Wheat Beer

White beer and wheat beer are the same thing, produced primarily in Belgium and Germany. Belgian wheat ales are called Wit (white) and are very different from those produced in Germany and the U.S.. In Germany, wheat beers are best known throughout the south, the name changing from Weizen in the western (Swabian) regions to Weißbier or Weiße in Bavaria. Hefeweizen (Media:Hefeweizen.ogg) is a German variety in which the yeast is not filtered out, though Kristallweizen (filtered), Dunkelweizen (dark) and Weizenstarkbier (higher alcohol content) varieties are also available.

Here is a recommendation for how to drink wheat beers:

All bottled wheat beers are drunk with yeast. The sediment should be swirled in the bottom of the bottle and added after most of the beer has been poured into the glass.

Most wheat beers are sweet, except Berliner Weisse:

[Wheat] beers are also sweeter than other types. The one exception are the Berlin Weisse (Media:Berlinerweisse.ogg) beers, which are rather sour, and usually have fruit syrups added to them. If you can, try Berliner Weisse without fruit syrup - it's very interesting!

German translation and pronunciation

Bier

beer

Hefe

yeast

Weiß (weisse)

white

Weizen

wheat

Resources

• Continental Beer Styles: Weisse
• Wikipedia:Wheat_beer
• Pronunciation of Brewing Terms