Watermelon Wheat
Mill Street Brew Pub

Hazy pale straw yellow. Bright white and active head, dissipates quickly, no lace. This one is kind of weak-kneed across the board. Minimal aroma, thin-bodied, little by way of fruit or beeriness. Watermelon can be hard to pull off and North American Wheats are a weak starting point to my mind, so it seems rather inevitable to end up with not much. Inoffensive, but dull.

Pours pale clear straw with a ton of effervescence and a crackly, smallish head. The aroma is of crisp wheat malts and a bit of jolly rancher like watermelon. The taste is lightly malty with a subtle touch of watermelon and berry fruitness. The wheat malts take prominence. Light bitterness from the subdued hop profile. Light carbonation in the light mouthfeel.

A simple American Wheat Ale with a subtle amount of watermelon flavor. Excellent stuff on a hot summer day.

July 11 2024

473 mL can from the LCBO; coded Mar 19 2021 and served barely chilled.

Pours foggy and effervescent, its pale straw yellow-coloured body capped off with nearly an inch of foamy white head. It recedes down to a smooth, quarter-inch cap and collar of creamy-looking suds within several minutes' time; minimal lace deposition. It smells of cereal grains and gritty wheat husks, accompanied by rather subtle hints of watermelon juice and grassiness.

It starts off unassuming - a touch of watermelon flesh sweetness underneath some grainy pale malts and bready wheat notes. Hints of unripe banana and melon rind precede a grainy finish that dries off in the aftertaste; a strange metallicity arises from its conclusion - I didn't notice it at first, but it lingers on the taste buds well after each sip, which really began to really bug me - at least before my palate adjusted and started to 'tune it out'. If it weren't for that one feature, I could see this being a serviceable patio refresher for the summer months (ice cold, of course). Relatively light in body, with a softly cushioned mouthfeel punctuated at first by moderate carbonation that starts off strong, but exhausts itself quickly. Gulping this one back was easy.

Final Grade: 3.23, a forgettable C+. I haven't exactly reviewed a ton of watermelon beers in the past - certainly less than a dozen, none of which I recall being especially impressive - but Mill Street's Watermelon Wheat stands out as one of the least worthwhile examples yet. I do appreciate that the watermelon flavouring isn't overpowering, nor is it especially artificial... but that's all the praise I can muster. This is a boring, weakly fruited wheat beer - even if you're a sucker for watermelon beer, I'd say you can pass on this without really missing anything.

473 ml can served reasonably cold into a pint glass. LCBO purchase for around $3.50 CDN. Listed at 4.5% ABV. I don't have high expectations, but was mildly intrigued to see if this could be executed well.

Appearance - Pale golden brew with medium amounts of haze. A thin finger of fizzy white head is poured and dissipates pretty quick. Zero lacing to speak of.

Smell - Grainy, subtle hints of banana and I suppose watermelon rind. Not a lot else.

Taste - Earthy, somewhat metallic with a brief amount of watermelon in there, but it is brief. I don't know that I would've picked up on it without this being advertised as a watermelon wheat ale. Nothing really that strikes as a wheat forward beer here either.

Mouthfeel - Fairly fizzy, lacking the depth and creaminess of many a wheat ale, but goes down easy enough.

Overall - It could be a lot worse and it's drinkable with nothing too off putting, but quite glad I only ponied up for the single can. Might work better on a hot summers day.