For an excellent,
complete discussion of German Wheat Ales, see the Classic Beer
Styles Series book pruduced by Brewers Publications. For a list
of this series and other references, check out our Brewing Books
section.
INTRODUCTION
The summer
season always brings with it an increasing interest in the brewing
of wheat beers. Homebrewers seem to really appreciate the lighter,
subtly sweeter finish that a wheat beer lends to a hot summer
afternoon. For many beer lovers, wheat beer becomes the easy drinking
beer with character that marks the first smooth-drinking steps
away from the mass-produced American beers and toward craft-brewed
beer. And, the recent explosion of wheat beers onto the market
would seem to indicate that commercial brewers are eager to take
advantage of the popularity of "hefe-weizen" while they can. But
this is not the first time in history that wheat beers have enjoyed
such a rise in popularity. Check the history section for a few notes on the story of
wheat beer. Today, it's often seen as a healthful, youthful beverage.
Whatever the motivation, we've heard that wheat beers are all
the rage in Germany, and we've seen they're all the rage in Seattle.
Prost!
Since wheat
was one of the first grains to be cultivated by mankind, it has
naturally been a part of the process of brewing since its beginning.
The Bavarian breweries of the Middle Ages, though, were where
wheat beers really enjoyed the cusp of their popularity. The spicy,
bubbly wheaten ales provided a nice contrast to the (usually poor-quality)
"brownbier" that was available at the time, and the royalty and
nobility were quick to pick up a taste for it. The lower classes
were almost as quick to imitate their well-to-do neighbors, and
"weizen" (German for wheat) brews were soon being consumed in
quantities that the breweries could barely provide. Though a number
of factors gradually lead the masses to other styles of beer,
wheat beers have enjoyed a resurgence in recent history, and are
now more popular than ever.
It has been
argued on a number of fronts that wheat beers have enjoyed a
special place in the minds of the populace because wheat is
also indispensible to the baker. Various royal decrees have
regimented the brewing of wheat beer throughout German history,
and some argue that Germany's famous brewing purity law, the
Reinheitsgebot, was passed in part to keep the available wheat
out of the hands of thirsty brewers.
There are two
distinct styles of German wheat beers, the Berliner (Northern
German) "Weisse" beers and the Bavarian (Southern German) "Weizen"
beers. In Germany, Berliner Weisse is a protected appellation
and can only be found on brews made in the area of Berlin (similar
to the way "Champagne" denotes to the French a particular area
of their country from which sparkling wine originates). It is
named "white" beer because of its lightness, especially in contrast
to the other beers historically available with Weisse. This "whiteness"
is also often associated with the natural haziness of a wheat
beer or with the yeastiness in an unfiltered Weisse. But this
style is definitely lighter than a Weizen, with a starting gravity
of no more than 1.032, usually made from 25% wheat malt and 75%
barley. After a normal top-fermented primary fermentation, it
is inoculated with a lactic strain in the secondary that gives
a very sour, tart finish to the finished brew.
It is easier
to find examples of the Bavarian Weizen style, both imported
from Germany or made by micro-breweries here in the States.
This is the highly-carbonated, fruity-tasting (often with notes
of banana or clove) cloudy brew that is frequently marketed
as hefe-weizen ("wheat beer with yeast" in German). These beers
use a higher proportion of wheat malt, usually 50-67%, and do
not go through the lactic fermentation that the Weisse beers
do. They are not as tangy as the Weisse beers, but they are
very distinct from other beer styles. The traditional
yeast strains used to ferment hefe-weizens produce several distinctive
phenols and esters, chemical compounds which impart strong flavor
and aroma. The flavors of these compounds are so unique and
assertive that when they are present in other beer styles they
are usually considered a sign of bad brewing practices or bacterial
infection.
American
Homebrewer's Association Style Guidelines
WHEAT BEER
Berliner
Weisse
German
Weizen/Weissbier
Color
Pale
Pale
to Golden
Body
Light/Dry
Light
to Medium
Flavor
Profile
Sharp
Lactic Sourness
Fruity/Estery
No
Diacetyl
Clove
and Banana Character
Fruity/Estery
Clove,
vanilla, nutmeg, smoke, and
cinammon-like phenolics OK.
Most wheat
extracts on the market are between 40% and 60% wheat, so when
you're buying a wheat extract you're really buying about 50% wheat
extract and 50% barley extract. This is actually just about ideal
for a tasty wheat beer. Ireks is the only brand we know of which
is 100% wheat. Whichever brand of extract you choose, keep in
mind that wheat beers are generally most distinguished by the
yeast strain used to brew them. We highly recommend using a liquid
yeast to brew this style of beer.
Brewing
from Grains:
There are a
few issues the grain brewer must confront when brewing with wheat.
Because
wheat is high in the proteins that create haziness in a finished
beer, you'll have to decide how important it is to have a clear
beer. Haziness, both from the wheat and from the yeast, is generally
accepted as a facet of the wheat beer style, but steps may be
taken to achieve greater clarity if the brewer so desires. Using
Irish Moss during the boil or clarifyers before bottling will
help remove much of the haze problem.
Because
wheat is low in the enzymes required for starch conversion,
it is generally recommended that barley be used in addition
to wheat, and preferably that the barley be a high-enzyme malt.
However, modern farming and malting methods have brought malted
barley to a very high level of quality and consistency, and
there is less of a need for choosing a high-enzyme malt. The
standard high-enzyme malt to accompany wheat in a grist is 6-Row
barley. But this has become less and less of an issue as the
quality and enzyme content of malted grains has improved.
Because
wheat has little to no husk, it cannot be relied upon to create
a good filter bed for sparging. This is usually counteracted
by using barley in addition to wheat. If you'd like to try a
100% wheat beer, you'll have to use rice hulls on the bottom
of your lauter tun.
Yeast!
Yeast! Yeast!
There's no
question about it, wheat beers provide one of the greatest examples
of the influence of yeast in brewing. The light flavor of wheat
beers, featuring very little malt or hop flavor whatsoever, sets
the perfect stage for beer yeasts to make their statement. And
the yeasts traditionally used for German Wheat beers definitely
have a lot to say. We recently did a side-by-side batch test with
the most commonly used German Wheat strains, the Bavarian Wheat
Yeast and the Weihenstephen Wheat Yeast from Wyeast Labs. Though
we expected there to be a considerable difference between the
styles, we were all a little surprised and how impressive the
difference was. Here's a summary of our results:
Bavarian
Wheat
WYEAST #3056
This
is a blend of traditional ale yeast and the characteristic
German Wheat Yeast. More sour, with hints of the banana/clove/vanilla
flavor. We found this to be rather bland alongside the Weihenstephen.
However, the same beer fermented with German Ale yeast would
probably be bland alongside this one. Our recommendation
is that you use this yeast to duplicate the American style
Hefe-Weizens or to get just a hint of the characteristic
German wheat yeast flavor to see if it suits you.
Weihenstephan
WYEAST #3068
Much
more pronounced banana/clove/vanilla flavor with added spiciness.
We all associated it with Paulaner's excellent German Hefe-Weizen.
Very low flocculation, as evidenced by extreme yeasty cloudiness.
This won our tast-test hands down. However, many of our
customers are put off by its distinctive flavors. Before
brewing a batch with Weihenstephen, we recommend you sample
a Paulaner Hefe-Weizen to get a feel for the unique characteristics
of this style.
