Today the Hefeweizen (or weisse) is the most popular and common of German wheat beers. Hefeweizens are pale colored ales and often taste of banana or clove. The banana, clove or other flavors are produced by esters and phenols which are a by-product of the fermentation process.
The word weizen simply means wheat, while hefe means yeast. So a Hefeweizen is a wheat beer that has a very detectable yeast presence, usually in the form of a cloudiness or haziness in the beer. In Germany, one might order a weizen beer mit hefe, meaning "with yeast".
