Watermelon Ale

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beesy

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I know what you all are thinking, but I was in Bostin in August and went to the Boston Beer Works, right across from Fenway, and they had a Watermelon Ale on tap that was unbelievable on a 90 degree day. Very light and crisp with just a hint of watermelon. Any have a recipe for something like this??
 
I do a watermelon wheat that gets rave reviews from my friends. Click the link in my sig....all you do is add watermelon juice to the secondary...it is awesome.
 
Not too sweet is it? The ale I had, had just a hint. They actually served it up with a little watermelon slice on the slice. Kinda girlish, but no s%i$, it could have been one of the most refreshing beers I ever had!!
 
It's just a hint. In fact, most people that tried it at my house didn't know what it was until I told them. It was one of the most popular beers I've ever made and I'll definitely be making it again this summer.
 
Whenever there is a Watermelon Wheat at a brewers fest up here, it goes fast. 21st Amendment & Point Blank, both have good ones.

What few recipes I've seen have been nothing more than a wheat with watermelon added late in the fermentation or in a secondary.
 
So for a beginner brewer I could just get a either a wheat or honey wheat kit and add 2 cups of watermelon juice into the secondary???
 
Dude said:
I do a watermelon wheat that gets rave reviews from my friends. Click the link in my sig....all you do is add watermelon juice to the secondary...it is awesome.

What yeast to you use for that Dude?
 
You make the watermelon juice by crushing/straining watermelon, or do you buy a more concentrated version somewhere?
 
Picked up a honey wheat extract kit over the weekend along with a bottle of Juicy Juice Watermellon juice. Plan on brewing the honey wheat then adding 2 cups of watermellon into the secondary.
 
Moonshae said:
You make the watermelon juice by crushing/straining watermelon, or do you buy a more concentrated version somewhere?

I used a watermelon and squeezed the juice out of it by hand. I'm sure there are better ways, but it works. I used 3 cups in 5 gallons - just a little more than Dude suggested. I used less than 1/2 of a fairly small mellon to get that amount.
 
Would you want to heat up the juice before adding it to your secondary or would it be fine just throwing it in out of the box or freshly squeezed?
 
MediaMikes said:
Would you want to heat up the juice before adding it to your secondary or would it be fine just throwing it in out of the box or freshly squeezed?
I don't think heating would be a good idea...it would cook off the mellon flavor pretty quick.
This is now OFFICIALLY on my list to brew.
 
Since you are talking about a small amount of juice, I would crush a capdem tablet and toss in about 1/8 - 1/4 of it into the juice. Let it sit for ~24 hours (could be less since this should be added at the end of fermentation anyway) and toss it in.
 
this is definitely on my list too. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to brew next anyway and now we have a winner.

I only asked about the heating because I didn't want to take the chance of contaminating my brew. Is that what the capdem tablet is for?
 
There is plenty of alcohol in there by the time you add the juice. There is nothing on the inside of a watermelon that's going to be able to infect your beer by the time you add it to the mix.
 
Upcoming very soon will be a 'clone' of watermelon funk from 21st Amendment & Russian River. It nice to hear all the success using straight watermelon juice. I'll probably be going on the higher side with my amounts to make sure it shines through. Luckily I'll be able to use the funk straight from the source, Russian River bottles. :D
 
I just made a batch of Edworts Bavarian Hefe. I think I may try this.....sounds like a good idea. Does Juicy Juice have any preservatives or anything in it?
 
I wonder what would happen if you brewed a wheat beer inside a watermelon? Meaning a sumer version of the ales people brew in pumpkins in the fall.

Anyone ever tried that?
 
i dont think that'll work tenchiro. You can brew in the pumpkin because the flavor resides in the rind... but in the watermellon the flavor is in the pulp, which would need to be removed. so i would suspect that it would be not as flavorful as using the juice in a primary/secondary. although, has anyone ever filled a watermellon with cheap vodka before... good times.
 
Yeah we call it a "loaded watermelon" and thats the truth too; it will get you messed up. especially the stuff adjacent to the hole!
 
I actually ended up doing two batches, just some small changes in them, one with a little 60degree and a little less honey. For the watermelon juice, I tried to sani a spoon and funnel and filter, but it was too difficult to make sure they juice only touched sani'd things, so I heated about 175 for 10 minutes. All the red precipitated out of the juice. I tasted the clearer part and all the flavor seemed to be in there, so I tried to leave as much of the red gunk in the pot as possible and they both seemed to turn out ok. Just my experience for what its worth.
:rockin::rockin:
 
So I just tapped this beer tonight - holy crap, this beer is amazing! Nice and crisp on the front end, and a great taste of watermelon towards the end. Unfortunately, I'm bringing this beer to a party tomorrow, I'll definitely have to make this again!
 
I do a watermelon wheat that gets rave reviews from my friends. Click the link in my sig....all you do is add watermelon juice to the secondary...it is awesome.

is this a extract recipe. if so is the wheat a mix of 60% 40% like most or is that just the wheat. also how do you get the watermelon juice.
 
brewed a batch of my own watermelon wheat and noticed that when i added it to the secondary the air lock got very active again so just for ****s and giggles i checked the specific gravity of the juice i got from it. here is what i found the specific gravity is 1.420 which on the hydrometer would read 1.042 thats quite a bit more sugar than i thought it had. im sure that this number changes from melon to melon but its a good place to start.
 
I know what you all are thinking, but I was in Bostin in August and went to the Boston Beer Works, right across from Fenway, and they had a Watermelon Ale on tap that was unbelievable on a 90 degree day. Very light and crisp with just a hint of watermelon. Any have a recipe for something like this??

The watermelon beer is awesome at boston beer works...I think its there best beer...
 
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