by Roger Bergen

Republished by permission from BrewingTecniques'
'Brewing in Styles' column, May/June 1993.


A UNIQUE STYLE
American wheat beer is a brand new style, invented by specialty brewers in the United States only about 10 years ago. It may even stretch the definition of "style," for nowhere is the creativity and diversity of America's craft brewers better displayed than in the new wheat beers. Every brewer has closely held ideas about what constitutes a good wheat beer, and some are highly idiosyncratic; nevertheless, some common defining characteristics can be identified. In general, most American wheat beers are intended to be light summer thirst quenchers, yet they are imbued with the unique, refreshing flavor of wheat malt. They are something like German wheat beers, but without the spicy/phenolic character of the distinctive weizenbier/weissbier yeast culture.

Some brewers, especially on the West Coast, opt for fuller flavored, hoppier interpretations that are derived more from American pale or golden ales than from German Weizenbier. A case could be made for giving these "wheat ales" their own subcategory. Some of these are notably fine beers that have achieved good market acceptance. Dark and bock versions are not unknown, and one brewer (Rubicon Brewing Company, Sacramento, California) has produced an excellent "wheat wine" that must surely rank as one of the most unique beers in America. I believe that the terms weizen and weisse should be reserved for true German-style wheat beers, but we live in a free country, and terms are used quite liberally.


HISTORY
Wheat malt was known but little used in 19th century American brewing. In Germany, wheat beer brewing was being eclipsed by the new lager beers, and many unique regional wheat styles were going extinct, so German wheat beers never gained a foothold in America. The one exception was the intensely lactic Berliner Weisse, a popular style in Germany at the time; evidently some immigrants brought a taste for it with them. This beer has traditionally been made with one-half to two-thirds wheat malt. American-brewed versions, however, used corn adjuncts and relied solely on the lactic culture as their claim to the style. American-brewed Berliner Weisse was probably extinct by Prohibition and was not revived afterwards.

German wheat beer grew in popularity after World War II, especially in the 1970-1980s, so that weizen beer now rivals conventional lager beers in Bavaria. The wheat beer revival reached America in the form of exports, and home brewers and beer connoisseurs began to be interested in wheat beers. To the best of my knowledge, the first new commercial American wheat beer was brewed by Anchor Brewing Company of San Francisco in 1983 for the fifth anniversary of its new brewery. Anchor Wheat Beer contains 60% wheat malt and Hallertauer hops, is fermented with Anchor's ale yeast, and is filtered. The rest, as they say, is history.


STYLE CHARACTERISTICS
American wheat beer does not use the traditional German weizenbier/weissbier yeast. The whole point of American wheat beer is to avoid the typical spicy/phenolic character of German wheat beers, which many brewers and beer drinkers find objectionable or unsaleable. Most micro and pub brewers use a conventional ale yeast, but doubtless there are bottom-fermented versions in use. The quick production cycle of conventional ale fermentation is welcome in the summer brewing crunch. Filtration is optional. The wheat malt character is much more pronounced in unfiltered beers.

Wheat malt is used in proportions of 25-70% of the grist; 40-60% is common. In wheat beers, the wheat malt is a major flavor component rather than a minor grist constituent to improve head retention. Dextrin malt and the paler caramel malts may be used with restraint in pale wheat beers. Amber, dark, bock, and high-gravity variations are possibilities for the adventurous wheat beer brewer.

Wort gravities range from 9 to 13 degrees P (specific gravity 1.036-1.053) or higher; 10 to 12 degrees P (1.040-1.048) is typical. Bitterness ranges from perhaps 12-20 IBU for the lighter summer thirst-quencher types up to 30 IBU or more for heavier bodied, ale-like versions and high-gravity beers. Finishing hops may be absent, restrained, or fairly pronounced but are seldom used as lavishly as in West Coast pale ales.


MATERIALS
The one defining ingredient of wheat beers is wheat malt. Unmalted wheat is used in some Belgian styles and also as a conventional cereal adjunct in various parts of the world, but wheat beer requires wheat malt. The nature of wheat malt is central to the joys and perils of brewing wheat beer.

Wheat differs from barley in that it has no husk, which has several important consequences. First, wheat is more difficult to malt than barley, because great care must be taken not to break the exposed acrospire during turning and kilning. Second, wheat malt has a higher potential extract than barley malt. Third, the lack of husks as a filtering material means that lautering tends to be tricky. Finally, relative to conventional all-barley mashes, there is less danger of picking up husk flavors with prolonged or excessive hot sparging.

The other important thing about wheat malt is that it contains considerably more protein than barley malt, often about 14-18%, and the glutenous nature of wheat protein causes considerable haze as well as promoting terrific head formation and retention. Conversion is not a problem, because wheat malt contains ample diastase (but see comments on milling, below). Most wheat malts are produced from relatively low-protein white spring wheats. One U.S. maltster uses hard red winter wheat, which has a higher protein content and is a little harder to mill but otherwise gives satisfactory results.