Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss Beer Review

Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss

Review Date 7/7/2008 Last Updated 5/26/2016

Try? Re-buy?

Fruit beers are always a point of contention for beer geeks. Some of the more hardcore of the lot that I’ve run into eschew them entirely, while others tend to regard them with a wary eye, at best. For my part, I’m a bit more forgiving toward them, and I say if they taste good, drink them. Still, they should at the very least have something of a beery nature about them, with the fruit a seasoning and not the main attraction.

When done correctly, such beers can be very refreshing, especially during the hot summer months. Unfortunately, Leinenkugel Berry Weiss is not done correctly, at least not from this beer enthusiast’s perspective.

The beer certainly sounded appetizing enough. A wheat beer brewed with honey and the juices of blackberries, elderberries and loganberries. And the beer certainly has a fruity, berryish flavor to it. Sadly, the fruit is so prevalent that the brew is more akin to fruit juice or soda pop than beer. All of that sugary sweetness is apparent in the calorie count, too: 207 per 12-ounce bottle, with 28 grams of carbs.

Leinenkugel Berry Weiss pours to a bright pink color with a frothy head of white foam and a very, very fruity berry nose. I was pretty much ready for that, and expecting a really fruity brew. And that’s exactly what I got. Make no mistake about it: Leinekugel’s Berry Weiss is a fruit beer with much more of fruit than beer about it.

A massive wave of berry flavor hits your tongue as soon as you sip, so much so that this is more like a sugary sweet fruit soda than a beer. Berry Weiss may be based on a wheat beer, but you won’t get much of the tartness that makes wheat beers so refreshing. Even into the finish, I’m getting much more sweetness than I want here, so much so that it’s too cloying to be refreshing.

I suspect this one may be a hit with the ladies, and I’ll give it props for the assortment of berry juices used, but Berry Weiss is just too sweet for me.

Update 5/26/2016: It's been a while since I've had a Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss, and as you can see from the above I was wholly underwhelmed by it. This month, however, Leinenkugel beers are the featured brew at Taco Mac, and I decided to give it a second try. It's still too sweet and soda poppy for me, but hey, it was only $5 and I got a free logo glass with the purchase, so all was not lost.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

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