Serve in a pint at 4-7 °C
What it tastes like
If you have had a German hefeweizen, this is the beer that looks similar and tastes quite different. American brewers use a big share of wheat malt for the soft body and pale haze, but ferment with a clean ale yeast. So there is no banana, no clove, just bread dough, a little honey and whatever the hops bring.
That hop character can be gentle and floral or quite citrusy, depending on the brewery. Bitterness stays low to moderate. Some versions are filtered and clear, others left hazy; both are fine.
The style became common in American brewpubs in the 1980s and 1990s as a friendly first craft beer, and it plays that role well. It is often the base for fruit beers too, because a clean wheat beer does not clash with mango, watermelon or berries the way a spicy hefeweizen can.
Style profile
- Look
- Pale straw to light gold, clear or with a soft haze. A white, fluffy head that lasts.
- Aroma and flavour
- Fresh bread, light honey and grain from the wheat. Clean fermentation with no banana or clove. Low to moderate hop aroma, floral or citrus.
- Mouthfeel
- Light to medium body, soft and smooth from the wheat, lively carbonation and a dry finish.
- Ingredients
- Thirty to fifty per cent wheat malt with pale barley malt. American hops such as Cascade or Willamette. A clean American ale yeast, never a weizen strain.
In India
American wheat is an easy fit for Indian weather: light, soft, not too bitter and fine to drink cold on a hot afternoon. It is also a sensible beer for a crowd at a wedding or a cricket match, because it does not demand much of anyone. Wheat beers go stale faster than lagers, so buy fresh and keep it chilled. Brewers here often use it as the base for mango or jamun seasonals.
At the Indian table
Food pairings contributed by Anuradha Rao
- Pav bhajiThe bready wheat matches the buttered pav, and the bubbles clean up the spiced butter.
- Amritsari fish fryA light, clean beer lets the carom and gram flour batter shine while scrubbing the oil off your palate.
- Bhel puriTamarind, onion and crunch need a gentle beer that will not fight the sweet and sour chutneys.
- Aamras with puriRipe mango and a clean wheat beer are a natural match, which is why so many fruit beers start here.
Brewed in India
- Easy Rider, Arbor Brewing Company India source