Wheat beer or Weizen is a beer that is brewed with a significant proportion of malted wheat. It is common for wheat beers to also contain malted barley. The addition of wheat lends wheat beers a light flavour and pale colour. Wheat beers are usually top-fermented (in Germany they have to be by law). Wheat beer is distinguished by its creamy texture and sweet flavor, which is said to have overtones of banana and clove.

Hefeweizen is a German style of wheat beer in which the yeast is not filtered out. Though Kristallweizen (clear), Dunkelweizen (dark) and Weizenstarkbier (higher alcohol content) varieties are available, they are not considered true hefeweizen unless left unfiltered. The filtration which takes the yeast out of Kristallweizen also strips the wheat proteins which make Hefeweizen cloudy. Bavarian weizen beers are fermented with a special strain of top-fermenting yeast, which is largely responsible for the distinctive flavor.