It’s usually easy work to tell the story of a style. Berliner weisse, however, presents a philosophical challenge unlike any in beer: What is it, exactly? Is it a complex beer made with mixed fermentation, aged with Brettanomyces, and bottle-conditioned? Is it a simple wheat beer with lactic acid and sugar syrups? Is it a kettle-soured ale sweetened with fresh fruit? Does it contain smoked malt? Does it contain hops? Is the wort boiled?
To all of these questions, in variations dating back centuries, the answer, sometimes, has been “yes.”
The style has been so confusing that until 2016, the Great American Beer Festival style guidelines strictly forbade the use of Brettanomyces, despite it being a key component of Berlin’s more complex versions for most of the 20th century. It’s understandable. The name dates to as far back as 1600, but since then it has changed so much that an example from one era is hardly recognizable in another. That pattern is playing out again: The classic style is enjoying a revival, even while American brewers repurpose it yet again.