Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat

Brewers use wheat ales and lagers as base beers, since they are generally lightly hopped, and malted or unmalted wheat in the grain bill can allow the sometimes delicate fruit essences to show through more desirably than with 100 percent barley malt. Brewers may also use pale Belgian styles, or, at the other end of the color spectrum, porters and stouts as the bases for their fruit-flavored beers.

Fruit character ranges from mild to intense, and brewers can select from a long list of fruits for their desired beer flavor. Popular fruits include cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, peaches and pomegranates. Beers with fruits associated with herbs and/or spices, such as juniper berry and elderberry, may be classified in the Herbed/ Spiced Beer style. Porters and stouts may be classified as their base beer style rather than as a Fruit Beer, depending on the balance of flavors.