Next in the beer spotlight we have Cucumber Hippy Berliner Weisse, by 8 Wired from all the way over in New Zealand.
8 Wired is based in Warkworth NZ (North of Auckland) Starting out commercial brewing in 2009 in 2011 the brewery won it’s first award; The New Zealand champion brewers award. They focus on what they call ‘interpretations’ of world beers. Cucumber Hippy fits nicely into that description, being 8 Wired’s take on a berliner weisse rather than a straight copy.
When I first tasted this one I hadn’t even really looked at the can besides noting it had cucumber in it. I was pleasantly surprised to be hit with a refreshingly sour taste; a real burst of fruit salad flavours. On a hot day with BBQ chicken this beer slipped down very easily. Naturally soured with live cultures and hopped with American and New Zealand hops this beer dose a good job of emulating the berliner weisse style rather than outright copying it. As the can says it is ‘inspired by traditional berliner wiesse then remixed with cucumber’. If I am being totally honest the cucumber is hard to pick out (cucumber is a subtle flavour after all) but is present in the background of the beer.
At 4% this refreshing sour beer is an ideal quaffing beer on a hot summers day. I certainly enjoyed it and it’s a shame I only had one as I could quite easily have drunk several. Did it pass my girlfriends ‘non beer drinkers test’? With flying colours!