It's summertime, so I would imagine a lot of people out there are looking for a light, refreshing beer to sip on, but one that still has a little more flavor than a mass produced lager.
Enter wheat beers, the perfect summer sippers. Wheat adds a little bit of weight to the body, especially if the beer is served unfiltered (most are), but also adds some refreshingly juicy citrus and fruit flavors.
Below is a little break down of some of the more popular wheat beer styles.
Hefeweizen is a German beer style, kind of the classic wheat beer. Hefeweizen literally means yeast and wheat. As far as wheat beers go, they are actually pretty full bodied, but their refreshing banana, citrus, and clove flavors make them still very drinkable, and a great summer beer. Hefeweizens are traditionally unfiltered, meaning there is a haze from the yeast left from brewing, and if served in a bottle, there may actually be a sediment left at the bottom of the bottle. Although hefeweizen is one of a handful of styles with exemptions to the (in)famous German beer purity laws, the exception allows them to be made with wheat, but not other additives. So all of those delicious orange, banana and clove flavors are actually coming from the combination of the wheat in the mash and the particular yeast strains used. There isn't actually any fruit or other extra flavorings added!
Wit Bier is a Belgian style wheat beer. Wit bier actually translates to white beer, not wheat beer as many people assume. Wit beers tend to be pretty light bodied, with orange, coriander, and sometimes even anise flavors. They are also served unfiltered, but because of the higher proportion of wheat, and the particular yeast strains used, they are usually a very pale off-white to straw color, as opposed to the bright orange to dark brown color of a hefeweizen. Unlike the Germans, the Belgians are not bound by law or tradition to limit what they brew with, so many wit beers are actually brewed with orange peel, coriander, star anise, or other adjuncts to add flavor.
Berliner Weisse is a sour wheat beer originally from Berlin. They are very low in alcohol, and have tart, lemony flavors. They are traditionally served with a sweet syrup from either raspberries or woodruff. If you don't mind a very tart flavor, these are great summer beers as their low alcohol and crisp acidity make them super refreshing (and you can have a few). Traditional berliners are not brewed with any fruit, so the tartness comes from the particular yeast strains used to ferment the beer.
American Wheat is kind of a catch-all phrase. It can either mean a wheat beer in any of the styles above (or any other style, for that matter), which is brewed in America, or it can mean a unique wheat beer (again, brewed in America), which doesn't really fit into a traditional European style box. Some tend to be hoppier than the traditional styles, but again, there are no hard and fast rules.
Hopefully this helped you understand the world of wheat beers. Now get out there and refresh yourself with one. As always, please feel free to leave questions or feedback in the comments, or let me know if there is a specific topic you'd like me to cover!
