The Bruery Goses Are Red

Because wheat has more protein than barley, it helps create a bigger, longer-lasting head on the beer—a distinguishing feature of most wheat beer styles, such as Hefeweizen. Wheat also contributes to a smooth, silky mouth-feel.

Wheat’s neutral qualities make it a terrific base grain that lets brewers use additional ingredients to influence aromas and flavors in their wheat beers, and produce their own wheat beer style.

Of wheat beer’s notable ingredients, yeast is the defining one in many of the best wheat beers. Most are brewed with a specific ale yeast strain, such as Hefeweizen ale yeast. Left unfiltered with the yeast in suspension, the fruity esters, aroma and flavor compounds (phenols) produced during fermentation are signal characteristics of wheat beers.