Creamy Wheat Beer

[maggusachin]

I was in a discussion and someone told me that wheat beer must be creamy.

How true is that, i always believed my wheat beer as fruity, with good aroma and taste of spices...

Guide me on it.

 

[Homercidal]

Moved to the forum for discussing beer.

I think there are many different kinds of wheat beer. Hefeweizen, American Wheat, Krystalweizen, Witbier, Wheat beer with fruit, etc. There is no one answer.

Wheat is merely one ingredient option for making beers. It's no different from Pilsner, Pale, Rye, Munich, Vienna, etc. It's just one variable you could use as much of, or as little of, as you like. Make it dark, dry, full, spicy, sweet, fruity, whatever.

Use it for the characteristics it gives, but don't let it lock you into a single kind of beer. You can make MANY different kinds of beers using wheat as some of the fermentable.

 

[theowlman16]

I think people often mistake a big white fluffy head for "creamy".

 

[McGarnigle]

Do not put cream in your wheat beer!

I do think the good German Hefes I've had tend to feel "creamy" in body. Certainly, they don't feel thin, even given the relatively low ABV.

A light touch with carbonation probably helps. I don't think of highly fizzy beers as creamy.

 

[worlddivides]

There is a character that a large percentage of wheat will give to a beer (for example, 40%, 50%, 60%, or higher) that is quite different from, say, what barley would give, but I don't think "creamy" is the word for it. I don't really know what the right word is, but "creamy" makes me think of something that I have never ever tasted in a wheat ale. Ever.

I made a Berliner Weisse a couple months back that was close to 50% wheat, and it has a very smooth, mellow taste. I guess I could see someone calling that "creamy," but I would just say that descriptor is a mistake.

As for your "fruity with good aroma and spices," there are wheat ale styles like that, but it has less to do with the wheat and more to do with the higher temperature at which it's fermented at. I imagine you're thinking predominantly of Hefeweizen and other similar beers that have tastes along the lines of cloves, banana, and vanilla (all by-products that are produced at higher fermentation temperatures).

 

[JordanKnudson]

When folks use the "creamy" descriptor, they are generally referring to texture, not taste. Wheat adds plenty of protein, which often comes through as a smooth mouthfeel that some people call creamy. But again, that's a texture. You don't want the taste to be of cream (unless perhaps you're making some sort of wheat beer with lactose...and even then...)

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I think of creamy as describing texture/mouthfeel and of course fruity etc are flavors and aromas. As far as what characteristics a beer should have, there are guidelines that should be represented especially in competition, but individual likes and dislikes are why we brew what we brew. As Homercidal pointed out there are variations of wheat beers each with their style. We always like complements about our beer, but whatever you hear remember it is only feedback you can make adjustments or not. It's your beer.

 

[maggusachin]

Thanks all for great replies...how about dry after taste or dry finish ? I always feel my wheat beer leaves a strong after taste either fruity or spicy or however the recipe is used ?

 

[JordanKnudson]

Thanks all for great replies...how about dry after taste or dry finish ? I always feel my wheat beer leaves a strong after taste either fruity or spicy or however the recipe is used ?

That's not the same part of the experience as the "creaminess" (which is, again, a texture or mouthfeel).

The dry finish simply means that your beer is well attenuated (a beer with a full mouthfeel can still finish dry), or possibly displaying some astringency, although I think the former is more likely.

Fruity and spicy are tongue tastes, and in the case of a wheat beer, are likely contributions of the yeast.

When you say these things about your wheat beer:
1. Creamy texture/mouthfeel
2. Dry finish
3. Fruity (ester) and spicy (phenolic) taste
...my immediate thought is, "damn, that's a good witbier."