is part of a growing German market for light versions of beer styles usually produced as vollbier, or beer of moderate alcoholic strength. “Leicht” means “light” in German, and leichtes weissbier is a light version of the classic Bavarian weissbier or hefeweizen. These beers mirror their heavier brethren in most ways, using a grist of more than 50% wheat malt, but are brewed to original gravities as low as 7° Plato and up to 10° Plato. The lower original gravity results in a beer with an alcohol by volume of 2.5% to 3.5%. Leichtes weissbier uses the same yeast strains as regular weissbier and therefore shows the classic phenolic and estery weisse flavors—bananas, cloves, and perhaps a whiff of bubblegum and smoke—although these are naturally subdued. The beers are cloudy with yeast but have a wide range of color, from deep gold to full dark amber. Bitterness is very light, although some brewers compensate by allowing some hop aromatics. The beer is usually served in the typical tall, slender weissbier glass, retaining some dignity on the table. Although some German beer drinkers may be thinking about calories, more of them consider leichtes weissbier to be a fine thirst quencher for hot summer days and an enjoyable restorative after the exertions of sports activity. Today, roughly one of every seven weissbiers produced in Germany is a leichtes.

See also hefeweizen.