OK, that'll teach me to judge beer based on fermenter samples. Stupid. Tastes utterly different than I was expecting, but not in a bad way.
Recipe:
20 liters (minus the precious liters younger son managed to dump on the floor thinking it was "orange juice")
3 kilos Light DME
No steeping grains (wanted something simple since I'm working off the rust from a long baby-induced brewing hiatus)
.4 oz Simcoe 60 min
.3 oz Simcoe 20 min
.3 oz Simcoe 10 min
.5 oz Hallertau 20 min
.5 oz Hallertau 10 min
Brewferm Blanche Wheat Yeast (not hefe, so a bit off topic for this thread but still a wheat beer yeast in a recipe with no wheat)
While in the fermenter the simcoe hops were utterly dominant and had a pretty strong bitter bite just days before I drank it that seemed to fade away almost completely in the last few days (or I was tasting yeast bitterness and being dumb and confusing it was bittering hop bitterness, really hard to tell with fermentor samples).
So for taste it comes across as kind of a summer wit. Phenols are dominant but not overpowering with a lot of sweetness (low attenuation from the yeast) with spice and a hint of citrus on the aftertaste. Not anywhere close to crisp but doesn't have the waxy mouth feel I sometimes get from Hoegaarden, doesn't have the weird flavors of Blue Moon or the black pepper (which I HATE, can't stand rye beers, so personal preference speaking here) I got from Allagash White. Kind of a wit beer for people who don't like wit beer. No off tastes or flaws that I could detect. Goes down real easy.
Only problem is I didn't carb it enough. Used priming guidelines for blond ales when apparently wit beers are generally carbed more than that which leaves the head a bit weak and the beer tasting just a bit flat.
SWMBO loved it and this one will go into the rotation with some recipe tweaks because:
-It's cheap and easy to make.
-Ready for drinking in 23 days, might even be able to drop down a bit.
-Wit yeast being much less bitter than standard ale yeasts it's good for giving away without having to give off-putting warning against "drinking the stuff at the bottom."
-Really easy to get BMC drinkers to try. For any parties or whatever I could serve people this can keep something with MOAR HOPS for myself.
I'd recommend tweaking the recipe a bit and filing in the "gotta brew something FAST for a wedding" binder.