Saturday, April 26, 2014

When in Berlin, do as Mikkeller does? Huh?

We may be visiting Berlin during the September holiday in Europe, and accordingly, I conducted a few minutes of web research as to where one might find Berliner Weisse in its purest local form.

Immediately the search engine guided me to a site called Berlin Craft Beer, where I typed "Berliner Weisse" into the search window.

The result? "Nothing Found."

Upon closer examination, it appears this site caters to the New Orthodoxy, i.e., the notion of sought-after, boutique beers on all sides of every ocean, representing styles that formerly were localized, now international (IPA, et al), and which anyone who knows anything wants, right now.

That's all well and good. There's plenty of valuable information at this site. But I'm not sure it tells me very much about the sole beer style, at least to my knowledge, which was conceived in Berlin and is about Berlin. I'm not flying to Chicago, after all.

There'll be two, maybe three days for us there. The places I go, and the beers I drink, probably will not be those found at a designer beer bar catering to cross-national importer-exporter portfolios. I've nothing against these portfolios; it just isn't why I'd go to the trouble and expense of visiting Berlin. rather, I'm more interested in knowing what makes Berlin, Berlin.

I find it amusing that my stating this preference, I'm now once again in the position of being a revolutionary. Thank heavens for this planet's cyclical nature. If anyone reading can offer advice as to where I might experience Berliner Weisse to best effect, in Berlin, please shoot me a mail or comment. Thanks in advance.

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