Fruit Beer Watermelon Wheat

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This sounds awesome, I want to attempt it..I was chatting with the lhbs about the transferring of beer onto the juice & he asked me why don't I just add it directly to the bottling bucket if it's just juice? Is this an option?
 
the watermelon has sugar so there will be a second fermentation... So I'd surmise it os not a good idea to do it in bottling bucket (bottle bombs!)-- unless you can accurately measure sugar content and plan accordingly.
 
Gotcha..also, if I was to split a batch & say do only 3 gals on the watermelon juice how much would you use? Or do you just suit to your taste?
 
joef9800 said:
Gotcha..also, if I was to split a batch & say do only 3 gals on the watermelon juice how much would you use? Or do you just suit to your taste?
Click to expand...

3/5 ths the amount in a 5 gallon batch?

I love that there are people working in LHBSs that don't know there is fermentable sugar in fruit juice. :confused:
 
Just kicked off my batch last night (actually it ended up taking into the wee morning :p).

I followed the recipe except I added 1/2 lb of carapils, 1/2 lb of rice hulls (was afraid of a stuck sparge on my first all-grain), and I used WLP300 which I had washed from my previous Dunkelweizen batch.

Yeasts are takin' off like crazy already. What a difference starters make. Can't wait to try this one out! :rockin:

I was a little low on the OG @ 1.046. Hopefully that will be close enough, or as they say from my favorite (long ago) Labatt commercial "crose enooough!"
 
once you have but it into the second ferm, how long have you guys noticed it taking? this is my first time with fresh fruit so I dont want the fruit to get all nasty in the ferm.
 
I'm planning or racking this onto to watermelon this week. How long are you guys doing primary and secondary? Also is anyone cold crashing this after the secondary?
 
Also any idea how many gravity points the 6 cups of watermelon juice would add? (5 gallon batch)
 
bwatts4200 said:
once you have but it into the second ferm, how long have you guys noticed it taking? this is my first time with fresh fruit so I dont want the fruit to get all nasty in the ferm.
Click to expand...

It won't get nasty. Let 'er go until the secondary fermentation is done.

cossacks19 said:
I'm planning or racking this onto to watermelon this week. How long are you guys doing primary and secondary? Also is anyone cold crashing this after the secondary?
Click to expand...

Week for primary, two for secondary? Use your hydrometer - only way to tell if your primary and secondary are finished. Cold crashing after secondary is a GREAT idea.

cossacks19 said:
Also any idea how many gravity points the 6 cups of watermelon juice would add? (5 gallon batch)
Click to expand...

That I have not figured out... I use fruit a lot, so I would love to know how to calculate that!
 
That I have not figured out... I use fruit a lot, so I would love to know how to calculate that![/QUOTE]

I'm no biologist or mathematician like some here but, is there anyway I can take a gravity reading at the end of the primary. Then take one after you rack to the secondary, you should have a jump in gravity right? Do a normal abv calculation and then add those numbers?

Ps thanks for the quick reply.
 
Just bought the ingredients for Watermelon Wheat v.5!

Wanted to add Cara-Pils for better head retention and a touch more body. Also the wheat is over 50% now, so it's a true wheat beer. Other than that, I was happy with the rest of what I was doing.

I'll brew this up on Friday morning.

4 lbs. German 2-row Pils
6 lbs. German Wheat Malt Light
0.5 lbs Cara-Pils® Malt; Briess
0.5 oz. Willamette (Whole Leaf, 5.70 %AA) boiled 60 min.
8 cups Watermelon Juice (fresh squeezed, not pasteurized, added to 2ndary)
~1 oz. William's Watermelon Extract to taste @ kegging. EDITED on 6/29/12: changed from 6 to 8 cups)
1 vial. White Labs WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale
 
Brewed version one (never used hunny) a week and a half ago. Tasted the sample yesterday, I think this is going to be a nice 6% summer beer. Thanks!!
 
Kegged it up yesterday.. I used 5.5 lbs of watermelon in 6 gal for 12 days. Good flavor not too watermelony
 
First fruit beer for me(3rd ever). Would it be a bad idea to add the watermelon juice to the primary after the initial week of fermentation? I'm not really setup for secondary fermentations (I do extended primaries on the advice of this forum).
 
sorbie said:
First fruit beer for me(3rd ever). Would it be a bad idea to add the watermelon juice to the primary after the initial week of fermentation? I'm not really setup for secondary fermentations (I do extended primaries on the advice of this forum).
Click to expand...

I am debating doing this myself, this time, just out of laziness. I have done it before with other fruits, no problems.
 
Well guys, I have my own version brewing! Didnt have 320 on hand but I did have 300. Also did not have the right hops so I used cascade. Went with 3/4 ounce since they were 3.4% AA. Hoping for a watermelon banana medley!

Tim
 
DubbelDach said:
Just bought the ingredients for Watermelon Wheat v.5!

Wanted to add Cara-Pils for better head retention and a touch more body. Also the wheat is over 50% now, so it's a true wheat beer. Other than that, I was happy with the rest of what I was doing.

I'll brew this up on Friday morning.

