US-based General Mills and craft brewery Fulton Brewing will launch a limited-edition Hefeweizen beer called HefeWheaties.

The German style beverage that uses wheat as a base will be sold in 16-ounce ‘tall boy’ can. However, real wheaties are not used in its production.

Brewed with water, malted wheat, malted barley, hops from Germany, the US and Australia, and a yeast strain specifically developed for fermenting American-style wheat beers, the drink has a cloudy appearance due to the high content of wheat. It also tastes a little bitter and is traditionally served in Weizen glass.

Fulton president and co-founder Ryan Petz said: "We were intrigued from the get-go on this idea for many reasons, including that we’re both Minneapolis companies, and that the beer and the cereal both started from the same place in terms of raw ingredients and the same city.

"We’ll see how people react to it. If it’s something everybody loves, we’ll obviously consider doing it again in a bigger and more widely distributed way in the future."

CBS News quoted Mintel beverage industry analyst Jennifer Zegler as saying in a report: "While the craft and craft-style beer category remains a small segment of the $78bn dollar beer industry, the category has been able to stabilize the overall beer industry, which has experienced volume declines in the domestic and imported beer categories since 2008."

The beer will be made available locally in Minneapolis from 26 August and will not be available for shipment or purchase outside Minnesota.