21st Amendment Brewery is a California-based company that has earned some high praise since their founding in 2000. Up for review today is their seasonal release, Hell or High Watermelon, a wheat beer brewed with watermelon.
The beer pours a slightly hazy gold with a nice firm head of about one finger and a fair amount of visible bubbles. There is a faint aroma of watermelon, wheat, and a little floral note as well. To be honest, I truly expected to be hit with an artificial watermelon aroma but that is thankfully not the case. This seems like a fresh watermelon aroma rather than that artificial stuff you get with candy and the like.
The first sip has a sour kick followed by the sweetness of the watermelon. The sourness is faint and not overwhelming. The watermelon is subtle but lets you know it’s there. There is a little wheat or oat taste in between.
The mouth feel is light with a decent amount of carbonation but isn’t too bubbly. It has a crisp finish, almost like a cider but not quite as dry. No one flavor overwhelms the sense of taste and there is a decent balance with this beer. Watermelon is a tough ingredient as one can either add too little or too much or use the artificial stuff which can ruin everything. This beer has a decent balance though the sour notes were a little bit of a shock. The sourness doesn’t kill the experience, however.
Overall this is a decent summer beer. You have to be a fan of watermelon, sour, and wheat beer. I thought being a wheat beer there would be more haze and citrus notes would dominate, or at least wheat would. Usually wheat beers are a little heavier. However, the lightness of this brew makes it a decent day beer and at 4.9% ABV it certainly can be.