American Wheat vs. Hefeweizen

is there a major difference in these two styles, other than where the ingredients originated from? Techniques? philosophies of how each should taste? color? i want to make a wheat beer in the near future, and i would like to know more about them both.

razyrsharpe said:

is there a major difference in these two styles, other than where the ingredients originated from? Techniques? philosophies of how each should taste? color? i want to make a wheat beer in the near future, and i would like to know more about them both.

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I like to keep some wheat beers in the rotation and the difference between a Hefe and anything American is very large and it's due to the yeast character. The clove and banana phenols and esters are what make a hefe a hefe.

You can take the same girst and use a neutral american strain (US-05) and it won't even taste close. You'll get the wheaty taste from the grains, but it will be distinctly different from anything made with a hefe yeast.

For the record, I love both American and German Wheat beers of all sorts. I would recommend finding some commercial examples of both for some research.

Principle difference is in the yeast as indicated above, but also the hops. American Wheats seem to be a pretty wide style. I tend to think of them as either a Witbier or a Hefeweizen, without the distinctive yeast character (ie a cleaner American yeast). Sometimes they're spiced, sometimes they're not. Sometimes they're low on hops (while Hefes are always low on the hops), but sometimes they're fairly well hopped, somewhat like an American Pale Ale (or perhaps a Blonde Ale), but with a bunch of wheat in the grainbill.

So yeah. I'd say key difference is the yeast- you can't make a Hefe with clean American yeast and you can't make an American Wheat with Hefe yeast. But where Hefeweizen is a pretty narrow and restrictive style, American Wheats have much more room for interpretation.

just go out and buy something like a Boulevard Wheat (american) and a Paulaner hefeweizen, and try them side by side. you'll quickly notice the difference.

joshesmusica said:

just go out and buy something like a Boulevard Wheat (american) and a Paulaner hefeweizen, and try them side by side. you'll quickly notice the difference.

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^^^^^^That