Wheat Beers

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!

Dry Hopping, Wet Hopping, Fresh Hopping?!?!

Just thought I would take a minute to clarify some potentially confusing terminology.  Dry hopping and wet or fresh hopping are both actually pretty easy concepts.

The most important thing to understand is that in this case, wet and dry are not opposites, and in fact don't even refer to the same part of the process!

So let's start with dry hopping.

DRY HOPPING is when hops are added after the boil, usually either during or after fermentation.  These hops can be fresh, dried, or pellet hops.  Dry hopping eliminates a lot of the loss of hop aroma.  That means that dry hopped beers tend to have very fresh, often floral (although depending on the variety, it could also resinous, citric, earthy, or any other hop-derived aroma) smells to them when you pour a glass or crack open a bottle or can.  Dry hopping allows less time, however, for the hops' alpha acids to incorporate in the beer (and does it without the added element of heat), meaning that some of the hop flavors (especially the bitterness) don't necessarily carry over.  It also means that if a dry hopped beer is left to sit for too long (especially after being opened or poured), the aroma is likely to seep out of the beer faster than hops added during the boil.

WET HOPPING is actually the same thing as FRESH HOPPING.  Wet hopping can occur at any stage of brewing (so yes, you can wet/dry hop a beer!!!).  Wet hopping refers to the fact that fresh hops, right off the vine, are used, without being dried or turned into pellets or oils.  So these beers tend to be seasonally available, shortly after the hop harvest in the breweries' area.  The hops can still be added in the boil, or can be used for dry hopping to give really fresh, floral aromas to the beer, or both.  Like dry hopping, these beers are best enjoyed fresh, as without drying or processing, fresh/wet hops will love their flavors and aromas quickly.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all found this informative.  If you did, like it, share it comment on it!  Also, please feel free to leave questions or suggestions in the comments for any drink-related topics you'd like me to cover!