Watermelon Ale

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combatdiver

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I decided to try something the other day and here is what i used:


5 lbs 6-Row Malt
2 lbs Flaked Barley
1 lbs Caravienne
5 lbs Amber LME
1 lbs Panela (Sugar)
4 oz Willamette Hops
2 oz Bravo Hops
1 pk Fermentis Safbrew S-33 Dry Ale Yeast
1 large Watermelon for 7.5 cups of juice

Cook Grains @ 160 for 45 Min in 4 Gallons
Steep Grains
Boil for 60 Min
Add Amber LME and Panela 60 Min
Add 6 oz Hops @ 45 Min

Everything was great til I added the juice to the secondary. I woke up the next morning to find my closet smelled like brew.....as I was about to head to work. The lid blew off the carboy and spewed watermelon extract all over. I just recapped and will keg this saturday. I hope it turns out great.

As for readings, I am still kinda new at this and have yet to take any readings. I cant complain with the 5 batches Ive done so far....Hell, GEN Washington and the other colonials never took readings, so I think Im doing fine.

Let me know what you all think. Any think I could add or take away.
 
I believe 21A did (has?) a watermelon beer. Reading are just for precision. If you blew your lid off, I'm more curious about the temp of your fermentation...
 
I'm a little confused...what type of brewing are you doing (AG, partial mash, extract with grains, BIAB)? Eight pounds of grain seems like an awful lot for anything but AG, but then you have another 6 pounds of fermentables you're adding with the sugar and the LME. I'm also confused by "Cook Grains @ 160 for 45 Min"; that's too high of a mash temp unless you didn't want fermentable sugars.

Regarding an active secondary, I do a watermelon wheat based on 21A's and it's normal to have it take off in secondary again after adding the fruit.
 
I guess its a PM due to the fact I added the extract and sugars to combat the higher temp of cooking. This is all still kinda new to me and will take all the feedback I can get.
 
160 isn't really "too" high to mash at, it will just produce a wort high in unfermentable dextrins, but you'll still have active fermentation. 73F is way higher than I'd ever let a beer ferment; I tend to stick between 62-68F for all my ales.
 
So I took a sample today of this and I have to say I was impressed. My wife doesnt like fruity beers and she was pleased with this one. The hops I used compliment the the watermelon greatly and I will probally do this one again. 3 days ago, I tried 21A hell or high watermelon and I liked it. I plan on kegging this this upcoming week when I get my kegerator fixed (traded a dishwasher for it with 2 kegs, fully equiped), just waiting on a few fittings. I think in another 3-4 weeks, this is going to be a big hit with the friends.
 
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