In bavaria, there’s a popular brunch tradition of washing down sausages and pretzels with tall glasses of crisp, refreshing wheat beer. Beer for breakfast? Absolutely.

Wheat beer is brewed from barley—as are most beers—and wheat. The wheat both lightens the beer’s body and contributes different flavors, most often citrusy, yeasty, or toasty notes. Light and lively, with flavor to spare, wheat beers are not only delicious to drink early in the day, but they’re also among the most summer-friendly beers around.

名称游戏

There are three styles of wheat beer—Bavarian, Belgian, and American (the geographic reference helps beer drinkers identify the style of the beer, not necessarily where it’s produced). No one is quite sure why, but the Bavarian and Belgian styles have always been called “white beers” (American wheats are the exception—they’re simply known as wheat ales). Some attribute the nickname to the beer’s hazy appearance and pale hue, which is said to shimmer and look almost white in the sunlight. But whatever the back story, the white beer theme is reflected in the slew of names that appear on wheat beer labels: white beer, wit (white), or bière blanche (white beer in French) for the Belgian style, and weissbier (white beer) or weisse (white) for Bavarian-style wheats.

Slideshow:看看我们买家小麦啤酒指南对于每种样式的首选。

巴伐利亚风格

巴伐利亚·魏斯比尔（Bavarian Weissbier）是今天整个德国乃至整个世界的数百年风格。这是一种典型的多云啤酒，这要归功于生产过程中啤酒中留下的营养和美味的沉积物，它具有果味，辣味和香气 - 考虑到香蕉和新鲜的柠檬，丁香和黑胡椒。但是，不要让这些口味误导您 - 生产过程中没有添加水果或香料。与德国酿造的传统保持一致，这种饮料风格的所有啤酒都是小麦和大麦（有时多达80％的小麦至20％的大麦），啤酒花，水和酵母。酵母是造成这些果味和辛辣的味道的原因，以及这种风格的其他流行名称Hefeweizen（“ H​​efe”表示酵母，“ Weizen”的意思是小麦）。

比利时的方式

Unlike Bavarian-style wheats, wheat beers made in the Belgian style do have spices added to them, namely coriander seed and bitter-orange peel. Brewed from about two-thirds barley and one-third wheat, this combination produces very pale, cloudy beers with light body and fruity-peppery character. They’re incredibly lively and refreshing.Likely dating back to at least the Middle Ages, Belgian wheat beer fell out of fashion by the mid-1960s due to the popularity of lagers and other beers. But a young Flemish brewer, Pierre Celis, rescued the style from near-obscurity by creating Hoegaarden White, a global top-seller today. In fact, the Belgian-style wheat beer is so popular that having Hoegaarden or some other Belgian style wheat on tap is almost de rigueur for any bar that’s serious about its beer selection, particularly in the summertime.

美国制造

美国式的小麦啤酒（称为小麦啤酒）在1980年代开始，当时美国的手工艺酿造才刚刚开始。当天的大多数新微型酿酒厂都产生了大胆的英国风格啤酒，主要是为了与啤酒酿造的巨人Anheuser-Busch，Coors和Miller区分开。但是，随着时间的流逝，其中一些微型酿酒厂的远见卓识认为，提供更轻，更主流的啤酒将是有益的。因此，他们在啤酒食谱中加入了一些小麦（从最低10％的小麦到50％或更高），形成新鲜，浅色的小麦啤酒。这些新的小麦啤酒提供新鲜的麦芽香气和干燥的柠檬麦芽味。

Some brewery owners, trying to evoke the imagery of the iconic Bavarian beer hall, christened these new wheat ales “hefeweizens,” even though the beer wasn’t fermented with Bavarian yeast and had no notes of banana or clove. Although it’s much less common today, if you come across an Americanbrewed bottle labeled “hefeweizen,” also look for the words “Bavarian style” or “German style” if you want rich banana and spice flavors. If those words aren’t there, you’ve got yourself a true-to-style citrusy wheat ale.

喝酒

Thanks to their refreshing flavor, wheat beers are one of the fastest-growing beer styles on the market. Beer-drinking food lovers know why: Brunch traditions aside, wheat beers pair well with all sorts of summer fare, from quiches to chilled seafood, fruit salads to grilled meats. Light, fresh, and delicious, wheat beers are like summer in a bottle.