Malt & Grain

What grain is Weißbier made from? Mainly wheat malt, with barley malt added. Erdinger Weißbräu lists its ingredients as water, wheat malt, barley malt, hops, and yeast. An industry rule of thumb calls for at least half wheat malt, though no verified legal text on this appears in this material.

Malt is made by soaking grain in water and letting it germinate until it develops enzymes, then drying it. This drying is called kilning. Kiln it pale, and you get light malt with a bready aroma; kiln it longer and hotter, and you get caramel or roasted notes.

According to the brewery, Erdinger Weißbräu's Urweiße uses a caramel malt that delivers its robust, full-bodied note. Dark Weizenbier gets its color from darkly kilned malt. Pale Weißbier needs only light malts, so the beer stays golden-yellow to pale amber.

Wheat behaves differently in the brewhouse than barley. It has no husks, the outer shells that otherwise act as a filter during lautering, the separation of the wort from the spent grain. Brewers therefore work more carefully and let the wort run off more slowly.

That the brewery carefully selects its wheat and barley is one of its claims. Where the grain comes from isn't documented here. No malthouse in Erding itself is claimed.

In the end, flavor comes down to the interplay. Wheat gives the beer its soft, slightly tangy note and creamy head, barley its body and color. Together they create the image everyone associates with a Weißbier glass in hand. So anyone drinking Weißbier is really tasting two grains at once.