21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat

12 oz can
Thanks to Tom for sending this along. I did not have high expectations but this would not make a bad lawn mower beer for anyone who wanted something a bit different. As far as watermelon beers go however (unique as they are) better can be had.

Aroma / Appearance - Rosy gold with a faint white corona the aroma of apple Jolly Ranchers was not quite what I expected. Fruity but in a slightly different way it does not impress too much.

Flavor / Palate - Watermelon Jolly Ranchers make it clear what the focus of this rather one dimensional beer is. Light and fluid it is easy from start to finish. Coming from a can it is not the worst option but depending on the cost I would probably not be apt to buy more than a single every once in a while for the heck of it.

Location: 12 oz can from Gilly’s, 11/8/09

Aroma: The first whiff is fairly faint, as it breathes the fruitiness comes out, watermelon, grains, and honey wheat
Appearance: The pour is a slightly hazy banana yellow color with a very fizzy white head that dissipates pretty quickly
Flavor: The flavor is under-ripened watermelon (read: mouth-puckering bitterness) on top of a light wheat base
Palate: Man this one has a lot of carbonation, other then that the palate is basically light, thin, and quite watery
Overall Impression: I actually thought I was going to enjoy this one from the nose, it seemed like the fruit would be subtle enough not to overpower the beer (my biggest complaint with most fruit beers is that they allow the fruit to completely overpower everything that makes a beer a beer). However, with this one the nose was misleading, as the flavor was just not something I enjoyed much at all. I wavered before ending up on this score, but the bottom line is that this one didn’t work. I had the exact same reaction to this one that I have to under-ripe fruit, my mouth completely puckered into the old Keystone bitter beer face (and I love a good bitter beer), but this one just tasted like bad fruit. Anyway, I like the idea here, just not the execution, and I think this rant has gone on long enough...

Sample at GABF 2009. Pours a clear yellow color with little head. Aroma is floral with notes of fresh watermelon, ripe fruit, bread, light wheat, honey and caramel. Flavor is about the same. Light to medium body with a pleasing fruity finish. Interesting ale.

Can. Pours a hazy dark gold with a thick white head. Very toasty, biscuity cereal aroma with a frsh edge suggestive of melon. The palate carries more biscuity malt, with some wheaty notes and distinct but subtle watermelon in the finish. Not especially yeasty or wheaty to me, more biscuity and even toasty, but subtle on the fruit which keeps things intriguing. Finish is crisp and dry. Very different, in a good way.

I give this beer an A for effort and originality. The taste was very yeasty at first but did finish with a good watermelony taste. With each sip my palate adjusted to the beer and i ended up enjoying it by the end of the can. Defiantly worth a try if you find this.

Can from SL. I think I’d choose hell if it was between it and this beer. Brutal. And, I’m fairly tolerant to fond of some fruit beers. Pour was a hazy straw gold color with a decent sized head and active sedimentation (protein?). The aroma was wheaty and watermelon. The flavor was sour watermelons, some faint lemongrass, caramel, wheat grains. The mouthfeel was carbonated and full bodied. Man, this was among the worst furit beers I’ve ever had, intolerable, drain poured.

Can. Pours cloudy gold with a thin white head. Aroma of honey and watermelon. Light body, watery texture with medium carbonation. Honey wheat taste, then the watermelon shows up. Crisp finish.

12 oz can. Pours a hazy dark gold body with a small fizzy white head. Nice clean wheat nose with just a light watermelon accent. The flavor makes this more of a Wheat Beer more than a Fruit Beer. The watermelon does taste natural, it’s just pretty light. Nice yeasty yet clean flavor. Medium bodied and soft textured with nice light fizzy carbonation. Pretty nice beer, I’d drink this a lot in the summer if it were localy available.