Avoid All Wheat Beer Brands, Except These 10

What is your favorite type of beer? For me, an ice-cold hazy IPA always hits the spot. However, I had a taste for a crisp wheat beer with a slice of citrus fruit when I was younger. In a Statista beer survey from 2022, people listed lager (43%), pale ale (31%), pilsner (24%), and wheat beer (23%) as their go-to options. If you're a wheat beer enthusiast, you're in good company. I am exploring the best wheat beer brands sold in stores across the country.

According to the Brewers Association, U.S. and imported beer production fell 5% in 2023. The only markets that improved were small and independent brewers. Craft beer sales reached $28.9 billion in the U.S. Yet, that's still a fraction of the $117 billion in U.S. beer sales for 2023.

When it comes to beers made using wheat there are seven categories on Beer Advocate:(For the sake of the beer rankings, I'm removing beers that are classified as wheat wine.)

• American Dark Wheat
• American Pale Wheat
• Dunkelweizen
• Grodziskie
• Hefeweizen
• Kristallweizen
• Witbier

To find the wheat beer brands with the highest ratings, I analyzed reviews and ratings on Beer Advocate for each category. As I narrowed down the list, I eliminated beer reviews where fewer than 100 people rated them. The 10 best wheat beers are ranked by overall rating in descending order so that the absolute best wheat beer is the final beer in the list presented on 24/7 Wall Street. (After this article, check out The Oldest Beer Crafted in the US.)

• Average Rating: 4.14
• Number of Raters: 221
• Style: American Pale Wheat
• ABV: 5.8%

This pale wheat beer comes from Decorah, Iowa. Toppling Goliath won the 2021 U.S. Beer Open Grand National Championship. It's a brewery founded back in 2009 that produced a wheat IPA that deserved high praise. People rave over Thresher's floral notes and hoppy finish.

• Average Rating: 4.15
• Number of Raters: 1,825
• Style: Witbier
• ABV: 5.5%

This Belgian beer company is well-known for its unfiltered wheat beer brewed following traditional techniques. It's a collaboration with master brewer Pierre Celis of Hoegaarden fame. Reviewers praise it for its golden color, wheat, lemongrass, and clove notes. It's a crushable witbier that's good at any time of the year, but especially on hot summer days.

Located in St. Louis, Missouri, Perennial Artisan Ales came up with a well-received witbier with floral and lemon notes. It's wheat-forward and has a slight sourness and peppery tang. The brewery doesn't list it as currently available, but they offer Daydreaming with an ABV of 4.7% as a close alternative.

• Average Rating: 4.18
• Number of Raters: 131
• Style: Witbier
• ABV: 5%

Amarillo hops take center stage on this American wheat beer from Munster, Indiana. Gumballhead earned a score of 93 from Beer Advocate. Reviewers call it crisp and refreshing with strong hints of lemon and stone fruit. Dry hopping gives it notes of bitterness and flavor that make it very reminiscent of an IPA.

• Average Rating: 4.19
• Number of Raters: 6,428
• Style: American Pale Wheat
• ABV: 5.6%

Almost every reviewer says the same thing about New Glarus Brewing Company's hefeweizen. It's a very wheat-forward beer. It's hazy and fermented in the bottle over time. While the ABV is higher than normal, it doesn't matter as the flavor of cloves, banana, and even bubble gum sweetness help it stand out. Sadly, it seems that the Wisconsin brewery retired Dancing Man. Try the seasonal Wisconsin Belgian Red cherry ale for a fruit-forward Belgian instead.

• Average Rating: 4.21
• Number of Raters: 1,451
• Style: Hefeweizen
• ABV: 7.2%

Germany is well-known for its wheat beers, so it's not surprising to find this brewery near the top of the rankings. It comes from the oldest brewery in the world, which means you're getting a recipe that has pleased crowds for centuries. It's a beer I've had many times, and I agree with other raters. The banana notes are present as the flavor of dark wheat bread and bitterness from the hops reveal themselves.

• Average Rating: 4.25
• Number of Raters: 3,403
• Style: Dunkelweizen (Dark German Wheat Beer)
• ABV: 5.3%

Trillium's score from Beer Advocate is an impressive 95, and Trillium deserves its huge following of fans. This Massachusetts brewery ships beers to certain states, which makes it easier to get hold of. Beer drinkers say that the wheat beer's citrus and tropical fruit flavors pair well with the notes of wheat and herbs, plus a complementing bitterness from the hops.

• Average Rating: 4.26
• Number of Raters: 487
• Style: American Pale Wheat
• ABV: 6.4%

Missouri's Side Project Brewing was born from a passion for both quality beers and wines. This witbier is aged in chardonnay barrels for months. It is a surprisingly refreshing beer with its notes of orange peel and coriander. Reviewers praise it for its creaminess, floral notes, and slight tartness.

• Average Rating: 4.31
• Number of Raters: 104
• Style: Witbier
• ABV: 5%

Austin, Texas, enters the list with a hefeweizen that delivers an impressively thick head. It's brewed to be a traditional take on Bavarian wheat beers, and it delivers in style. One whiff brings banana, clove, and vanilla to mind. It's not an overly sweet beer, but it gets rave reviews for smelling similar to a loaf of fresh wheat bread.

• Average Rating: 4.34
• Number of Raters: 1,858
• Style: Hefeweizen
• ABV: 5.3%

Florida's Civil Society Brewing is ranked 96 by Beer Advocate, landing it at the top of this list. Drinkers rave over the creaminess, Citra hops, and noticeable orange rind essence. Some liken it to an orange-forward IPA, though it is a wheat beer. There are variations of it that increase the ABV, too.

• Average Rating: 4.36
• Number of Raters: 288
• Style: American Pale Wheat
• ABV: 6.3%

Breweries,  especially the smaller ones, do change their menus randomly from one season to the next. While the best wheat beer brands may not be offering what you want right now, check back. You never know when they'll return. (Next, read about 10 Cheap Beer Brands That Are Actually Good.)