Beer Review – New Belgium Juicy Watermelon

• Name: Juicy Watermelon Lime Ale
• Brewery: New Belgium
• Style: Fruit Ale
• Origin: Colorado
• ABV: 5.0%

New Belgium has developed a reputation for wonderful beer.  Between its well known Fat Tire Ale, Voodoo Ranger IPA and plethora of other interesting beers, the brewery has developed its fans. To this point, I have not been one.

The one and only time I had previously tried a New Belgium brew, was when I first tasted Fat Tire in 2012. While I didn’t dislike it, I wasn’t overly impressed. That said, my palate has changed immensely, so I should probably try it again soon.

In recent months, I have tried a number of fruit based beers and, to my initial surprise, enjoyed almost all of them (check out my review of Greenflash’s Passion Fruit Kicker). Adhering to the seasonal theme of summer and building on my rapidly expanding library of fruit beers, I picked up a bottle of New Belgium’s Juicy Watermelon.

When poured into a glass, Juicy Watermelon presents with a clear, dark yellow color and its moderate carbonation builds a medium sized head. It smells of generic ale, without much of a watermelon smell. This is a good thing, however, as fresh watermelon has a fairly light smell and the strong “watermelon” smell of candy typically comes with a sickly sweetness.

Related: Abita Blueberry Wheat Review

Juicy Watermelon’s light mouthfeel carries a reasonably generic ale flavor, punctuated by the earthy, washed out flavor of watermelon. A slight twist of citrus flavor is a nice touch, but it’s still fairly uninspired. These dull flavors give way to a slightly bitter aftertaste that retains the earthiness of the beer. The flavor, while disappointing, is carried by a very refreshing and pleasant body. This beer is nice to drink, but the flavors just don’t impress me much.

In many ways, New Belgium’s Juicy Watermelon reminds me of Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale. The primary flavors are different, but the execution is the same. The flavors just don’t show up the way I had wished they would. All in all, this is not a bad beer, I just would rather drink many others.

TL;DR

My first experience with New Belgium was fairly underwhelming. Unfortunately, Juicy Watermelon simply didn’t pack the punch needed to reverse that opinion. Don’t get me wrong, this beer isn’t bad, I just wish it had more gusto. I have seen many people gloating about how amazing this beer is and I just don’t see it. It’s worth picking up to try, but I would suggest going in with an open mind and no expectations.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Learn more about Juicy Watermelon on New Belgium’s website, Untappd and Beer Advocate.