Comments on: Watermelon Wheat Recipe

By: Enk-A-Mania

Enk-A-Mania — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:40:50 +0000

We went to 21st Amendment and I told my girlfriend we both shouldn’t order the watermelon, because in my experience fruit beers are a crap shoot and I didn’t want two bad beers. Needless to say, it was awesome, can’t wait to brew it! A few years back, I brewed a Jolly Rancher version, holy alcohol bomb

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:50:38 +0000

I think I may have ruined this batch somehow. Smells like rotten watermelon. Lots of rotten watermelon. I kept it in my fermentation chamber, and just pulled it off the yeast cake, after 4 weeks. Don’t want to dump it, but it reeks right now.

By: G. Corey

G. Corey — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:22:26 +0000

Just read your follow-up… I will be using seeded watermelons next time. Got really lucky on this batch with the seedless variety.

By: G. Corey

G. Corey — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:21:36 +0000

Onto the second keg – better than the first. Watermelons were not local to Connecticut… I’ll check the store to find out exactly. Another thing, they were seedless… couldn’t find seeded. Second keg sat for about 10 days longer and also used a different watermelon.

I’ll be brewing this every year. Here are pictures of us enjoying it. Thanks again!

http://i.imgur.com/RrpJs.png
http://i.imgur.com/E3yQ2.png

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:21:22 +0000

So glad to hear that. Tell me about the watermelons you used, were they locally grown? The quality of the fruit makes a big difference in this beer.

By: G. Corey

G. Corey — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:10:23 +0000

Just kegged this… almost a dead-on match. Probably one of my favorite beers I’ve made in 50 batches. 21A lists Magnum hops on their site, but the Hallertau from this recipe worked well. Thanks for this write-up.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:54:43 +0000

Brewed my version of a watermelon wheat. Two weeks in the fermenter; tasty, light but not as sweet as expected. I added the watermelon a little sooner into fermentation than you but I up the lbs per gallon just a bit. I’m thinking a about “dry watermeloning” @ 1/2 lbs per gallon, let it sit for a week and then keg it up.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:13:19 +0000

Awesome, thanks for the quick follow up.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:51:47 +0000

Ive never had any issue with it tasting watered down, while watermelon is mostly water it isn’t exclusively water, and it brings different flavors to the beer (which is the point). Id say that if you normally brew 6 to get 5, you would probably be safe brewing 5.75 to get 5 with this beer. You do end up leaving behind a lot of the solids.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:36:21 +0000

Brian,

Since you are adding so much fruit in after the boil and watermelon in mostly water, do you find the beer is getting watered down? Do you calculate the water in the melon to get your final quanitity of beer?

Thanks,
Robert

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 20:55:20 +0000

I haven’t brewed anything yet wanted to get all the information before trying to attempt probably start this weekend but I’ll make sure that I follow the instructions that you’ve listed…this is a big help !! and thanks again for the tips and for getting back to me so quickly, I will let you know how this comes out.

Mike

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 20:22:09 +0000

Mike –

Its not a stupid question at all. You nailed it. Make your wort. Pitch Yeast. Ferment for 3-5 days (you did pitch a ton of yeast right?), open the top (a bucket makes this really easy) and add the watermelon. I am using Primary and Secondary loosely here to mean the sugar from the wort (primary) and the sugar from the watermelon (secondary).

Regarding “rogue organisms” I wouldn’t worry about it. Don’t do it in room with a fan on and still air and you will be fine. By the time you are adding the watermelon the pH of the beer has dropped and there is already alcohol in solution. These are two things that beer spoiling organisms(bugs) dont like. Good luck.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:36:17 +0000

Hi Brain, I’m new to this so I apologize if this is a stupid question I see talk about secondary fermentation and then primary fermentation but when you add the watermelon do you mean at after the first week of fermentation you open up your fermenter and then add the Watermelon chunks ? or is this added right after the wort is created…want to make sure I’m doing this right, because I read a lot about not opening the fermenter to avoid “rogue organism”…Thanks for all the information you have posted here !

Mike

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:56:55 +0000

That sounds like the perfect watermelon for the beer. Im sure it will be amazing.

Regarding hops, Hallertau are pretty mild in my book EKG, would be a decent substitution. At around 15 ibu, the hops are pretty much imperceptible, so I dont think it matters too much. I would advise just keeping it simple, as you really want the watermelon to shine.

