is essentially a wheat-based version of a traditional barley wine. See barley wine. Brewers have surely made strong beers from wheat for millennia, from ancient Egypt to the American colonial period. However, the modern wheat wine style seems to have emerged out of the American craft brewing scene in the 1980s. There is no set convention regarding the proportion of wheat a wheat wine must contain, but it is generally accepted that the wheat portion should be at least half of the beer’s grain bill. Most brewers will ferment at moderate temperatures with British ale yeasts or more neutral American or Canadian strains. Because of the protein content of wheat and the resulting viscosity of the mash and wort, rice hulls are often employed in the mash. Compared with barley wines, most wheat wines are less aggressively hopped, but will still often have bitterness levels ranging from 50 to 70 International Bitterness Units. Most are deep gold to amber in color, have alcohol contents between 8.5% and 12%, and are full-bodied beers showing notable residual sugar. Wheat wines can be very fruity, but because wheat malt is lighter on the palate than barley malt, a certain bright elegance on the palate is generally preferred.