I'm confused about wheat styles

[gtpro]

So here I am with an empty primary, feeling a bit empty myself and I'm looking to brew something light and refreshing, perhaps citrusy for Spring. I would like to dabble in the wheat beer category but I'm not sure where to go.

I love Belgian "wit" i.e. Hoegaarden, but I do not like Hefeweizen i.e. Widmer, are these styles one in the same? What is the differerences in composition? And if anybody can recommend recipes thats all the better.

Thanks fellas.

 

[Edcculus]

The BJCP guides are a great place to start:

There are a few wheat based beer styles:
Hefeweizen
Witbier
American Wheat
Dunkelweizen
Weizenbock

Hefeweizen and Witbier are two very different styles. Witbier contains a portion of unmalted wheat. They are also spiced with Coriander, orange peel and sometime chamomile. Both beers also use different yeast. Hefeweizen yeast give off a lot of bananna and clove esters, while yeast used in Wits contributes more phenols classic in Belgian ales.

Sounds like you aren't looking for Dunkelweizen or Weizenbock, just wanted to mention those.

Hope this helps.

 

[gtpro]

Thank you, I'll check those out.

 

[Retrofit]

I think Hefe's are a great example of the influence a yeast has on a beer. I was short on a yeast one day while making an Octoberfest. LOL, so I used a Hefe yeast. Anyway, it was an ok beer, but the clover and bannana elements were obvious. One thing you might consider is that you may like wheats, but not wheats plus certain yeasts (style) of beer.

What I've learned is I'm a fan of American Wheats, Wit's, but not so much of Hefe's. Maybe you want to go to the brew store, make a 'pick your own' 6 pack of all wheat, different styles, and figure out which styles you like (and dislike). This might help you figure out which yeast (beer) you like (want to brew).

Hope it helps

 

[Edcculus]

Yes. Unmalted wheat has a lot more protein than malted wheat. Hefeweizens are also cloudy from the prodigious use of wheat malt and yeast left in suspension. IMO, unmalted wheat gives a "brighter" or "whiter" turbidity to the beer.

 

[Brewkowski]

Light citrusy and refreshing? American Wheat with Sorachi and Amarillo?

 

[menschmaschine]

Or for something a little different, check out this thread on a historic wheat beer that I brewed. It was a very refreshing beer without any "in your face" wheat or yeast flavors that I would definitely brew again.

 

[Djlunchbox]

i am drinking a witbier that i brewed in december as i type this. in my opinion, it has a really strong wheat flavor finish. a completely different flavor then when it first hits your mouth. cool factor, yes, but the wheat is almost a little killer here. its definately worth a try if thats the flavor you are looking for.

 

[Retrofit]

Light citrusy and refreshing? American Wheat with Sorachi and Amarillo?

Wheat and Sorachi is in my fermentor right now! You're like... a mind reader!

 

[remilard]

Just for the record, Widmer Hefeweizen is not a classic example of Hefeweizen, rather it is a classic example of American Wheat which is a wheat beer made with a normal ale yeast rather than idiosyncratic german wheat beer yeast.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Just for the record, Widmer Hefeweizen is not a classic example of Hefeweizen, rather it is a classic example of American Wheat which is a wheat beer made with a normal ale yeast rather than idiosyncratic german wheat beer yeast.

I'm not that big on Widmer. It's OK, as a lightish ale, but it certainly is no Hefe.

If I brew an American Wheat, it's usually a fruit beer. Next one is going to be a Sunset Wheat clone. Hopefully with fewer "Fruity Pebbles" notes.

American Wheats work great with citrus. Brew one up, with a nice neutral yeast like US-05. While it's fermenting, zest the citrus of your choice, and put the zest in a small glass container with an ounce or so of vodka. At bottling or kegging, add the strained vodka. I made a great Lime Wheat that way.

 

[gtpro]

Just for the record, Widmer Hefeweizen is not a classic example of Hefeweizen, rather it is a classic example of American Wheat which is a wheat beer made with a normal ale yeast rather than idiosyncratic german wheat beer yeast.

I realize this, as far as classic examples I've tried Weihanstephaner Weiss, they just arent my style.

 

[kryolla]

weis has some sourness to it, for a hefe I like Paulaner and the difference between a wit and a hefe is coriander and orange in a wit and hefe there is none. German brewing does not believe in adding anything extra like coriander and orange peels.

 

[Headcase]

The Weihanstephaner Weiss is way too sour for my taste. Paulaner Hefeweisen is by far my favorite, though to completely apreciate it you need to drink it in Germany while it's fresh. It's SOOO much better!

 

[MonkeyWrench]

My first beer was just wheat DME, cascade hops, lemon zest and white labs american hefe. Pretty decent. The yeast didn't leave much in the way of cloves. Pretty clean and lightly wheaty.

On a recent episode of Basic Brewing Radio, a listener and new brewer made a 5gal batch of pale and transfered into 6 one gal jugs. Then pitched 6 different yeasts. Fermented and bottled the same and labeled. Then he tasted each along with the guys on the show. They covered the labels and tried to guess each. Interesting experiment. A bit spendy to do, but at least you might want to consider doing the same so you can see what you like and don't of each strand.