Watermelon Lager
Hokkaido Brewing

 

 

10oz stubby bottle into a 12oz glass. Had numbers stamped on the cap, but unable to figure out what they meant.

Interesting look. Head fizzes out quite quickly. Body is the color of rose wine. Initially some enthusiastic carbonation bubbles, but these too die out quickly.

Initial pleasing aroma of watermelon. Later in the drink it gets a bit musty.

On tasting, sweet without being cloying. Nice refreshing watermelon flavor.

Mouth medium, but seems thinner. Finish clean sweet melon.

Overall, Interesting beer experience. The abv is non existent. A still drink despite the initial bubbles. It's a pleasant enough beverage on a warm muggy evening.

Oh, frabjous day! It is #WatermelonWednesday which I started long ago to #BumpTheHump & which occurs whenever I find a new watermelon beer to help celebrate the middle of the standard work week. I am a big fan of these guys & have hooked up others with their Happoshus as a result. On my end, I bought a cookie cutter cat from them & made cat cookies at one point! Their logo features a cat watching a bird in flight. I tweeted pics of my cookies & we have an ongoing relationship, furthered when I spotted this latest one on the shelf during a visit to Rieker Bottle Works.

From the stubby grenade Bottle (eek!): "[B]rewed with Hokkaido Watermelon".

As unusual for them, the cap was a hybrid pull-tab & bottle cap that let go with a loud Pop!, indicating that it was time for a slow, gentle C-Line pour into the awaiting glass. I was astonished to see it foaming to form two-plus fingers of foamy, soapy, rocky, coral pink (!) head with decent retention. 8=O Color was a Blush Pink-Amber (SRM = N/A) with NE-quality clarity. I am not an oenophile, but this looked like a Rosé! 8=O Nose was redolent with real, actual watermelon, not some artificial crap cooked up in a chem lab. Doubt me? Try some of the flavored AMLs out there against this beer! Mouthfeel was thin to medium, but big for a Lager. The taste was real watermelon, sweetish with a slight tang, which is why my late-Pops & others in my exbeerience, used to sprinkle a bit of salt on their watermelon to cut the sweetness. I did not see fit to add salt to my beer, but it was an option, I suppose. This site's Style Guide mentions that it may not use large amounts of malt and/or hops & believe me, I tasted neither in this beer! It was full-on rockin' watermelon. I was suddenly transported back to my childhood & the days of Pillsbury's Funny Face Drink Mix. With-It Watermelon was a late add to the line-up, but this beer evoked pleasant childhood memories. Finish was appropriately in that Twilight Zone between semi-sweet to semi-dry, tending more towards semi-sweet. It begged the question of whether you like watermelon. If you do, then this will be your thing. If not, then I would say don't bother. This was not some candy-like (Jolly Rancher) nonsense, but actual watermelon. I liked it, but one was satiating. YMMV.