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Nelson Crowle's picture

Watermelon Dorado

March, 2016
Judges Rating: 
94
Aroma: 
21 / 24
Appearance: 
6 / 6
Flavor: 
39 / 40
Mouthfeel: 
9 / 10
Overall Impression: 
19 / 20

This brilliantly clear, deep golden beer displays a frothy, cream-colored head of tiny bubbles that is very inviting. The aroma is fairly complex with grainy bread dough, a touch of clover honey, some interesting lemon and melon hops, and as expected, watermelon characteristics. The first sip has a nice bready and nutty character, which provides a great backdrop to support all kinds of resinous, tangerine, floral, lemony, and honeydew notes. A very clean fermentation with a fairly big alcohol presence appears at the back of throat, but no fusels or higher alcohols distract. Moderately high hop bitterness leads into a very dry and crisp finish that leaves melon-like and floral flavors lingering for a long time. The beer creates a melange of flavors that really work well together. This beer is nicely balanced – the malt is there, and the hops just blossom out beautifully. This beer would complement a fruit and cheese platter that features some milky, creamy and mild cheeses – along with a cluster of on-the-vine raisins.