American Wheat Beer
American wheat beer: a pale, bready wheat ale with a clean yeast and more hops than a German Weissbier, first brewed by Anchor in 1984. Strength, taste and serving.
An American wheat beer pours pale yellow to gold, from brilliant to hazy, under a big, long-lasting white head. It tastes of bread, dough or grain from the wheat, with a low to moderate bitterness and a citrus, spicy, floral or fruity hop. Its yeast ferments clean, so it has none of the banana and clove of a German Weissbier. Light in body and lively, it runs at 4–5.5% alcohol.
Where it comes from
American craft brewers adapted the Weissbier with a cleaner yeast and more hops. Anchor of San Francisco brewed the first in 1984, and Widmer Brothers made the style popular. Bell’s Oberon and Goose Island 312 are among the BJCP’s examples.
How to serve it
Pour it at 4–7 °C into a flute; a lemon wheel is the American habit. It goes with salads and seafood, goat’s cheese or fruit desserts.
Next to its neighbours
It has more hop and less yeast character than a Weissbier, and the strength and balance of a blonde ale, with wheat as the main malt flavour.
American Wheat Beer in numbers
- Classic examples
- Cervecería del Valle Sagrado, Anchor Brewing, Bell's Brewery, Goose Island Beer Company
- Original gravity
- 1.040–1.055
- Final gravity
- 1.008–1.013
- Food
- Salads and seafood; goat's cheese; fruit desserts
- Classic examples
- Bell's Oberon; Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale; Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer; Widmer Hefeweizen
- BJCP style
- 1D American Wheat Beer
Sources
Checked .
- 1D. American Wheat Beer, 2021 Beer Style Guidelines — Beer Judge Certification Program
- American Wheat — CraftBeer.com, Brewers Association
