Here’s my first beer from Kennesaw, Georgia’s Southern Sky Brewery: Son of Icarus Berliner-Style Weisse Ale. Southern Sky is Kennesaw’s second brewery after Burnt Hickory, and is a small, family owned concern. I’ve seen their beer on draft at growler shops and, recently, in cans at Total Wine and Sherlocks.

Some immediate observations from the label:

They spelled Weisse wrong. The label describes the beer as a “Berliner Wiesse style beer”. It’s Berliner Weisse. J The label also says things like A little bit out there and Really? I didn’t know that.  

On the website, Southern Sky describes themselves as follows:

At Southern Sky Brewing Company, we believe that beer shouldn't be something you have tried a million times. Each beer should be a unique experience.

Fair enough, and I like that sentiment. I think these days that’s getting tougher to do (hence brewers reaching out to lesser known styles like this one, Berliner Weisse). If you don’t know the style, it’s been referred to (by Napoleon no less) as the “Champagne of the north”. German Berliner Weiss is about half the strength of Bavarian Hefeweizen, is not bottle conditioned, and undergoes a lactobacillic fermentation to add a drying, puckering sourness.

From the label:

We kettle sour the beer, which means we let it sit for a day and add our beer brewing magic in the boil kettle to create the tart citrus notes.

Said magic being lactobacillus.

Southern Sky Son of Icarus Berliner-Style Weisse has an alcohol content of 4.2% by volume, which is about a percent or so higher than the 2.5% to 3% it really should be. The price is right at $9.99 a six-pack. My can was packaged on 9/16/16 and I drank it on January 1^st, 2017.

Southern Sky Son of Icarus Berliner-Style Weisse pours to a hazy yellow color with a light head of short lived foam and really not much at all going on in the nose. Taking a sip, the beer has some light refreshing tart wheaty notes and a touch of the sourness I want in a Berliner Weiss. Just a touch, though. I want a puckering sourness in the style, and this beer is far from puckering. Hedonistically, this is quite refreshing and I sure might buy it again, but there are certainly better Berliner Weiss beer’s out there (Blue Tarp in Decatur does an excellent one called Funk Weisse).

The label says It’s perfect for a summer sipper and I couldn’t agree more. On its own merits, I like it well enough, though I think stylistically it just misses the mark.

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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