The Bruery is famous for their sour beers, I believe that is all they make but I am not certain.  This is only the third sour beer I have ever had and to tell you the truth, before I started my Year of Beer I had no idea they even existed.  The first one I had was a Flemish Sour at Monk’s cafe in Philadelphia.  It’s made exclusively for them in Belgium.  To my palette, that beer was VERY sour and overwhelming for someone that had never tried a sour beer.  I didn’t hate it but I also couldn’t finish it.  I was told that sour beers are an acquired taste so I thought I would give this one a try.

The Bruery is located in Orange County, California.  They only sell their beer in kegs or large 750 ml bottles, they don’t have a bottling line for small bottles.   The Hottenroth is a Berliner Weisse which is a Belgian Style Sour Wheat Ale.  The beer is named after the owner’s grandparents, Fred and Sarah Hottenroth.

It’s color is a very pale straw and it’s got a little bit of a haze.  It is a very carbonated beer.  I got an okay head but it dissipated very quickly.  I am told that the reason for the poor head retention is the high acidity and low protein count.

It’s got a very nice aroma.  It’s not super strong but it’s enough that you know what you are about to get.  It smells sour with hints of lemon and other citrus.

The taste matches the aroma.  It’s got a really nice sour taste to it with some hints of lemon.  There is something else in the flavor that I am tasting but can’t identify.  The carbonation comes through on the taste and it has a very dry finish.  I had it plain, they recommend trying it with raspberry or woodruff syrup to balance out the sourness.

All in all, I think this was a much better introduction to sour beers than the Flemish sour I had a Monks.  It’s not overpowering and is very refreshing.  I could enjoy this beer on a hot day while doing some yard work.  It’s a good session beer at a very low 3.1% ABV.