Watermelon Wheat

Watermelon Wheat

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.052 FG = 1.012
IBU = 13 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.0%

Ingredients
6.0 lbs. (2.7 kg) German wheat malt (light)
4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) 2-row pale malt
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) Briess Carapils® malt
3.75 AAU Mt. Hood pellet hops (0.75 oz./21 g at 5% alpha acids)(60 min.)
White Labs WLP320 (American Hefeweizen Ale) yeast
6 C. watermelon juice (fresh squeezed, not pasteurized)
Less than 1 oz./watermelon extract to taste (at kegging)
3/4 cup corn sugar (if bottling)

Step by Step
Mash grains in 3.5 gallons (13 L) of water at 150 °F (66 °C) for 60 minutes. Sparge with 4.75 gallons (18 L) of 170 °F (77 °C) water. Boil the wort for 60 minutes. At the beginning of the boil, add 0.5 oz./14 g of Mt. Hood hops. I also add yeast nutrient at 15 minutes, but no Irish Moss in a wheat beer. When boil is done, chill to 65 °F (18 °C) and pitch yeast.

When your primary fermentation is complete, prepare your fresh watermelon. I use a sanitized steel bowl and potato masher to mash fresh watermelon and run the juice through a funnel with strainer. Collect 6 cups of juice and place in your secondary vessel. Rack your beer on top. The juice and (pink) beer will begin a vigorous secondary fermentation. When complete, it will leave cool pink and white melon/yeast rings in the bottom. The final beer will pour yellow with a slightly pink head. Rack to your keg or bottling bucket and taste. Add watermelon extract (less than an ounce) to taste. Bottle or keg your beer as usual.