he found out that one of the earliest beers Falls City brewed when it opened in 1905 was a Berliner Weisse. To celebrate the waning days of summer, the beer comes either in its original form, which is crisp, light, tart and bubbly (kind of like a champagne), or with flavored syrups added, which is a German tradition.
The raspberry flavoring is exactly what you’d expect (although you may want to think twice before drinking a pink beer). But the flavoring called woodruff gives the beer a unique flavor that Greenwood described as “botanical.” Maybe that’s what gardens taste like. Anyhow, I tried it all three ways and they were all tasty and easy to drink.
“It lends itself to summer,” is how Greenwood put it. He’s right.
It doesn’t hurt that the beer has only 4 percent alcohol, so it’s yet another summer session sipper. Great for sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine. You’ll be able to find the stuff around town and at Over the 9 through September, so if you’re looking for a change of pace that doesn’t wipe out your taste buds with hop bitterness or malty sweetness, Berliner Weisse is well worth a try.
