New brew idea

I was thinking of brewing a watermelon blonde. Ive never heard of any one doing this before so I thought it might be good. Any thoughts/ suggestions?

http://21st-amendment.com/beer/hell-or-high-watermelon

its wheat but damn close

Have you ever had watermelon beer? I had a watermelon wheat and it was terrible. It was a six pack and I bought it and brought it to a party. No one would have more then a sip.

Do a search for watermellon ale and you will find a thread using loranns watermellon flavored oils. One dram in the secondary and you are set.

Thats a little discouraging... I wanted to make a watermelon reduction and add it to the boil. I try and make my beers using fresh local ingrediants. Plus I dig the drinkability of blondes

I made a watermellon beer that turned out well. My SWMBO loves the 21st Hell or High watermellon...... for one, ice cold, on a really hot day, after working outside, all day. But the watermellon gets overwhelming after one and as an American style wheat.... not the greatest style to begin with.

Base malt in mine is Marris Otter, with 15% red wheat, 5% oatmeal, a little biscuit, and 2 lbs chunked watermellon in the boil, and 3 cups fresh juice pressed and strained from local watermellon after 1 week in primary. Fermented at 68* with Fermentis S04.

It has been hugely popular with all that have tried it, even non-fruit beer and non-wheat beer drinkers. Makes for a good session beer.

Only drawback is a serious lack of head retention. I chalk that up to the pectin in the watermellon as it was a fault of the commercial beer as well.

Don't be discouraged before trying the Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment; I have not been a fan of most the commercial fruit and/or American wheat beers that I've come across, however this beer I really enjoy. A six pack disappears quickly regardless of the weather around my house.

Thanks for the support. Im going to try the hell or high watetmelon and I will start the brew in a couple days.

Pabst Blue Robot said:

Don't be discouraged before trying the Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment; I have not been a fan of most the commercial fruit and/or American wheat beers that I've come across, however this beer I really enjoy. A six pack disappears quickly regardless of the weather around my house.

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This. A bunch of discouraging experiences should actually encourage you! Sounds counter-intuitive, however, just because something has not been done correctly, or to its full potential, does not mean it can't be done. I read somewhere on here posted by a homebrew judge that he had tasted an olive beer. Doesn't sounds pleasant, but if I remember correctly, it had one best in show. Play around with your different options and see what holds the flavor best while blending well with the characteristics of the beer style you choose. I think if done correctly, it can be a fantastic beer.

My buddy made a watermelon blonde with real watermelon pureed and placed in the secondary and it was a nice pink color. He bottled it and after a few weeks, it continued to taste like watermelon but turned a muddy, light brown color. Not sure if it was a chemical reaction with the natural watermelon or what.

To avoid this in the future, he used watermelon juice from the store.
-jefe-

JefeTheVol said:

My buddy made a watermelon blonde with real watermelon pureed and placed in the secondary and it was a nice pink color. He bottled it and after a few weeks, it continued to taste like watermelon but turned a muddy, light brown color. Not sure if it was a chemical reaction with the natural watermelon or what.

To avoid this in the future, he used watermelon juice from the store.
-jefe-

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To avoid this, just strain as much of the solids out as possible and avoid air contact with the watermellon juce as much as possible.