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Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of barley. The two main varieties are German Weizenbier and Belgian witbier; other types include Lambic (made with wild yeast), Berliner Weisse (a cloudy, sour beer), and Gose (a sour, salty beer).
German Weißbier and Belgian witbier are termed because has the same etymological root as in most West Germanic languages (including English).
Other wheat beer styles, such as Berliner Weiße, Gose, and Lambic, are made with a significant proportion of wheat.
The Hefeweizen style is particularly noted for its low hop bitterness (about 15 IBUs) and relatively high carbonation (approaching four volumes), considered important to balance the beer's relatively malty sweetness. Another balancing flavor note unique to Hefeweizen beer is its phenolic character; its signature phenol is 4-vinyl guaiacol, a metabolite of ferulic acid, the result of fermentation by top-fermenting yeast appropriate for the style. Hefeweizens phenolic character has been described as "clove" and "medicinal" ("Band-aid") but also smoky. Other more typical but less assertive flavour notes produced by Weißbier yeast include "banana" (amyl acetate), "bubble gum", and sometimes "vanilla" (vanillin). Both Hefeweizen and Kristallweizen typically have 4.9-5.6% alcohol by volume.
Weißbier is available in a number of other forms, including Dunkelweizen () and Weizenbock () or (). The dark wheat varieties are made with darker, more highly kilned malts (both wheat and barley). Weizenbocks typically have a much higher alcohol content than their lighter cousins, ranging from 7.0%-9.5%.
The four largest brands in Germany are Erdinger, Paulaner, Franziskaner, and Maisel. Other renowned brands are Augustiner, Weihenstephaner, Schneider (a bronze-coloured specialty), and Andechser. Regional brands in Bavaria are Hopf, Unertl, Ayinger, Schweiger and Plank. Aventinus is an example of Weizen Doppelbock, stronger and darker version of Weizenbock, made by the G. Schneider & Sohn brewery in Kelheim.
British brewers producing cask-conditioned varieties include Oakleaf Brewery , Hoskins White Dolphin, Fyfe Weiss Squad and Oakham Ales White Dwarf.
As early as the 16th and 17th century, the white beers of Hoegaarden and Leuven were renowned.Paul Verhuyck, Corine Kisling, Het Mandement van Bacchus, Antwerpse kroegentocht in 1580, Antwerpen 1987, p. 42-44. Along with barley malt and unmalted barley it contained some oats, though apart from hops no other spices were used. The barley was usually not kilned but left to dry on attics where the wind was allowed to blow past it, in order to obtain a light colour.Georges Lacambre, Traité complet de la fabrication de bières et de la distillation des grains, pommes de terre, vins, betteraves, mélasses, etc., Brussel 1851, deel 1 p. 350-363, 372-374.
The style was revived by Pierre Celis at the Hoegaarden Brewery in Belgium and the Celis Brewery in the United States (2000). 9780762408856, Running Press. ISBN 9780762408856 . and is traditionally made with up to 50% raw wheat rather than wheat malt. It probably was Celis who started adding the various spices. The beers have a somewhat sour taste due to the presence of lactic acid or acetic acid, much more pronounced in the past than today. Also, the suspended yeast in the beer causes some continuing fermentation in the bottle.
Leipziger Gose is similar to , but slightly stronger at around 4% ABV. Its ingredients include coriander and salt, which are unusual for German beers, but are traditional for that style of beer.
Belgian lambic is also made with wheat and barley, but differs from nearly all beers in the use of wild yeast for spontaneous fermentation.
A variation on the barley wine style involves adding a large quantity of wheat to the mash bill, resulting in what is referred to as wheat wine. This style originated in the United States in the 1980s.
Kristallweizen (especially in Austria) and American styles of wheat beer are sometimes served with a slice of lemon or orange in the glass. This is not traditional in Bavaria, and is generally frowned upon there. The modern American custom appears to have originated in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1980s, where the Dublin Pub served Widmer Brothers Brewery's Weizenbier with a slice of lemon, to accentuate the citrus flavor of the .
In northern Bavaria, a grain of rice commonly is added to Kristallweizen, which causes a gentle bubbling effect and results in a longer-lasting foam. A common item on pub menus in Bavaria is Shandy, which is a mix of cola and Weizenbier.
Another mixture popular during the summer is a radler variant with a mix of Weißbier with lemonade named after cyclists.
The ester and phenolic aspects are produced by the special type of yeast, rather than the high fraction of wheat in the grain bill.
The carbonation level can range from (about 2.7 volumes; slightly higher than that of most other German beers) to , or more. This produces a generous stand of foam, especially with the high protein content of wheat malt.
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