The Bruery Bottleworks XII

Imperial Witbier, 8% ABV, sour mashed 1-2 days, and fermented with a blend of Berliner Weisse culture and Belgian Witbier yeast. The beer is barrel fermented in large red wine barrels (132 gal. barrels). Raspberries are added to the beer towards the end of fermentation directly to the barrel, and aged on the raspberries for a minimum of 1 month. The Berliner culture contains souring bacteria and the raspberries will add acidity to the beer. Brewed to commemorate Bottleworks 12th Anniversary.

Originally brewed in 2011. Rebrewed in 2013.

3.9

236 reviews

Placentia, United States

Community reviews

3.8 Bottle. Hazy to cloudy golden orange color, white head. Nice tropical fruit and straw aroma. Taste is softly sour peppery straw and summer fruit. Very tasty and easy drinking for its abv.

3.9 750 ml bottle to snifter (shared by arminjewell). Looks good; a hazy golden orange with white head. Smells and tastes good too; semi-sweet and funky with mild notes of raspberries and wheat along soft notes of white grapes and oak. Mouthfeel is tmedium-bodied and pleasant. Good stuff.

3.7 Bottle. Aroma hints to citrus fruit with some sour funk. Appearance is a cloudy yellow. Taste is sour and dry with a tangerine flavor. Palate is sour and dry. Overall, a great sour. A very interesting beer fo sho.

4.2 2/21/15. Sampled during RBWG 2015. Really enjoyed this one! Hazy golden orange pour, maybe a pink tinge, under a nice off-white head, good lacing. Light fruity aroma, sourness, a bit of oak and vanilla. Great flavor, sourness is apparent, nice oak and vanilla, loads of raspberry. I dig it!

3.6 Bottle, pour is yellow with fizz, taste is belgian yeast with some astringent oak sour barrel, a bit harsh

3.7 Hazy golden with a good white head. Aroma is cider vinegar, lemon peel, hint of fruit. Medium-light bodied, tart on the palate, dry sour finish. Taste is sour grapes, cider vinegar, hint of dry tart raspberries.

3.7 Still honey colored pour. No head. No lacing. Big raspberry nose. Big raspberry flavor. Some malt notes. Tart finish.

4.2 Draft pour at Brouwer?s 10th anniversary, this is the original 2011, golden pour, Orange raspberry sour aroma and taste, enjoyed this one a lot.

3.8 [3/2/15] Draught at Bottleworks in Seattle. 2013 edition. Deep golden. Sour aroma with fruitiness (some raspberries), lacto, some vinegar and wood. Sour fruity flavor with some raspberries, some lacto, wood and wine. Medium-bodied. Very good.

3.9 750ml bottle in a stem glass. Pours hazy golden/orange with a white head. Aroma of light raspberries, some sourness and tartness, pale malts, light red wine notes, and some oak. Flavor the same with a nice blend. Average texture. A solid sour from the Bruery.

3.6 Bottle at RBWG. Hazy off yellow color. Big fruity Berliner…lemon, raspberry, nicely tart with lively carbonation.

3.5 Bottle (2011) at Coppertail Brewing during the RBWG 2015 Grand Tasting. Hazy yellow with off-white head. Aromas of lemon citrus, funk, barrel notes. Tastes of citrus, lemons, light floral, funk. Medium-light body with a dry finish.

3.9 Bottle - Vintage 2011 - Sweet funky peach notes. Cloudy gold with and a decent white head. Bright tart stone fruit with a nice creamy note.

3.9 Bottle. Pours clear yellow/gold with creamy white head. Aroma is wheat, oak, vanilla, spices, and citrus. Flavor is dry malt base, crisp citrus peel, light oak, and mixed spices. Light/medium body and medium carbonation.

3.9 Bottle to goblet Lemon, bubble gum, horse blanket, and a touch of apple. Cloudy yellow, thin ringed white head. Sour lemon, red wine, berries.

3.9 Bottle. Batch 2. Cloudy yellow pour with light white head. Aroma is tart raspberries, barnyard funk, and citrus punch. Taste is tart funk, oak, raspberries, red wine undertones and lemon. Finish is acidic, carbonation is high, mouthfeel is medium. Tasty.

3.5 Hazy pale golden colour, white head. Aroma of yoghurt, malts, Edam cheese and pumpkin pie. Light sour flavour, yoghurt, light fruity raspberries. Finish apricot, rather fruity, yoghurt, something reminding of De Troch house funk. Quite nice. (from 75cL bottle @ Zwanze Day 2014, Moeder Lambik Fontainas. Thanks for bringing and sharing, Matthieu!)

