Fruit Beer watermelon wheat

[ben the brewman]

pale ale might be interesting. i like the wheat my self but might try the pale ale with it.

 

[absolutbmc]

Ben - I ended up brewing your version of the Watermelon Wheat. Although I used 6lbs of LME and I used American Hefen yeast

 

[Dude]

Until they come up with a hop that smells like watermelon, I think a pale ale would make the watermelon useless. Also, too much bitter would kill the nice faint, sweet, watermelon aspect, IMHO.

 

[ben the brewman]

Ben - I ended up brewing your version of the Watermelon Wheat. Although I used 6lbs of LME and I used American Hefen yeast

awesome man let me know how the american hefe yeast works out for you. what brand of yeast was it.

 

[absolutbmc]

I used WLP320. I checked the fermenatation process this morning. The airlock is still bubbling every 15-20 seconds (about a 1.5 weeks into it). Hopefully I will be able to rack to secondary this weekend. I do have a quick question, I took a sample of the beer and it tasted good but I noticed it was more white than a golden color. Did you expirence the same?

 

[ben the brewman]

when i brew them they are more of a nice orange color. im not sure about the white color your talking about. wait until is done and see what it looks like in a glass completly full.

 

[absolutbmc]

Just wanted to give an update on this brew. It is coming along nicely. It is a nice orange color. I racked it to secondary on Sunday. Any suggestions on how long I should leave it in the secondary?

 

[ben the brewman]

add the watermelon juice and let the fermentation come to a end and you should be ready to bottle.

 

[GunnerMan]

How much aromatic malt etc should I add for an AG option.

 

[GunnerMan]

Just brewed this Ag today but my crush was horrid, alout half of my grain was completely uncrushed so I only got like 60% efficiency. I knew I shoulda asked my LHBS to recrush.

I also used Red Wheat this is going to have a nice red color. American Wheat yeast was used as well. My OG (with honey was 1.044) and I mashed at 153 so I have a feeling I might need some maltodextrin to help this beer out.

This was supposed to be a beer for a special occasion so I hope it turns out ok. It's will taste good, just might be a little watery.

 

[ben the brewman]

153 isnt that low of a mash temp. i would take a taste of it when your racking it to secondary and see how full it tastes before adding anything to it. wheat beers can be thin to medium so it should be fine. as for the special grain it stays the same all grain or extract.

 

[GunnerMan]

Thanks yeah, I know the 153 is not really low but coupled with the low gravity and the pound of honey I was a tad worried.

First sparge tasted god awful but it was better after boil, im sure it will come out nice. I just learned wheat beer are not supposed to age much at all (2 weeks or so) this was supposed to be a beer for the end of May but it gives me time to secondary and bottle this one to start drinking mid-may and I can make another one next week and have it ready as well.

 

[ben the brewman]

Thanks yeah, I know the 153 is not really low but coupled with the low gravity and the pound of honey I was a tad worried.

First sparge tasted god awful but it was better after boil, im sure it will come out nice. I just learned wheat beer are not supposed to age much at all (2 weeks or so) this was supposed to be a beer for the end of May but it gives me time to secondary and bottle this one to start drinking mid-may and I can make another one next week and have it ready as well.

no worries it will be fine to drink in may. i know wheat beers are suposed to be drank early but it will age for a month with no problem.

 

[absolutbmc]

I wanted to give an update on my Watermelon wheat. It has been in the bottles for a week and a half now. I could not resist and opened a bottle on Sunday (1 week after bottling). Man was it good. I got the slight hint of Watermelon, nice head, and a great color. The one thing I noticed, as did many people who made this beer, it was a bit too tart. I used American Hefe for the yeast. I am going to let it sit for another week before cracking another baby open. I wonder if the tartness will go away in that time span???

 

[ben the brewman]

i made 10 gallons of this recently and i used 2 types of yeast first one wasy wyeast 3056 bavarin wheat blend and wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen. i will let you know which one turns out better and see if they have any tartness. i think its the yeasts that are adding the tartness to the beer because i have bottled some before i add the juice and they are just as tart. i took some info from wyeast page and this also makes me think its the yeast. here is the yeast discriptions.

1010 American Wheat

A dry fermenting, true top cropping yeast which produces a dry, slightly tart, crisp beer. Ideal for beers where a low ester profile is desirable.

3333 German Wheat

Subtle flavor profile for wheat yeast with unique sharp tart crispness, fruity, sherry-like palate.

i think that wyeast 1007, 3056, 3068, 3463, 3638 would be good choices to use for future brewers.

 

[GunnerMan]

Just tasted mine as I racked it to secondary on the juice. Def tasted the tartness, it was a bit dry as well, fermenting out at 1.011, but it my be because my efficiency was so poor. It tasted good but it had a hint of DMS, which is weird, I used darker wheat and Rahr 2 row :/ It smells absolutely horrible, I stuck my nose in the fermenter and almost gaged. Hope that smell ages out in the next 3 -4 weeks. I think I am going to add a small bit of gelatin to this, I think it will look really nice if it is a bit clearer.

 

[ben the brewman]

im not sure about the smell never had one like that. update on the yeast. the 3068 has a better taste than the bavarin blend and the watermelon flavor isnt overpowered either and their is not tartness what so ever. i also added a new twist to things by carbonating some of the 22oz bottles with watermelon jolly ranchers and the rest with priming sugar. holly hell the ones with the jolly ranchers are bad ass the flavor is great and it adds some more aroma. i will definatly be sending some of these out for contest in the near future.