By: Brewmaster N

Brewmaster N — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:53:06 +0000

Thanks for the information, the blogs were very helpful in my decision to brew watermellon beer this year since i planted a watermellon patch this spring.. so hopefully if all goes well.. this all grain , organically grown mellon, batch will turn out good.. one thing though.. the hops.. has anyone tried subsitutions for the hops to give it a milder profile.. you really want the watermellon to stand out.. how about some citrus hops or kent goldings.. whatcha think? aight.. have a great time.. BREW ON

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:07:54 +0000

Dan – At the end of your initial (primary) fermentation there will be a ton of yeast in solution. This will be true for all beers not just wheat beers. Not sure what “Kroning” is, however the only time you should have to pitch extra yeast in a batch is if you are doing some high gravity fermentation or if the beer has aged for more than a couple months and you are planning on bottle conditioning. Personally I dont use a secondary fermenter unless the beer is going to be sitting for greater than six weeks. I see the additional transfer as one more contamination point. Yeast autolysis is a minor concern at the homebrew level.

Good luck with the beer, use ripe watermelons, and let me know how it turns out.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:09:48 +0000

Just re-read and saw your statement that it won’t taste like a jolly rancher, my bad, my eye got stuck on what Todd said above.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 04:36:21 +0000

Brian, this is a great article! Like Will above, I’m also an extract brewer. I’ve ordered an american wheat kit from Austin homebrew and I was planning on adding watermelon (in your learned proportions) to the secondary. But as I’m reading this article it seems as though you’re advocating just using the primary and leaving it the extra week there. Is that right? And if so is that because the nature of a wheat brew is cloudy anyway?. I also had a fellow brewer suggest kroning my brews in general, which included tossing extra yeast. Since essentially I’ll be adding fermentable sugar with the watermelon, would I benefit from tossing more yeast in when I put in the melon? And to toss in one more question, does using this amount of watermelon typically lend a jolly rancher flavor? I’d like to avoid that over bearing of a flavor. Thanks in advance!

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:27:25 +0000

Aaron – No steeping grains. Just base malts. You really dont want anything to get in the way of the watermelon.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:38:22 +0000

Brian, What type of steeping grains do you use for this beer?

Thanks, Aaron

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:44:16 +0000

The lower percentage of wheat is not going to be a deal breaker. The important thing is that you kept the grist simple. It is still going to be a really clean beer, which should let the watermelon come through.

Now, regarding the seedless, if when you sample before kegging/bottling, there isn’t enough watermelon flavor you can add more watermelon (ahem, seeded) at that point. Seedless wont ruin the beer, its just not ideal. All is not lost.

By: abc123

abc123 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:28:39 +0000

Sigh…
Well not only did I use seedless watermelon, but I didn’t realize Cooper’s Wheat Malt Extract is only 50% wheat. They should advertise that more clearly for us novices. So 3.3 lbs of that stuff, and 4 lbs of pale malt, and I’m looking at 22.6% wheat and 77.4% pale malt.
Sigh…
I wonder how my WYeast American Wheat felt about that lower than planned wheat proportion during primary fermentation? I can see that it certainly is going to town on the watermelon chunks during secondary, even if they are seedless.
Sigh again…
I hope this still turns out well, because I had high hopes before I started doing this additional reading.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:08:41 +0000

I posted on brewing with seedless watermelon and it lays out why not to use them. Just my experience.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:04:47 +0000

Why do you say not to use seedless watermelon.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 14:33:32 +0000

Thanks. I plan on brewing this week. I may just take the plunge into all grain brewing and do it that way instead. Thanks for the help and the recipe.

Here’s to a long summer of of good beer.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:38:53 +0000

Hey Will, thanks for you interest in brewing the beer. I would suggest you look at the Malt extract that you are using. Most of the time wheat Malt extract is not 100% wheat but rather 50% wheat and 50% two row (or similar). If you look at Breiss’s extract on Northern Brewer for instance you will see that it is actually composed of 60% wheat and 40% barley.
So you have the option of doing something simple and just using 100% “wheat” DME (which would taste great) or you could mix some combination of Pale DME and Wheat DME to get to the ratio in the original all grain recipe. I took a quick cut at it below for a 12 gallon batch (yielding 10 gallons into the keg).

8 lbs 2.6 oz Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 54.6 %
6 lbs 12.8 oz Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 45.4 %

Hope that helps.

Brian

By: Will

Will — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 04:14:45 +0000

I have not graduated to all grain brewing yet. Can I do this recipe with 60% light Malt extract and 40% Light malt extract (wheat)? If so how many lbs of each would i use for a 10Gal batch. I really want to make a few batches of this before we get to far into summer.

Thanks
-Will

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 31 May 2011 00:49:18 +0000

Absolutely, just cut it in half and brew it.

The recipe scales both up and down with no issues.

Good Luck.

By: B

Fri, 27 May 2011 22:48:30 +0000

Brian,
If i wanted to make a smaller batch could i just cut this recipe in half and only brew a 5 gallon batch?
Thanks!

