I'm looking to do a quick beer with about a 2 week turn. Given the BMC crowd and being summer I thought I could do an American Wheat. I've had good luck with a 50/50 2row/wheat beer with some Magnum from bittering and Cascade at the end w/ US-56 fermented in the low 60s on a 2 week turn. I was thinking about splitting the 10G and make 5G a watermelon wheat. Almost all the recipes of Watermelon wheat I've seen only have a bittering hop. Do you see any reason that 1 oz of Cascade (per 5g) near the end of the boil would be an issue with a watermelon wheat? I keg and dont secondary. I was thinking I could add the watermelon into primary after fermentation was complete & then transfer to keg a few days later. The other option would be to add the watermelon to the keg and go straight to the fridge to carb to minimize any secondary fermentation from the watermelon. The advantage to adding it to primary is I should get a 'cleaner' beer leaving some watermelon trub behind but probably thin the beer out with the additional fermentation. Any reason not to add potassium metabisulphite w/ the watermelon since I keg or do I want the watermelon to ferment?
With fruit beers, particularly with a softer fruit beer, you want to avoid competing with the fruit. I wish I could find my notes, but there's a new variety on the market that purports to have watermelon fruit characters. Also, don't use potassium meta use potassium sorbate.
Zythos is the one that reminds me of watermelon. Not sure if that's the one you're thinking of, but from the few beers I've had with it, it's big time watermelon. To the OP, I have a friend of mine in my HB club that makes a watermelon wheat and he only uses watermelon extract at kegging. He's won a bunch of awards with it and it is pretty damn tasty, I must say. You might not want to go that route, but it works for him.
I made a watermelon wheat that I loved last summer, and it is soon to be replicated. What I did was this: 1 - I keg and added the watermelon juice to the keg and kept it cold to keep it from fermenting. 2 - I used only watermelon juice as I tested out adding the whole meat of the fruit to a light beer and I got a very rindy taste in the beer. The juice just delivered wonderful watermelonness...
Just found it - it's the new experimental hop from the Hop Breeding Company (aka producers of Simcoe, Citra, Warrior, etC) - called for the moment - HBC-342. Here's the description I found Usage: High Alpha Aroma Description: HBC 342 is a high alpha aroma variety bred by The Hop Breeding Company. It has been selected for its high alpha and pleasant aroma. Despite its high alpha levels, brewers have responded favorably to HBC 342’s aromatic qualities describing the aroma as mild, pleasant, citrusy and watermelon. Typical Beer Styles: American pale, amber, IPA HBC-342 from Rebel Brewer
From what I have read El Dorado also has a watermelon - like flavour. I have read it is more like Jolly Rancher watermelon than the actual fruit though.
I remember El Dorado having a very candy like presence, but I don't remember watermelon precisely, but you're right that I have seen HBC 342 referred to as the "Jolly Rancher Hop". Given how our brains have been scent trained, going for a little of the candy/artificial aroma would probably work out grandly.
Just made a pale ale with 8+1+1# of 2 row, Honey Malt, and Malted Wheat...HBC-342...1/2 oz FWH, 1 oz @ 5min, 1 oz @ KO and 1.5 oz dryhop. Mashed high and undershot volume purposefully. Added 1/2 chunked watermelon and honeydew to primary at high US-05 krausen and removed 3 days later. Tastes good so far...subtle melon...not Jolly Rancheresque.
did an 8 gal batch of 1.060 OG American blonde. Primary 7 days. Secondary 7 days. Added 7 lbs of fresh pureed watermelon straight up. The final yield was a 4.5 gallon keg. The keg kicked in one day on July 4th at my house. It was the second of 6 kegs to kick that day, the first was a dry cider. The watermelon beer was in one word.... AWESOME. Would I drink keg alone? Def not. Will I brew it again for next July 4th? Indeed! Will I feel guilty about 50% of the beer that goes to waste with the watermelon puree? Nope. Not one bit. Totally worth it.
