Berliner Weisse Comparison

Back in February I brewed a batch of Berliner Weisse with White Labs Berliner blend.  Decided a little over a week later to brew another five gallons and then throw it on the yeast cake.  The fresh berliners really lacked the sour character you would expect from a classic example and had a prominent fruit/phenolic taste.  Decided to let them sit, and here we are today.  Hopefully they have aged well.

Berliner #1 (Batch 10)

Appearance- Golden yellow in color with a foamy white head.  Slightly hazy, but not overly so.  Sticky lacing on the glass.  Head wasn't too big to start, but was persistent.  

Smell- Sweet/sour lemony start with a kick of tart lactobacillus following behind.  Has a little more punch than the last time.  That being said, there seems to be some light banana and clove lingering behind and more than what I was hoping for.  Slight earthy character towards the end.

Taste- Slight lemon taste accompanied by a slight tart.  After the very subdued tart/sour taste the fruit esters and phenols come back once again being a little too strong.  Earthy/musty to finish.  All around, fairly boring and disappointing.  

Mouthfeel- Medium thin and moderate carbonation.  Dry finish.

Berliner #2 (Batch 11)

Appearance- Color is mostly the same, but the difference lies in the head.  Small white head to begin the pour, but it then becomes very patchy.  No lacing noticeable as only a small ring around the glass persists.  

Smell- Not as strong of the tart kick, but earthy and slightly musty smell is more prominent.  Lemon character is once again noticeable and then fruit ester/phenolic smell seems a little stronger, but that may be because there is less of the tart smell covering it up.

Taste- Lemon once again starts the taste, but a much higher spike of sour follows.  The fruit esters and phenolic can be noticed in the background, although not as prominent as the first.  Once again, the slight earth and musty finish.

Mouthfeel- Medium thin and moderate in carbonation.  Finish is very dry, more so than the first.

Overall and Notes- I wouldn't feel comfortable entering either of these into a competition, but this was partly a learning process.  Rather than the Berliner mix I should have done the 5 :1 lactobacillus:brewers yeast approach as a result of the lacto not working as fast.  These did get a little better with age (which speaks to just how disappointing they were fresh), but not cutting it.  I bet I can give these to some friends and they won't be too disappointed with the results though.