Leinenkugel's Watermelon Shandy Review

Name: Leinenkugel's Watermelon Shandy
Style: Radler
ABV: 4.2%
IBUs: N/A

A couple weeks back, I reviewed New Belgium's Heavy Melon, a beer that I thought was so awful, that I have adapted a "Scorched Earth" policy in regards to how I feel whenever I have talked to people about my feelings for it. Since I gave it the lowest score I give out, I got a couple emails from some rather upset people about my score, with one of them saying I was "unfairly salty" towards the beer itself; Right, because having your beer taste like rotten fruit is absolutely no reason to be mad.

One of the emails said that I should give watermelon beers a second chance, with the top suggestion in both emails being Hell or High Watermelon. Well since I already think that Hell or High Watermelon is bad, a user on Twitter recommended I try out the Watermelon Shandy from Leinenkugel's. As luck would have it, I bought a Shandy Sampler pack for a Memorial Day Bar-B-Que, I just so happened to have a can on hand. Also, Shandy Sampler packs are a thing, and have been so for well over a year now apparently. Let's hope this beer is better than Heavy Melon.

Appearance - Cloudy dark yellow color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head itself is quite thin and fades to a spotty filmy appearance after a couple of minutes.

Aroma - Malted wheat with some mild watermelon sweetness and a hint of barley.

Taste - Malted wheat some mild watermelon notes upfront, with the back end of the palate consisting of more of that watermelon sweetness and some barley notes. The aftertaste is also quite dry as well.

Out of all the watermelon beers I've had, this is probably the best one yet and it helps that it tastes like actual watermelon as opposed to watermelon rind or rotten fruit. It goes to show you that even watermelon beer can actually work given the right circumstances. Overall, I'd say this beer is worth taking a look at.

Leinenkugel's Watermelon Shandy - 8/10