 

[GunnerMan]

I just cracked one of these open. I think the watermelon is a bit overpowering(I was stupid) and did not scale my watermelon to my effeciency. When I seocndaried my juice it fermented so vigourously it blew the top right off my airlock. So I got a way higher watermelon concentration than normal and it is a bit to tart. I thought I would prefer the tartness but not so. Maybe I would if my effienciency was better and there was more malt charachter to balance out the watermellon.

The hint of watermelon on the nose quickly overpowers the rest of the beer and leaves a very tart flavor in my mouth that is hard to describe. Think of a Budlight with some sugarless watermelon juice added? The wheat body that does come through does taste like a good wheat beer with some nice clean flavor. I might try this one again with a better efficiency and see what happens.

 

[Keepthedrive]

SO....I felt like giving this one a try, but twisted it a bit.

Tsunami-melon Ale

-9.6 lbs Gold LME
-2 lbs sugar
-1 lb carapils
-10 oz german pilsen
-6 oz Belgium aromatic
-.75 oz yakima magnum (14.4%) @ 60mins
-wyeast 3068 Activator Pack

-4 cups watermelon juice in secondary
-Dry Hop 1 oz Cascade
-Dry Hop 1 oz German Hallertauer

SG: 1.120

FG: We will see

Of course, I just brewed today, so Im gonna let it sit at about 68F for at least 1 week, though I think it will be more because it is sooooo big. And then I will let everyone know how it turns out. But I have high hopes...
cheers

 

[khiddy]

...i also added a new twist to things by carbonating some of the 22oz bottles with watermelon jolly ranchers and the rest with priming sugar. holly hell the ones with the jolly ranchers are bad ass the flavor is great and it adds some more aroma. i will definatly be sending some of these out for contest in the near future.

What an awesome idea! I would imagine that this would produce one helluva watermelon aroma, and yet at the same time, it would have the potential to tart up the brew, too. Which yeast did you use for the bottles that you carbed with the Jolly Ranchers?

 

[nutty_gnome]

What would happen to the watermelon wheat recipe if you used a light german ale/kolsch yeast. Like this one from white labs?

WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast
From a small brewpub in Cologne, Germany, this yeast works great in Kölsch and Alt style beers. Good for light beers like blond and honey. Accentuates hop flavors, similar to WLP001. The slight sulfur produced during fermentation will disappear with age and leave a super clean, lager like ale.
Attenuation: 72-78%

Maybe the lower attenuation would keep some sweetness in the beer and balance the tart?

I have some of this yeast ready to go and thought I might give it a whirl this weekend.

ALSO - What special steps do you take to ensure the watermelon juice is clean and sanitary?

 

[absolutbmc]

That yeast sounds like it would work well. To be honest I didn't do much to sanitize the watermelon. I sprayed down the outside of the mellon, the cutting board, the knife, and my blender. Other than that, I let the beer prevent any bacteria from forming

 

[Willie3]

I am going to brew this soon but the base will be fermented out with Cry Havoc. I can lager semi lager this beer and see how it turns. I plan to use half for plain wheat and half for fruit wheat. The watermelon sounds good but I am not sure if I will go this route.

I will let you know how it turns.

WW

 

[ben the brewman]

it would probably be just fine with german ale yeast. i use this in a recent wheat beer and was happy with how it turned out. its a very clean flavor and stays nice and cloudy.

 

[ben the brewman]

What an awesome idea! I would imagine that this would produce one helluva watermelon aroma, and yet at the same time, it would have the potential to tart up the brew, too. Which yeast did you use for the bottles that you carbed with the Jolly Ranchers?

it was done with 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen. i like this one the best out of any of them i have made. i really like what the jolly ranchers do for the beer too.

 

[nutty_gnome]

Double post - ARGH!

N_G

 

[nutty_gnome]

I went the cheap and easy route. I bought a brewer's best weisbier kit (2 cans of wheat LME, no steeping grains & French Strisselspalt Pellet Hops** (smelled like a piney noble hops).

I figured that since this was an experimental beer for me, I didn't need to invest in a pricey build your own set of ingredients from the LHBS. The LHBS wanted about 10 bucks more for the OP recipe.

I pitched it on an entire cake of WLP 011 German Ale yeast late Saturday night (the 6th). I had just moved a kolsch to secondary so the yeast cake was 'exposed' for less than a minute. Airlock bubbler activity started within a few hours. With such strong bubbling, I expect to have it in secondary on Sunday (7 days primary) with watermelon juice. I'll let you know how it turns out.

As a side note, this kit with the 'german' dry yeast from Brewer's Best was great with some blackberry extract a few months ago. I expect nothing less for this kit with watermelon juice added.

** - From Midwest web site: "2.6% Alpha Acid Content. Considered a good aroma hop with medium intensity and pleasant hoppiness similar to Hersbrucker, and often preferred to it. Used for Pilsners, Lagers, and Wheat beers. Substitutes: Hersbrucker, Mt. Hood, Crystal."

N_G

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Got a batch of this almost one week in the primary. Quick question about the Jolly Ranchers.... I'm assuming you siphoned out a couple of bottles and added the JRs to those bottles prior to adding priming sugar to the rest of the batch for bottling. If I was to siphon out, say 6 bottles before adding the dextrose to the rest of the batch, how much dextrose would I need to add after siphoning. Did that make any sense at all??

 

[ben the brewman]

it made sense but im not sure i bottled half the batch with jolly ranchers so i cut my priming sugar in half for the rest. use 1 jolly rancher per 22oz bottle or you can try to break them in half and use half per 12oz.

 

[nutty_gnome]

My version is still in primary. Maybe I'll get back to it on tomorrow. N_G