Beer Tasting: von Meyer Weizen

My von Meyer Weizen has been in the bottles for over three weeks now, waiting for the "official" tasting at the homebrew club meeting tonight. In advance of that, I did my own evaluation. This is cautioned, of course, by the fact that I don't normally drink a lot of weizens, so I'm not entirely up on what makes a "good" or "bad" one. At any rate, here we go!

• Basics
• Starting gravity = 1.047; final gravity = 1.012; abv = 4.6%. Estimated IBU = 10
• Aroma
• Tangy and clove-forward; not much in the way of banana.
• Appearance
• Deep gold, almost orange in color. The beer is fairly hazy with yeast. The head is cream colored and fine in texture; persistent but not terribly tall on the pour. Head retention is quite good.
• Flavor
• Clove-dominant and slightly malty, with a moderate banana flavor on the finish. There's a touch of citrus tang, too.
• Mouthfeel
• Body is modest, but carbonation is excellent, with fine bubbles.
• Would I brew this again?
• I think so! This wasn't the most technically challenging beer to brew, but that's alright...the overall result is pretty tasty; nice and refreshing as the weather starts to warm up. Truth be told, I like having a recipe that is quick turnaround!
• Overall rating
• 7/10

I did this tasting last weekend, in advance of the formal club meeting, and was curious to see how my personal assessment would compare. Somewhat to my surprise (there are some talented brewers in my club!), I placed first out of seven entries (two of which were commercial examples, and another two were good beers but brewed in other styles). If I were to guess, commercial wheat beers are handicapped a bit by long storage. According to most things I've read, this is a style to be consumed quickly, and homebrew might have an edge in this regard. 

My weizen wasn't the most technically challenging brew I've done--not by a long shot--but I am quite pleased with the results. The only minor thing I might change would be to find some way to improve the head; maybe by a partial mash to get some extra proteins into the mix? I'd definitely use the cool fermentation profile again--the balance of clove vs. banana was perfect for my taste. In any case, it's nice to get affirmation that all-extract brewing produces great beer!