BrewDog & J Wakefield Collaborate On Berliner Weisse

We can’t say for sure, not having pored over old German brewing ledgers, but we don’t think a collective noun exists for Berliner Weisse. The historic style that legendary beer writer Michael Jackson referred to as the most refreshing in the world has undergone a resurgence over recent years, with one man doing more than most in that regard – Jonathan Wakefield.

So with his help, we are proposing the collective noun should be ‘a Blitz of Berliner Weisse’!

Yes, our Blitz beers are back, and we have re-ignited the series with the skill, talent and passion of J Wakefield himself, as he gamely traded the Miami heat for the Ellon sleet at the end of January. Our pilot kit supremo Stephen Allerston was given a late Christmas present of the highest order – a keg of Lactobacillus (which gives Berliner Weisse their characteristic sharp sourness) that Jonathan had been culturing for five years.

As a talented homebrewer, Jonathan converted his passion into a career at Cigar City, before leaving to found his own brewery. Turning to crowd-funding, such was the reputation he had built, his seven-week funding target was reached in only 26 hours. Key to this standing in the craft beer community are his stunning range of Berliner Weisse – including his legendary dragon fruit and passion fruit version!

On the brewday itself, Stephen and Jonathan used the truly special culture to create three amazing small-batch sours – a Flanders Red matured on oak chips, a bramble and purple raspberry sour brewed with fruit from Montrose (Scotland’s Miami), and finally an epic ‘Wakefield signature’ passion fruit Berliner Weisse destined for our #PunkAGM in April – Equity Punks, look out for that one…

In the long run, Stephen is set to resurrect the oft-missed Blitz series. Sour beers are something that come up every time we run #MashTag, and since Blitz Apricot debuted in the summer of 2013 – being one of the last beers we brewed in Fraserburgh – we have wanted to get a regular set of tart, refreshing beers like it out there, with at least one in our bars at any one time.

So keep an eye out for the very special J Wakefield and BrewDog collaborations, and in then for the re-start of our Blitz series. And let us know in the comments what particular combinations of fruit we should explore with our new Berliner Weisse!