Beer Style Guide: Get to know American Wheat Beer with Em Sauter
American Wheat Beers are the quintessential 1980’s style of beer. It was born out of a desire to show American brewing standards while evolving an Old World style (with some confusion thanks in part to the Americans). Although its popular heyday has passed, now the American Wheat Beer is an excellent summertime seasonal and made by many large, regional craft breweries and macro facilities as well as local brewpubs.
The most well-known American Wheat Beer comes from Widmer Bros. in Portland, OR. Many look to their beer as the “proto” beer style- similar to how Guinness invented the Dry Irish Stout. They called their style of wheat beer a Hefeweizen, despite the fact that it is NOT a Hefeweizen. Other breweries followed suit, so there are some old-time brands, mostly in the Western United States, that have their beers labeled as Hefeweizens when they are actually American Wheat Beers. When you order one not knowing, the flavor differences can be quite jarring.
What’s the difference? Hefeweizen is a beer style from Southern Germany made with an expressive ale yeast strain that gives the beer a flavor of clove and banana. American Wheat Beers are made with neutral American ale yeast (or even lager yeast!) and thus have none of these distinct characteristics.
Hefeweizens are also usually made with more malted wheat in their recipes (50% or more while the rest is pilsner malt) while American Wheat Beers are usually made with about 30% malted wheat while the rest is pale 2-row malt.
Tasting Notes
There’s a crisp, drinkability to this style and flavors/aromas when hoppiness isn’t the dominant factor that is more wheat-driven, similar to bread dough or pizza crust. Older versions like Widmer Hefeweizen would have a more floral, earthy hop character from hops like Willamette while new iterations of the style focus on American or Southern Hemisphere hop varieties with flavors of grapefruit, mango, or melon. Fruit additions are also perfect for this beer like raspberry or citrus. American Wheat Beers are great on the hoppier side since their flavors/aromas are neutral and let the hop flavor really shine. When they are hoppier, they almost are reminiscent of a New England-style beer as the wheat malt creates that nice haze.
Food Pairings
Since many of the American Wheat Beers nowadays have summer seasonality, lighter summer fare goes perfectly with this style. It’s a great beer to have with a crisp salad as its drinkability won’t interfere with any component of the dish. It’s also a great beer to have with fish as its low bitterness won’t clash with the meal. American Wheat Beers are also excellent beach beers and since they thrive on drinkability; it’s a great gateway beer for new drinkers.
Beers to Try
The beer that started it all. Widmer has struggled in recent years, losing its dominant position in West Coast drinks to smaller brands. But it is still being made and is worth a try if you want to taste the original.
Michigan-based Bell’s summer seasonal is a must-try and probably the best example of the style being made today. When Oberon is released in springtime, it can only mean that summer is around the corner.
Connecticut-based Two Roads’ summer seasonal is Road Jam, an American Wheat Beer made with fresh raspberry and lemongrass. Although fruited, it's a dry beer that encapsulates summer in New England. This beer shows that American Wheat Beers are an excellent base for any additions - fruit, spice, hops, and anything else breweries are throwing in nowadays (people are getting creative!).