Wheat Beer - Names and Types

Names and Types

According to the place in which the beer is brewed and small variations on the recipe, several different names are used for wheat beer:

• Weißbier, short Weiße: these terms are used almost exclusively in the southern German state of Bavaria. "Weiss" is German for "white".
• Weizenbier, short Weizen: these names are used to indicate the same thing. "Weizen" is German for "wheat".
• Hefeweissbier or Hefeweizen: "Hefe" is the German word for yeast. The prefix is added to indicate that the beer is bottle-conditioned (unfiltered) and thus might have sediment.
• Kristallweissbier or Kristallweizen: if the weissbier is filtered, the beer will look "clear" (or "kristall").
• Dunkles Weissbier or Dunkles Weizen: a dark version of a wheat beer ("dunkel" is the German word for "dark").
• Weizenbock is a wheat beer made in the bock style originating in Germany. An example of this style is Aventinus, made by the G. Schneider & Sohn brewery in Kelheim, Germany.
• Witbier or simply Wit: Dutch language name for the Belgian style of wheat beer.
• La bière blanche (Literally, "white beer"): The French language name for this type of beer.