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:48:56 +0000

I would count on another 3-5 days of active fermentation, but I typically give it 10-14 total days contact with the watermelon.

Pureeing the watermelon will absolutely work. If you do take that route I would just ensure that you have pulled all the seeds. After freezing and thawing the chunks it will break down a bit as well. I normally chunk it and mash it with a potato masher.

Use a bag for the watermelon and don’t use seedless.

Good luck.

By: Tanisha Mills

Tanisha Mills — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:07:11 +0000

Nice work on the recipe. How long was the extra fermentation due to the watermelon? I was thinking of pureeing the watermelon versus the chunks. Thanks for the blog, enjoy your posts.

By: Out Of Key Brewing » Blog Archive » Watermelon Wheat Followup

Out Of Key Brewing » Blog Archive » Watermelon Wheat Followup — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:37:41 +0000

[...] my original post on brewing a watermelon wheat, I have brewed the recipe several more times. What I have found is that the most important aspect [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:19:35 +0000

Campden has been know to retard yeast activity, so I’m not sure I would go that route. While contamination is possible when adding unpasteurized fruit there a couple things working against it.

1. Freezing the watermelon knocks the bacteria load down to virtually nothing.
2. Fermented beer is a pretty inhospitable environment for bacteria. By the time you are adding the watermelon the beer’s PH has dropped significantly and it is full of alcohol. Two things that bacteria are not crazy about.
3. Last, this is not a beer that is going to be aged. This is a beer that you will drink within a couple months (six months tops probably). Any strong brett based flavors take months to develop. In the off chance that contamination does occur, by the time those flavors are developing, this keg is going to be blowing CO2.

Just be sure to pitch the proper amount of yeast (erring on the side of too much), practice good sanitation, and drink it quickly.

Perhaps its just me, but Id say just don’t worry about it and brew just the beer. Ive brew over 40 gallons of this stuff over 4 distinct batches and have never had an issue with contamination.

Hope that helps.

If the beer was going to be contaminated it probably would have occured

By: Cody

Cody — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:46:38 +0000

Brian –

Any worries or problems with contamination from adding “unsanitized” watermelon into the fermenter? Have you thought about using Campden to sanitize the fruit?

Thanks….

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:16:02 +0000

I think that you would be surprised how easy it is to brew with real watermelon. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare the watermelon for freezing and the flavor you get is great.

I just re-brewed this recipe two weeks ago, and thus far the flavors are amazing.

By: Ales to Lagers

Ales to Lagers — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:14:27 +0000

I am thinking about making one but using the extract instead…hopefully it doesn’t give a medicine like flavor

By: Out Of Key Brewing » Blog Archive » Watermelon Wit

Out Of Key Brewing » Blog Archive » Watermelon Wit — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:47:11 +0000

[...] year I brewed up a watermelon wheat beer which turned out great. Being who I am, I cant leave well enough alone (well that plus I [...]

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:00:19 +0000

Cheers, Brian. I ended up hitting the chunks in the blender and then strained it through a fine strainer to get roughly 3 cups of “juice” into 5 gallons (that amount was based on some other recipes I’ve run across). This was about 1/3 of a reasonably sized melon. I went ahead with blending for two reasons – ease of insertion into the carboy and freezing/thawing time (which I usually do with fruit for beer, it’s just that I was in a bit of a rush to get this beer done and carbed for a party). I put in the juice once the yeast dropped and left it for about 4 days before kegging. There was some additional fermentation of the juice but not much from what I could tell. The beer is still carbing but on first taste it is a nice subtle watermelon flavor (somewhat Jolly Rancher-y to my surprise) that hits right in the middle and lingers slightly to the end. I think it’s probably the right amount and would expect that the flavors will meld a little with time. I might make another batch with a little more juice depending on how it ultimately finishes. Thanks for your advice!

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:33:53 +0000

Todd – You can probably count on another week to ten days of fermentation. I think that amount of time allow most of the sugars to ferment out plus for the beer to build on the watermelon aroma.

Regarding puree vs chunks. I think that pureeing it is probably not going to be necessary. Once you freeze and thaw the stuff the resulting fruit is pretty much a liquid. If anything take a sanitized potato masher to the melon once you have it carved out in a large bowl. The resulting mix will be anything but chunks. One other thing to consider is if you decide to puree it you will need to seed the entire thing. Trust me there will be plenty of watermelon flavor/aroma without pureeing it.

Thanks for reading! Its nice to know that I am not the only one reading it. Let me know how it turns out.

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:06:50 +0000

Nice work on the recipe. How long was the extra fermentation due to the watermelon? I was thinking of pureeing the watermelon versus the chunks. Thanks for the blog, enjoy your posts.