Frozen Beer Soaked Watermelon
Jackie Dodd-Mallory
(Senior Editor)
Summer beers have arrive, filling the shelves of our bottle shops with pale ambiguous summer refreshment. If you’re new to beer, these labels can be a bit confusing due to the comprehensive lack of cohesion with the title: summer ale. Some have a beautiful bitter hop bite, some have a nice malty flavor, some are mild and clean. I’m an advocate for an open mind and full beer cart, but if you’re a bit more leery and want a specific flavor profile when looking for beer, here are a few things to keep in mind.
"American" in front of any beer title (i.e. American Summer Ale, American Pale Ale…) means that beer will be hoppier than it’s non-patriotic counterparts.
Summer ales and summer release aren’t the same thing, but close. Summer release just means a beer that is only released that season, but can be any style.  Summer ales are generally a pale ale with notes of citrus, light to medium bodies, some hops but not overwhelming, but brewers are free to run wild within a very broad definition so many summer ales taste vastly different.
Saisons are made to be served in the summer, they are often mild, fruity, generally have a bit more sweetness to them and very low hops. Sometimes these are made with wheat, but not always. This is a great style to seek out if you’re new to craft beer or looking to introduce people to craft beer.
Kolsch is a mild crisp beer, it’ll give you a bit more hops than a saison, but not as much as a pale ale. It’s a great summer beer to pair with your barbaque, it’s mild enough for the watermelon and bold enough to stand up to salsa and has a great carbonation to wash down that burger.
Session IPA's are just IPA’s with a low alcohol content, letting you drink more without embarrassing yourself. You’ll still get a great bite of hops, but without becoming an intended YouTube sensation.
To booze up these watermelon cubes, I used the summer release beer Hell or High Watermelon by 21st Amendment brewery. It’s a wheat beer made with fresh watermelons, crisp and dry and perfect for summer.
It was the obvious choice.
Frozen Beer Soaked Watermelonsicles
Ingredients
- 2 lbs watermelon cut into cubes
- 12 ounces beer pale ale, wheat beer or IPA
Instructions
- Place watermelon in a bowl. Pour beer over the watermelon. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.
- Remove from beer, skewer with 6 inch wooden skewers.
- Place on a large plate, cover and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.
- Serve frozen.
Comments
Becki @ Bites 'n Brews June 20, 2014 um 9:18 am
I still haven’t gotten to try this beer! This sounds perfect for my housewarming party on the patio when it’s 95 out 🙂
Samantha June 20, 2014 um 4:12 pm
Watermelons also make amazing kegs! Cut off the top, scoop out just a bit of flesh, pour in the beer, cover, chill and tap with a spigot!
Colleen June 21, 2014 um 10:06 am
The love of my life has been forbidden from drinking IPA’s after several "incidents." Perhaps I’ll have to give him permission to try a few Session IPA’s and see if those don’t create a complete crazy drunk boy!
Paula – bell’alimento June 25, 2014 um 7:48 am
Bring on the beer soaked watermelon!
Meredith in sock monkey slippersdith June 25, 2014 um 12:33 pm
This is fabulous! Never would have thought and I want some this weekend for a cookout!
addie | culicurious July 6, 2014 um 1:29 pm
These look like the perfect summer treat! 🙂 We have a local brewery here in Louisiana that does a watermelon wheat. Perfect use!