3.7 Bottle: Batch 2. Super hazy, burnt amber with lighter orange near the bottle. Fizzling white head is completely vanished within ten seconds of the pour. Aroma has juicy notes of seedy raspberry, lemon, light lactic acid, timid florals, mineral water, faint wheat, & a touch of wine-like vinous grapes wrapping everything together. Bigger vinous presence on the palate; lightly woody with mild tannic notes & sharp grapes. Acidic notes of sweet-tarts, lemons, faint raspberry, & a hint of lacto yeast. Tart, but not overly sour or puckering. Hints of soured wheat, & a nice bit of white grape in the finish. Slightly woody, dry finish.

4.0 Very funky tart aroma. Great raspberry flavor. Overall a very solid fruity sour Berliner.

3.8 Bottle to glass. Pours a murky golden orangish light brown, like OJ with a light pulp. Fizzy off white head with lively carbonation. Aroma is a bit light, tart, berries. Flavor is quite sour, berries, Belgian spice. Oily mouthfeel with a long lingering citrus tartness. Quite tasty.

4.0 Bottle, gold pour, white head, nose is raspberry, taste is raspberry, tart, awesome

3.8 Tart and we’ll balanced. Not a pucker beer but fruit and funk blend nicely. Always love me some Bruery!

3.9 Bottle from a trade with Sean I think. Thanks dude! 2013 edition pours hazy golden yellow with a huge fizzy white head that dissipates relatively quickly. Aroma of funky yeasty wheat malts, very vinous in the nose with some light raspberries, mild coriander type spice, and plenty of tart sharp sourness. Smells oaky and extremely dry. Flavor is light raspberries, funky wheaty malt, yeasty, but of spice bite, tart and lactic through and through, super dry, plenty of oak. Some Berliner influence, but not the huge unpleasant wheat note I get from those (a good thing in my book). I was hoping for a bit more raspberry and red wine but everything here is integrated into a very light and airy brew with very high carbonation and high drinkability. Not bad. I actually started enjoying this not as it warmed a bit. Got juicier and fruitier throughout. Yum.

3.2 had at recent bottle share. amazing stuff, definitely worth they hype it has.

3.9 Bottle. Haze light gold color with a big foamy head that fades to a thick film and a nice ring. Great lacing too. Aromas are raspberries, oranges, lemons, light Brett funk, almonds, vanilla, and oak. Taste has a light sourness and a moderate tart finish. Raspberries stand out but there’s some nice sour citrus and brett as well. Fairly acidic but not too bad. Medium body. High carbonation but is soft on the palate. Very cool sour.

3.4 THANKS to Mathieu87! 750 ml. bottle sampled @ Italian Beer Week-end / Zwanze 2014 CML. Hazy golden, milky citrus, little white head. Nose is spoiled yoghurt, milky / Berliner type of deal, touch cheese, lactic wheat, no fruit. Taste is lactic sour, spoiled yoghurt, Berliner, milky, white grapes, rejuvelac, tad vinegar,… No fruit. Prickling odd Berliner style body. Maybe interesting as a concept but overall this just tastes like a lesser Berliner Weisse, the scores & reputation are baffling to me. I feel like every okay USA sour gets praised like the best thing ever by Americans but even a really good sour from Belgium gets criticized to no end for not being the best beer ever basically.

4.2 "What a cool idea this was. Yet another different-than-the-rest sour from the Bruery. Adequately tart, but in the berliner vein, not really WILD. Raspberry is at first under the funk in the aroma and flavor. They immediately follow in the aftertaste, pitting sweet vs. tart, and then the berries (and spices that were barely noticed before) come out more as the beer warms. Really dug this take on, well, whayever it is you’d call this."

4.0 750 ml bottle shared with the Quebec City crew. Pours a murky orange with a short lived white head. Aroma is citrus, soap, lavender and wood. Flavor is a lemon assault on the tongue, tartness and vinegar. Finish is lemon, other citrus, tartness. Lingering...you guessed it, lemon! Medium body, average carbonation.

4.2 Pours cloudy gold with a thin white head. The nose is light horse blanket, sour fruit, cheese. The taste is floral hops, light funk, vinegar and sour fruits. Medium bodied. Nice. 4.2

3.8 Aroma of sour berry, wood, something I can’t quite nail. Appears opaque gold milky whit ring and slight head. Taste is sour acidic fruit bright lemon. Raspberry not really there.