Wheat, Wit and White Beer

Wheat beer has been produced for centuries by countless brewers in countries across the world, with individual styles emerging and disappearing. What stays constant is the use of wheat in their production, though it’s never the only grain which goes into the beer. It’ll come along with its ol' faithful friend barley - usually about 30% to 70% of a wheat beer will be wheat.

Surprisingly, wheat doesn't often bring a lot of flavour to the table, but it certainly does affect the general personality of the beer. These days, you’ll mostly find wheat beers coming from either Germany or from Belgium, though there have been a few coming from the UK and the USA in recent years.

In Germany, wheat beer is deeply connected to Bavaria, and must be top-fermented. Hefeweizen is also produced here, much in the same style though these are bottled conditioned (the clue here is that 'hefe' is the German word for 'yeast'). In Belgium, wheat beers are more spiced affairs, as many are made with the addition of herbs, spices and even citrus peels.