Die Berliner Weiße - Ein Stück Berliner Geschichte

About the book

Berliner Weisse (Berliner Weisse) is a piece of Berlin history. The origins and characteristics of this Berlin beer, its production history, and the relationship of the Berlin bourgeoisie to this beer are closely linked to Berlin's development into a major and cosmopolitan city. The authors, all members of the non-profit Association for Brewery History Berlin (VfBB), aimed to clarify this connection for readers interested in Berlin's industrial history.

The authors worked in close cooperation with the Research and Teaching Institute for Brewing in Berlin (VLB), which itself, in its 135-year history, has contributed to the creation of crucial, primarily scientific, chapters on Berliner Weisse and has effectively implemented them in practice in its university brewery, which existed until 1981.

The main points of the presentation are:

• The historical development of the Berliner Weissbier, placed in the context of Berlin beer history,
• the characterization of Berliner Weissbier from an analytical, microbiological and sensory point of view as well as its nutritional potential for the present,
• the technological development of Berliner Weissbier, also taking into account the development of brewing technology up to the present day,
• an overview of the locations and development of the former Berlin wheat beer breweries, their significance as an essential nucleus of Berlin’s industrial history,
• an overview of the current developments at Berliner Weisse.

The presentation is complemented by an extensive display of numerous promotional items and packaging (glasses, labels, posters, pictures, bottles, porcelain buttons) that document the former diversity of this product in Berlin over the past decades and centuries, as well as the consumer habits of Berliners in connection with Berliner Weisse, as well as stories and anecdotes from Berlin society in connection with this beer.

The text contains a glossary of the brewery terms used in the book and a comprehensive bibliography on Berliner Weissbier, which is intended to encourage interested readers to read more in depth.

For the second edition, the text has been critically reviewed, updated, and partially expanded. The accompanying CD-ROM contains numerous color illustrations.