Fruit Stand Watermelon Wheat
Kensington Brewing Company

Fruit Stand Watermelon WheatFruit Stand Watermelon Wheat
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From:
Kensington Brewing Company
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Fruit and Field Beer
ABV:
4.5%
Score:
77
Avg:
3.24 | pDev: 17.28%
Reviews:
10
Ratings:
33
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 29, 2017
Added:
Jul 02, 2012
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  2
As an homage to the dozen or so fruit stands that line the streets of Kensington Market, we've brewed a light and crisp wheat beer flavoured with watermelon. Fermented with a California ale yeast, this wheat beer is cleaner than most – no banana or clove here! Watermelon was added during fermentation and results in a mild but enjoyable watermelon aroma and flavour.

Fruit Stand is currently in the “testing” phase and will likely evolve over the summer as we hear input from the community. Try it and let us know what you think!

13 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.17 by StormAles from Canada (ON)

Jun 29, 2017
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Rated by spinrsx from Canada (ON)

2.94/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75
..
Sep 09, 2016
 
Rated: 3.92 by ikidunot from Canada (ON)

Aug 23, 2016
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Reviewed by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

3.54/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Predominantly a wheat beer with very subtle watermelon presence. Nose is bready and the flavors are doughy bread, grassy hop notes and subtle, somewhat artificial, watermelon. Goes down smooth and would be OK on the patio, but nothing stand-out.
Jul 09, 2016
Photo of TerryW
Reviewed by TerryW from Canada (ON)

3.03/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Novelty beer. Big head settles out to a partial film almost straight away, some spotty lace. North American style wheat, which I'm not really a fan of, generally too thin, brittle and metallic. Not a lot of that happening here, but certainly none of the tasty goodness of the European stuff. Smells odd somehow, not enticing. On the edge of being thin-bodied. Watermelon flavor recognizable, maybe a little artificial.

Might be good for washing down pizza, but mostly just odd without being any real fun.
Jul 07, 2016
 
Rated: 4.12 by MJ63 from Canada (ON)

Jun 01, 2016
 
Rated: 3.59 by CRObighit2 from Canada (ON)

Mar 23, 2016
 
Rated: 3.78 by rickfos from Canada (ON)

Oct 23, 2015
 
Rated: 2.84 by Molson2000 from Canada (ON)

Oct 16, 2015
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Reviewed by tomghiley from Canada (ON)

1.92/5  rDev -40.7%
look: 1.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.75
I'm a huge fan of wheat beers, though this one, thoroughly fails to impress me. It seriously lacks head for a wheat beer, smells completely bland, no complexity, flavor is minimal, with slight hints of watermelon that taste like a bad experiment.
Oct 13, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by GoHabsGo from Canada (ON)

Oct 08, 2015
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Reviewed by DaveBar from Canada (ON)

2.98/5  rDev -8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
Purchased at the LCBO for around that $3.00 mark for a 473ml can. Served at 4deg C in a draught glass

A- Opens well and pours a 1/2" high white head that is gone in seconds. Medium gold color and filtered clear

S- Some watermelon otherwise meh

T- Not much watermelon at all. Just a sweet beer. Not good at all

M- Dry

O- Not my cup of tea. Can feel the heartburn coming on with every sip

Food Pairing

If I really had to recommend something with this sweet beverage I would say...... Kraft dinner and hot dogs....... With something pretty bad have something pretty bad.

Enjoy
Aug 03, 2015
 
Rated: 1.85 by Tyler_V2 from Canada (ON)

Jul 18, 2015
 
Rated: 3.52 by KrisDLSmith from Canada (ON)

Jul 17, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by ThinkAgain from Canada (ON)

Jul 09, 2015
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Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)

3.11/5  rDev -4%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
473 ml vibrant can served cold into a St. Pauli Girl mug. Purchased from the LCBO for a shade under $3 CDN.

Appearance - Slightly hazy, pale golden colored beer topped by a thin half finger of foamy head. Modest retention and the beer looks pretty thin.

