An Ameican twist to the German Wheat beers, this style can be produced as an ale or lager and covers a range of colors, normally golden to amber, but sometimes darker like the German Dunkelweizens. Unlike a German Hefeweizen, the American Wheat is often (but not always) filtered and lacks the ester (normally banana) and phenolic (normally clove) aromas and flavors obtained with German yeast strains. The malt component normally (but not always) consists of 50% or more wheat and the hopping can be light to heavy, more often falling in the moderate to heavy range. The flavors of American wheats are diverse with various combinations of graininess, malt sweetness, hop bitterness, and citrusy character, and acidic and / or dry mouthfeels are often achieved.
