Wild & SourNearly lost
Lichtenhainer
Smoke and sourness in the same glass. A wheat beer built on smoked malt and soured with lactic bacteria, so it lands somewhere between a Berliner Weisse and a Rauchbier — tart, savoury and light.
Thuringia, Germany
Origin
19th century
First appears
3.5–4.5%
Typical ABV
1
In the archive
4.7%
Average ABV here
The combination reads as a modern craft experiment and is nothing of the kind: it was ordinary regional drinking beer around Jena before industrial lager erased it. Effectively extinct through most of the 20th century.
Covered in Era 6 — The Styles That Nearly Died.
01
1 brewery across 1 country
Lichtenhainer in the archive
Other wild & sour styles