Wheat Beer - Sophisticated Summer Drinking

Witbier, Weissbier, Wheat Beer, call it whatever you want. If you are looking for a drink with a great taste and you want to be up with the latest trend in beer then read on.

One of the big trends in the drinks industry to emerge over the last five years has been the popularity of wheat beers which are made from a mixture of wheat and barley rather than just barley alone.

The term wheat beer in the UK is not that well known as there are only a very limited number brands brewed locally. However terms more familiar to people are witbier from Belgium and weissbier from Germany. These two countries provide the bulk of the wheat beer drunk in the UK

Wheat beer is brewed with most of the sugars coming from malted wheat. Using wheat gives the beer a light, sweet flavour with a creamy texture and a good head. More importantly, the use of wheat and special brewing yeast provides a very distinct taste, being described as akin to spices and bananas. Its this that makes drinking wheat beer interesting, as every diffent brand offers a unique taste experience.

Probably one of the best known of all the wheat beers is the Belgian Hoegaarden, named after the location of the brewery in Flanders. The company making this beer was founded in 1966 by Pierre Celis, a former milkman. Celis had seen the last brewery in Hoegaard close in 1957 and always regretted the loss of the witbier that it brewed.

Celis started a farmhouse operation called the Cloisters (De Kluis, in Flemish) and based his famous brew on a recipe created by monks in 1445. To give the drink a very light body unmalted wheat is used and extra flavour is provided by the addition of coriander and dried curaçao orange peel.

Hoegaarden was purchased by Interbrew/Interbev (Stella Artois etc) in 1988 after a fire at the brewery, Celis retired and went to the USA but could not resist the lure of brewing and started making witbier again in Austin, Texas. The Hoegaarden brewery was closed in 2005 with the product now being made in Southern Belgium.

Hoegaarden continues to be a firm favourite and its ownership by a large corporation has made it universally popular and available. As an introduction to the pleasures of a wheat beer Hoegaarden is a very good starting point. Try it chilled, with a slice of lemon, it makes a great, refreshing drink in the summer.

The German weissbiers are primarily brewed in the southern part of the country. Depending on their region of origin naming variations appear on the bottle labels. So Weissbier (white beer) can change to Weizen (wheat) from some breweries and in Bavaria the beer is called Weißbier or Weiße. The term Hefeweizen (yeast wheat) on a label denotes that the yeast has not been filtered out. Other terms to look out for are Kristallweizen (clear wheat or filtered), Dunkelweizen (dark wheat) and Weizenbock (wheat high alcohol).

Good brands to buy as an introduction to German Weissbier are Erdinger Weissbier, Paulaner Hefweizen and Lowenbrau Hefe Weissbier.

Pouring and serving wheat beer is an art in itself. Most Belgian beer brands offer glasses of all different shapes. Hoegaarden, for example, has a squat, thick glass and most of the beer is sold in either 250ml or 330ml sizes. German beer tends to be sold in 500ml (half litre) bottles and the glasses are a more uniform shape, being tall and oversized to contain the head of froth that is created when poured. Serving German beer is slightly more complex and this is the method.

Firstly the beer should be well chilled, i.e. straight from the fridge. The inside of the glass should be rinsed with cold water, this helps to control the frothing. The glass should be held at an angle of 45 degrees and the beer poured slowly and carefully down the side of the glass. When there is about a quarter of the bottle left to pour, swill the beer in the bottle to mix the sediment. Finish pouring the beer, if the head is thin then pour straight in rather than down the side of the glass.

The result is almost a work of art. A glass glistening with condensation, holding an aromatic drink bursting with flavour and the promise of the ultimate pleasure of drinking it.

Do not be alarmed by the cloudy appearance of the beer, this is perfectly natural and is a combination of wheat proteins and yeast which give the beer its distinctive taste and aroma. If the thought of drinking cloudy beer is impossible then go for a Kristallweizen that is filtered.

Finally, take time when drinking. Sip the beer through the head and enjoy the smell, taste and aftertaste, it will never be a disappointment.

This article is just a brief introduction to a subject that is huge. There are literally hundreds of wheat beers produced in Europe. They cater for every possible palate and can be light or dark, weak or strong, winter warmers or summer coolers.

Just remember, if it’s a Belgian beer then the toast is ‘Op uw gezondheid’, if its German then a more precise ‘Prost’ or after three or four just plain ‘Cheers’

Article Source: http://www.theukarticledirectory.co.uk