For many, simply knowing that a wheat beer is a beer made with wheat as an ingredient, is intellectually satisfying.  But anyone who has delved into the word of beer, has discovered that there is more than meets the eye to this category, and may be thirsty for more beer instruction.  For example, if one were to drink Boulevard’s Unfiltered Wheat, followed by Saison Dupont, a simple description of “wheat” beer would not satisfy the fast difference in smell, taste, texture, and alcohol content between these two beers.  In fact, many a beer hater have tasted a Lambic with wide eyed awe that it is even considered a beer, and affected their attitude towards the beverage and the culture.

We are blessed to be living in the post-craft-brewing era of American beer history.  Prior to the early to mid 1980′s wheat beers were as unknown to the American populace as foreign trade is to Cuba.  To sample a wheat beer, one had to travel abroad, namely Belgium and Germany.  But when Americans started experimenting in their kitchens, they discovered this delicious category, and many others.

Simply put, wheat beers utilize wheat, unlike other beers that typically focus on barley.  That isn’t to say that other non-wheat grains are used in the brewing process, which is quite common and accounts for boundless varitey within the wheat beer category.  Because there are so many wheat beers, each variety cannot be accounted for in this post.

Often, wheat beer is feared due to its cloudy nature.  In fact, I remember the first wheat beer I drank (an American wheat) freaked me out a bit.  It looked like murky water drudged up from the depths of the Great Lakes!  But I plunged in anyway, and as result an eight year love affair with wheat beer has continually been fostered.  But why is wheat beer cloudy?  There are two main reasons.  First, wheat proteins become a part of the brew, unlike disturbed sediment.  You could let a wheat beer sit for a million years and it would still remain opaque.  Second, because of the nature of wheat beer, yeast particle naturally become suspended in the brew.  These will settle over time, however, upon opening a wheat, carbonation inevitable stirs and re-suspends at least some of the yeast.

Wheat Styles:

Heffeweizen is one of the best known and popular styles of wheat beer.  In fact, the famous Rheinheitsgebot (say that 5 times fast) purity law was altered to allow wheat as a beer ingredient just so that the German nobility could continue to legally drink this style.  Obviously, this is a German beer.  It is known for its spiced and light fruity flavors.  Heffeweizen is a southern Germanic beer known utilizing mit hefe (hefe:  German for “yeast”) the strain type that gives it its unique flavor.  While I note Heffeweizen first, it is just a sub category of German Weizenbier.

WeizenBier (or Weissbier) is the parent categor for Heffeweizen beer.  It ususally features at least 50% wheat malts.  Again, fruity spiced qualities are present, along with smooth mouth testures and bready notes.  There are many nutritional qualities present in these beer, and have been used for sustenance, not just enjoyment in the past.  Variations would include Dunkelweizen, a dark rich variation with chocolate notes and lest pronounced spice qualities, and Weizenbock, which is a bold, strong, and robust Weizenbier.

Berliner Weisse beers are a peculiar and lovely variety.  Some call them sour beer, as they intorduce bacterial strains (lactobacillus) into the wort along with the yeast.  The bacteria ferments the sugars along with the yeast but produce an extremely sour note.  Ulike all other beers, there is almost no bitterness present in this beer.

Belgian Wit beers are unusualy light, sweet, pleasent beers.  Unlike their German cousins, these brews are typically lighter in color and feature unmalted wheat and malted wheat barley.  Perhaps the most US known Belgian Wit is Blue Moon, although the popularity of the style should be credited to a small Texas Brewery (largely controlled by Miller now) called Celis brewery, who took his recipe from Hoegaarden, Belgium to the US, and revided a almost extinct style.

Belgian Lambics are the most refreshing style.  Charles Papazian has said that this beer “rates as one of the most intriguing, mysterious, and erotic styles of beer ever made.”  This is one raw beer!  Utiling wheat and barley, the wort is cooked and then dumped into open air vessels.  Wild yeast and bacteria native to a 15 square mile area in brussels settle from Belgian breezes into the brew.  Hops that have been allowed to sit at room temperature for years are used to slightly bitter the beer.  Native fruits are also introduced into the mix.   The result is not what you would expect.  The beverage is crisp, refreshing, sweet & sour, and expensive!  This divine beverage will make a beer lover out of anyone!

Undoubtedly, many styles have been left out of this article for the sake of space and brevity.  Wheat beers and their complementary yeast strains are one type of beer that can be enjoyed easily and quickly by anyone, regardless of experience, sex, culture, and palate.

What wheat beers do you fancy?