Smell - somewhat leafy, a touch of grain, a hint of metal and the faintest whiff of watermelon, maybe some lemon citrus mixed into embolden things.

Taste - Actually this is pretty thirst quenching. Mild bitterness up front, some leafy hops and mild graininess followed by a fleeting touch of watermelon. It's not bad but as far as a fruit beer goes, there's a serious lack of fruit.

Mouthfeel - Thin, wet and finishes extremely dry.

Overall - It's a thin and dry beer that I actually think might be a decent pale wheat beer if they weren't trying so hard to go for watermelon which is quite absent from this concoction. Dryness might be overboard and the lack of any watermelon bring it down, but maybe worth a shot for the truly curious or those who love the art on the bright green , pink and yellow can.
Jul 08, 2015
 
Rated: 2.98 by Bugs318 from Canada (QC)

Jul 05, 2015
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Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)

3.57/5  rDev +10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
473 mL can from the LCBO; best before Sept 12 2015 and served well-chilled. I just realized I have not tried a new Kensington beer in over two full years. What gives, man?

This fruity wheat beer pours a foggy golden-yellow colour, generating one finger of soapy, white-coloured froth on top. It lasts three minutes or so before fading away entirely, leaving behind a filmy cap and very little else. Not much to look at, and the aroma isn't particularly enticing, either - a touch of grainy wheat malts on the nose, with subdued hints of watermelon, cantaloupe and red berry.

The packaging is much more attention-grabbing than the beer itself - it is light-drinking and inoffensive, with the fruit flavours remaining quite subdued - I certainly can't accuse this one of being cloying, or complex for that matter. The wheat malts provide a grainy, bready background flavour, with hints of watermelon flesh and berries simultaneously competing for your tastebuds' attention. Finishes with notes of melon rind and a slight grassiness; dry aftertaste. Relatively light-bodied, with crisp carbonation levels - not up to the levels of your average macro lager, but still a bit zippy on the tongue.

Final Grade: 3.57, a B grade. I am enjoying Kensington's Fruit Stand Watermelon Wheat a bit more than I expected to... but I am not exactly being blown away by it, either. I have never been a big fruit beer guy, but the fact that this one's fruitiness is reasonably moderated - while the overall flavour profile remains tasty and refreshing - is enough to earn it an unenthusiastic thumbs up from me. It's an appropriate summer refresher, but not something I plan to return to frequently.
Jul 04, 2015
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Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)

3.58/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Fruit Stand Watermelon Wheat basically depicts summer in a glass: golden sunshine colour, heat haze complexion, lethargic bubbles, and puffy white shapes to stare at overhead - it couldn't look any better suited to hot weather drinking. I've got just one question: where's the patio?

This is, by the smell of things, more 'truly fruity' than 'tutti fruity'. There's nothing worse than a fruit beer that is artificial and candy-like, but the lack of sugariness and subtle tartness that compliments the watermelon notes in this bouquet are assuring signs of what's to come.

Indeed. While there's an undeniable Juicy Fruit-like flavour - Wrigley really aught to be jealous - the beer is never remotely saccharine or overly exaggerative. This one, simple as it is, scores high for purity of fruit expression; it's got a true watermelon flavour that doesn't linger unnaturally.

Watermelon Wheat is certainly suggestive of bubblegum but it drinks nothing like a cooler, whose artificial flavours are superficial and cloying. Instead, this delivers its exuberant fruitiness with enough tartness and tingling carbonation to excite other parts of the palate too.

Looking for a sure crowd pleaser? With Kensington's Watermelon Wheat you cannot fail. Fruit beers are rarely reliable - either they're too sweet and cloying, or they don't capture nearly enough of the character of the fruit - but this one high-steps over both those pitfalls and does so with modest alcohol and a tidal wave of refreshment. A great summer quencher.
Nov 24, 2014
 
Rated: 3.45 by Coronaeus from Canada (ON)

Sep 03, 2014
Fruit Stand Watermelon Wheat from Kensington Brewing Company
Beer rating: 77 out of 100 with 33 ratings