Coriolis Effect

From the crafty beersmiths at Sawdust City Brewing Co. in Gravenhurst comes a tart little Berlinerweiss named Coriolis Effect. Sold in garishly orange 473mL cans, CE is a cloudy and extremely pale-hued beer--it has the pale yellow, verging on green tint of pear flesh. It poured with a short-lived cap of white head.

With its sour, almost briny nose, CE sure smells like a Berliner. And like a classic Berliner, CE is low in booze, at just 3.5%, but big in tart flavours. It's funky with yeast, and built around lemon and unripened berry elements. For aftertaste, this stuff is quite abrupt--there one second and then gone.

I've only a limited experience with the style, but I thought that this Ontarian effort at the sour wheat beer was pretty engaging. I understand that traditionally Berlinerweiss is consumed with a fruit syrup--something in a raspberry or cherry would really make this stuff take off. As with all sour beers I've tried, I wouldn't bring a vat of this brew to a party, but as a first beer after a longer-than-usual Friday at work, it clicked nicely.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.