John Garland // Growler Magazine
The fourth interpretation in Schell’s Berliner weisse series has landed. If you’re not yet in the mood for changing leaves and sweater weather, you will be now.
The malty base beer for Schell’s Black Forest Cherry was aged for a full year in large cypress lagering tanks. Then came the addition of a couple tons of black cherries and further fermentation. The result is a nuanced sour beer. It has a pervasive acidity that combines with the dark stone fruit flavors to pull off an almost sherry-like effect. It’s very dry, well carbonated, with just a whiff of that pleasant sour funk on the nose, and lingering tart cherries on the finish. Make sure to let it warm a few degrees from fridge temperature before serving to get the full aromatic effect.
If you can manage, stick a couple bottles away for your Thanksgiving table. It would happily do the work of cranberry sauce, cutting the richness of a plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Schell’s brewer Jace Marti suggests that it would play nice with a sweet dessert, so break it out with your next Bavarian chocolate cake.
If you’ll be at the State Fair on Thursday, stop by the Land of 10,000 Beers exhibit where Jace Marti will be speaking at two panels. At 3pm, he’ll discuss beer styles with Joe Pond from Olvalde Farm, and at 6pm, he’ll be joined by his father Ted Marti to discuss the family business at Schell’s.
About John Garland
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