Commentist Beer Barrel: Nice Melons

Well, guys, I made it. Thirty-one days without a drop of alcohol is a terrible, stupid thing that no one should do without a legitimate medical reason, in my opinion, and I’m already working hard to put it behind me. I’m beyond thrilled with the work of the writers and drinkers who filled in for me this past month, and I’ll apologize in advance for the imminent decline in the quality of the Beer Barrel going forward. That said… let’s go forward!

New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado is a stalwart of the craft beer industry and is best known for brewing Fat Tire, a pretty good amber ale and a favorite of moderately adventurous beer drinkers nationwide. They’re also responsible for several outstanding sour beers (the most famous of which is La Folie), a long-running collaboration series that’s produced some real gems, and a whole bunch of seasonals that taste, to one degree or another, like Fat Tire. A bunch of breweries get the “house flavor” rap—Boston Beer Company and Lagunitas come to mind—but in my experience, New Belgium probably does the most to earn it. In any case, they recently put out a watermelon lime ale, a combination I’ve never tried or even heard of before, and therefore a combination that fairly demanded a review.

New Belgium Heavy Melon is a clear golden beer with a light, fluffy head that mostly disappears within a minute or so of pouring. That’s pretty normal for a fruit beer, because fruits have acids in them that inhibit the formation of head in beer; this is one reason why you should graciously decline if offered a slice of lemon in your hefeweizen. Now, I don’t want to put too fine a point on this, but the predominant flavor in Heavy Melon is watermelon. This is, in my experience, a particularly tricky fruit to add to beer. I’ve had three other watermelon beers before Heavy Melon: 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon, which was pretty good; Ballast Point Watermelon Dorado, which lady snow liked much more than I did, as I thought the fruity sweetness clashed badly with the base beer’s aggressive hops; and Austin Beerworks Gal-Lager, which was hell. Heavy Melon incorporates the watermelon with grace, showcasing the fruit but blending it with the natural sweetness of the ale so that it’s hard to separate the two. The lime is hard to pick up, which is too bad, because I think the citric acidity would have added a whole additional layer to this beer.  As for the base ale, it’s malty, nutty, and… well, it honestly tastes a lot like Fat Tire. That’s fine here; in fact, it may be what’s making the synthesis of watermelon and beer work so well.

This may not be the ideal lawnmower beer. It’s a bit too far on the sweet side for real hot-weather drinking. A heavier hand with the lime, I think, would have helped with that. But if you’ve been looking at Heavy Melon on the shelves for the couple of months that it’s been out, intrigued but wondering if it’s worth trying, the answer’s a clear yes.

lady snow says: The first thing I notice is that it tastes like watermelon, not like watermelon candy.

make it snow says: I like watermelon candy.

lady snow: I do too! But I think they wanted to make this taste more natural, and I like that.

make it snow says: Do you get any of the lime in this?

lady snow says: Yeah, maybe a bit. I’m glad there’s not more.

make it snow says: Wow, really? I went the complete opposite direction on that.

lady snow says: The melon’s really not a very concentrated flavor. I think more lime would have overwhelmed it, and I wouldn’t be able to really taste the melon. If it were me, I’d probably not have bothered with the lime at all.

Grade: Put the lime in the watermelon and drink ’em both together.

tl;dr: Watermelon Fat Tire, sort of.

make it snow is an alot of beer who is pleased to be drinking beer again. He drank three bottles of Heavy Melon while writing this review, and lady snow drank a fourth. He’s since worked his way through the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across America pack, which is full of beers ranging in quality from above average to excellent. Have a beer today!