Berliner Weisse, Berliner Weisse..

So when my dad and I first started brewing, there were two redlines: 1) No Sour Beers 2) No IPAs. Dad also agreed he wouldn't brew lagers.. Well, since my dad retrofitted an old fridge for lagering, I decided it was high time for me to brew one of my favorite beers: Berliner weisse.

For those that don't know what the heck a Berliner Weisse is, allow me to have have the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program aka Beer Competition judges) explain:

17A. Berliner Weisse
Aroma: A sharply sour, somewhat acidic character is dominant.
Can have up to a moderately fruity character. The fruitiness may
increase with age and a flowery character may develop. A mild
Brettanomyces aroma may be present. No hop aroma, diacetyl, or
DMS.
Appearance: Very pale straw in color. Clarity ranges from clear
to somewhat hazy. Large, dense, white head with poor retention
due to high acidity and low protein and hop content. Always
effervescent.
Flavor: Clean lactic sourness dominates and can be quite strong,
although not so acidic as a lambic. Some complementary bready
or grainy wheat flavor is generally noticeable. Hop bitterness is
very low. A mild Brettanomyces character may be detected, as
may a restrained fruitiness (both are optional). No hop flavor. No
diacetyl or DMS. 

(Source: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_Guidelines.pdf)

I went about researching the various ways you can make a berliner. In the end (and after talking to our club sour man), I decided on a sour mash with a limited boil. 

My grain bill for this little guy was simple: 

5.5 Gallon Batch

Grain Bill

1) 5 lb 2 row

2) 2 lb White Wheat Malt

3) 8oz German pilsner (left uncrushed)

Hops

1 oz Tettnang 

I mashed in the grain as you normally would also mashing in with the hops. I doughed in at 148 degrees and let it mash in for about 45 minutes. After the mash-in, I let the mash cool down to about 110 and pitched the remaining uncrushed pilsner. 

I let the mash go for about 72 hours holding the temp between 105-110 throughout the mash period. When the temperature fell, I removed about a quart of wort, boiled and added it back to the mash tun. 

When the time came to drain the mash tun, I sparged out with about 1.5 gallons of water at around 180 degrees. I drained into a pot for a quick 15 minute boil. 

One of the things I noticed upon tasting the wort after boil; it didn't seem quite sour enough for me. As a result, I took about 1/2 gallon of the remaining wort in the mashtun and added it to the fermenter for some extra lacto for good measure. 

I cooled the wort down to about 70 degrees and pitched some WY2565. It went CRAZY for about 4 days. Even when the krausen fell, it was still going pretty hard. On Day 5, I removed the blow-off and went to the regular airlock. 

When the beer reached terminal, I racked it onto 5 lb of frozen raspberries. I allowed it to go for another week.

We bottled it.. I know I need pictures but trust me. Its Legend (wait for it) ary.