Light/Wheat/Rye Ales
A very popular German Wheat beer that owes its flavor character not from hops or specialty malts, but from a marriage of wheat and yeast. Hefe (German for yeast) weizen (wheat) is medium body, cloudy, slightly tart, with a banana and clove flavor from the Wiehenstephan yeast. For those who like a milder flavor, changing the yeast to the Bavarian Wheat style, you get a mellower almost vanilla taste.
Most beer styles are formulated for extremes. Extreme hops, extreme malt, extreme alcohol. This beer is less. Without sacrificing flavor, this beer has a clean, light style and drinkable on those hot summer days when extreme beer won't due.
Simple and clean, easy to drink, always a crowd pleaser. These are just a few of the comments attributed to this beer. Not unlike Charlie Papazian's recipe for Crystal Honey Lager, this ale is as light as any commercial lager but with a distinct honey character and a fuller flavor with the addition of honey malt.
As you may be able to tell from the name, this is a German Ale originally brewed (by law) only in the town of Koln (Cologne). This is a light beer, very refreshing, not bitter, or hoppy. It isn’t a thin beer. I’ve added Munich and wheat malt to beef up the body so even at a 1.045 original gravity, the mouth feel isn’t weak. The Perle hops in the boil are just to help balance the beer and the aroma addition is at best faint. But you’ll see, a little will go a long way.