Style Breakdown 3: The Best Berliner Braunbiers Ever Made in Central Texas

Welcome to the third edition of Style Breakdown, where we look at the top examples of a specific beer style.  The first edition was on Pilsners, the second was about Imperial Stouts, and for the third I wanted to switch it up a bit and go for a lesser known (but very respectable) style, the Berliner Braunbier, which has been having a huge resurgence lately.

For those of you not familiar with this one: it originates from North Germany in the mid 1800s, using barley malt that was scorched with intense heat, thus the name braunbier (brown beer).  While the Berliner part of the name obviously refers to the city of origin, it also naturally draws comparisons to Berliner Weisse – and sure enough, braunbiers may be brewed to be just as sour as their cousins.  That’s about where the similarities end though, as braunbiers have an ABV of less than 3% (or at least they did traditionally, modern versions tend to bump that up).  The low ABV was due to a very quick fermentation period of as short as three or four days, leaving behind a sweet, sour, easy drinking beverage that can go from tank to glass in under a week.  As you might expect, hops are not a prominent feature of this style, with fairly low hopping rates – though still more hops than other malty or sour styles like Berliner Weisse.  And as for the sweetness – this was due to caramel and other sweeteners added to the beer, which as I’m sure you already know was legal in the northern regions of Germany that were outside the influence of the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot beer purity law until 1906.  Obviously here in Texas none of that matters, but it’s some fun historical context.

So to summarize, when you think Berliner Braunbier, you can expect a dark ale, a bit like an English Porter, but with lower ABV, sweeter, slightly sour, low hopiness and high maltiness.  With how quick and easy this style is to make, it’s no wonder breweries all over the country are rushing to fulfil the latest craze.  Let’s take a look at how our local breweries are doing with this breakdown:

Here are the highest rated Berliner Braunbiers EVER made in Central Texas!

Wow, congrats to all our local brewers for staying on the cutting edge of beer trends!  Please do NOT contact us on Facebook or Instagram with any opinions about this article!

Credit to Ron Pattinson on Beer Advocate for providing details on this extremely obscure beer style.  Happy April 1st!