▪️Beer: Watermelon Dorado
▪️Style: Double IPA
▪️Alc. Content: 10.0% ABV (90 IBU)
▪️The Verdict: Getting old sucks. I was tortured last weekend. Not only was I forced to babysit my niece and nephew, but I also had to watch Grown Ups with them. Watching an Adam Sandler movie on top of two rambunctious seven year olds and a diarrhea laden one year old was bad enough, but it did remind me of a more simpler time back when mid-June was synonymous with freedom and summer vacation. Sure, summers aren’t quite the same as when you were a kid, with that glorious three month vacation but with 4,300+ small craft breweries around the country offering plenty of warm weather seasonal brews, there’s never been a better time to be a “grownup."
This week's craft beer is Ballast Point's Watermelon Dorado. A taste of summer, It's a watermelon inspired Double IPA. Ballast Point has become known for stuffing a cornucopia of ingredients into their tried and true recipes. They have three offshoots of their original Sculpin IPA recipe: grapefruit, pineapple, and habanero. Having tasted most of their lineup including the regular Dorado, I thought I'd give this one a shot.
Most of the fruit infused IPAs and pales ales that I’ve had recently have worked for the most part, but it's all about balance. Some get the balance just right, complimenting the brew just right, but some, like Ballast Point's Watermelon Dorado are about as misguided as you can get; the combination here just does not work. It’s as though someone slipped a watermelon Jolly Rancher into it. The watermelon has an artificial character and it overwhelms both the aroma and flavor and I had to labor through drinking just one bottle of it. I was expecting more from one of my favorite breweries.
If you're looking for a better watermelon choice I'd recommend a something lighter in the wheat ale family such as 21st Amendments "Hell or High Watermelon" or Horny Goat "Watermelon Wheat."
▪️M&F Rating: 7.2
-akidnamedCAL