American Pale Wheat Ale is a lighter, cleaner take on wheat beer than its German cousins: a substantial wheat portion in the grain bill for a smooth, slightly bready body, but fermented with a neutral American ale yeast rather than the banana-and-clove wheat yeast used in Hefeweizen. That makes it closer in character to a pale ale with a softer mouthfeel than to a traditional German wheat beer, usually 4.5-5.5% ABV, with mild hop character and no distinct spice or fruit ester profile of its own.