4 lbs. German 2-row Pils
6 lbs. German Wheat Malt Light
0.5 lbs Cara-Pils® Malt; Briess
0.5 oz. Willamette (Whole Leaf, 5.70 %AA) boiled 60 min.
6 cups Watermelon Juice (fresh squeezed, not pasteurized, added to 2ndary)
~1 oz. William's Watermelon Extract to taste @ kegging.
1 vial. White Labs WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale
Click to expand...

Once again tis the season. I'm brewing 10 gallons of the 50/50 recipe this weekend for my daughters graduation party on June 30th. Last summers batch was a huge success. Do let us now how this tweaked recipe turns out DD. I'll likely be doing another batch before the end of summer as it's SWMBO favorite beer.
 
I want to use a dry yeast because I dont want to buy the stuff for liqud. Would 05 work or is anotherone better?
 
Made this last night I used 1010 because I had it, made a started with my washed yeast fermentation kicked off in like 20 minutes!!!!!
 
Gonna be trying something similar...bought NB's american Wheat kit; 4lbs 2row, 4lbs white wheat, Williamette and Cascade, and Wyeast 1010. I plan on adding .5lb of honey malt to get a little extra sweetness, though I am contemplating adding another pound or two of one of the base malts. For the watermelon, I'm thinking 5-6 cups of fresh juice, and an oz of extract. Looking forward to it!

Has anyone here used honey malt in this brew? I used a full pound in a honey orange wheat, and it came out pretty good....maybe a half pound next time, though, haha.
 
DubbelDach said:
It won't get nasty. Let 'er go until the secondary fermentation is done.



Week for primary, two for secondary? Use your hydrometer - only way to tell if your primary and secondary are finished. Cold crashing after secondary is a GREAT idea.



That I have not figured out... I use fruit a lot, so I would love to know how to calculate that!
Click to expand...

Not sure if anyone has answered this yet but just an fyi, I added 8 cups to a 5 gallon batch and it raised it 2 gravity points 1.050-1.052.
 
I see that everyone is usually sticking by the 1 week primary, 2 for secondary. But It's been about 10 days for me in the primary and I still have a healthy krausen sitting on top.

Should I wait for it to fall? Or rack it?
 
enthuzed said:
I see that everyone is usually sticking by the 1 week primary, 2 for secondary. But It's been about 10 days for me in the primary and I still have a healthy krausen sitting on top.

Should I wait for it to fall? Or rack it?
Click to expand...

I just had a 10 day fermentation and counting.... No steadfast rule, use your hydrometers! I did split the 5 gallon batch today though and put it on the fruit, because I had time.

2.5 gallons on the watermelon juice, and I got ballsy and used 4 cups of juice.

The other 2.5 gallons is on 5 lbs of strawberries that we picked fresh about 10 days ago. I cleaned them and froze them until now.
 
DubbelDach said:
... and I got ballsy and used 4 cups of juice.

The other 2.5 gallons is on 5 lbs of strawberries that we picked fresh about 10 days ago. I cleaned them and froze them until now.
Click to expand...


Thanks! Fresh Strawberries. MMMMMmmmm
 
DubbelDach said:
I am 38 and never picked fresh strawberries until now. Holy hell, what I was missing! Can NOT wait for that half of the beer!
Click to expand...

You should plant some! They grow like weeds, and the number of plants doubles every year! All I ever have to do is pick them!
 
There are township designated "wetlands" behind my house. That would be a nice "miracle" if they started growing there....
 
I'm about a quarter of the way into the keg on this one and really enjoying it. Especially on hot days!! I did the v1 and want to try the latest version soon. Thanks for the recipe.
 
Kegged both my watermelon and strawberry today. Strawberry goes on first tomorrow (force carbing), watermelon as soon as I have room...
 
First pull of strawberry wheat. Again, it's half (2.5 gallons) of the WW v.5 recipe with 5 lbs of berries. Fantastic strawberry flavor! Even with the yeast blowout, lol.

ForumRunner_20120618_193129.jpg
 
Well, I just kegged my version of this. I did dried wheat extract with a lb of carapils steeped, 8 cups of juice and WLP 300 German hefe. Tastes awesome, lots of watermelon on the front and back, with a bit of banana from the yeast. Pretty much what I expected, highly reccomended.
 
Bombeque said:
Well, I just kegged my version of this. I did dried wheat extract with a lb of carapils steeped, 8 cups of juice and WLP 300 German hefe. Tastes awesome, lots of watermelon on the front and back, with a bit of banana from the yeast. Pretty much what I expected, highly reccomended.
Click to expand...

Make sure you attach your beer line properly before you start serving it ;)
 
Jaysus said:
Make sure you attach your beer line properly before you start serving it ;)
Click to expand...

QFT.







Nylon washer in my 1/4" MFL connecting my beer line to my ball lock was seated slightly off. Lost the whole ~2 gallons of the strawberry wheat. Shop-vac came in handy.

:(
 
Bombeque said:
Well, I just kegged my version of this. I did dried wheat extract with a lb of carapils steeped, 8 cups of juice and WLP 300 German hefe. Tastes awesome, lots of watermelon on the front and back, with a bit of banana from the yeast. Pretty much what I expected, highly reccomended.
Click to expand...


Glad to hear. I did almost exactly this to the T. I will be bottling end of this weekend and will report back with pics and taste results. Looking forward to the :ban: flavor
 

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