Melonfest
Roak Brewing Co.

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Roak's Melonfest last week for $1.69 at The Lager Mill. I don't think I've had a beer brewed with cantaloupe before, but it sounds really interesting, so lets see how it goes. 2016 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a Weizen glass.

A- The label looks nice, it goes well with the name and it's eye catching. It poured a slightly hazy golden color that took on more of a yellow color when held to the light with a finger and half worth of bubbly off white head that quickly faded to a thin ring that eventually faded away and it left just a little bit of spotty lacing behind. This is a nice looking beer, but I wish it had a little better head and retention.

S- The aroma starts off with a sliightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts being the first to show up and they impart a pale malt, grainy, wheat, bready and bread crust aromas with some doughy yeast showing up in the background. Up next comes a nice fruity aroma that is actually like a cantaloupe melon, it's not too strong, but the melon itself doesn't have too strong of an aroma, so that's to be expected. This beer has a good aroma, it's balanced and lives up to the name.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma, but a little lighter and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the malts still being the first to show up and they impart the exact same aspects that they did in the aroma, but this time they are a little lighter and they are followed by that same doughy yeast aspect that I got in the aroma. Up next comes a light fruity flavors with just enough cantaloupe flavors to be noticeable, but it might bet hard to pin point it if I had it blind. On the finish there's a pretty light amount of bitterness with a wheat, grainy and slightly cantaloupe like flavor in the aftertaste. This is a pretty nice tasting beer, but I wish the flavors were just a little bolder, especially the cantaloupe.

M- Smooth, crisp, slightly refreshing, medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is pretty nice and it works well with this beer.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and a nice example of the style, i had to give them a little extra credit because Cantaloupe is light flavor that's a little complex, so I'm sure it's hard to get it to really stand out, but it showed up just enough to work well with the wheat beer base. This beer had nice drinkability, I could drink a couple of them, especially when it's warmer outside. What I like the most about this beer is the aroma, it was pretty nice and it was were the cantaloupe showed up the most. What I liked the least about this beer is that the cantaloupe didn't show up just a little more in the taste. I would buy this beer again when I'm in the mood for it and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a little bit of cantaloupe flavor in their wheat beer. All in all this was nice and it was a little better than I thought it would be. It's one of the better beers I've had Roak and I thought it was a nice example of the style. Nice job guys, this was a nice and unique tasting beer, keep it up.

 

 

L - Very hazy, dark yellow. Foamy head linger for a a few moments. Good lacing.

S - Lemon and a little cantaloupe with minor grassy hops.

T - Taste follows nose. Hops are surprisingly strong, but pleasant.

O - I bought this at a close-out sale; there is no date on the bottle. This is a very good spring/summer selection. Light, refreshing, and hoppier than your average summer fare. If it were fresher, I would probably give it a higher score. If you can find this cheap, definitely buy a few.

 

 

 

Nothing to blow you away here. Hint of cantaloupe. Sweeter than average easy drinking wheat beer. great for the golf course or hanging out outside in the summer months.

 

 

 

 

Light, dry hints of cantanloupe (you may nkt detect cantaloupe if you aren't looking for jf specifically) and very light on the wheat. Overall a very nice light, crisp summer sipper.