Watermelon beer sounds like a novelty until you actually try a well-made one. Done right, it’s a crisp wheat ale with just enough real fruit character to read as refreshing rather than gimmicky. We tasted our way through the category and rounded up the ones worth seeking out this summer, along with what separates a genuinely good one from a candy-flavored gimmick.
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Top Picks at a Glance
21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
The benchmark for the style. 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco brews this American wheat beer with real watermelon added after the base beer is brewed, giving it a straw-colored pour with a genuine watermelon aroma rather than an artificial candy-flavor smell. At 4.9% ABV and 17 IBU, it drinks crisp and dry rather than sweet, which is the detail that separates a good watermelon beer from a bad one. We tasted it cold from the can on a hot afternoon and it held up exactly the way a summer seasonal should: light, easy, and genuinely fruit-forward without being cloying.
The best watermelon beers taste dry and crisp, not sweet. If it reads like candy, the brewery leaned on flavoring instead of real fruit.
Blue Moon Watermelon Wheat
A lighter, sweeter take from a brewery already known for fruited wheat beers. If you like Blue Moon Belgian White, this is the same easy-drinking Belgian-style wheat base with a watermelon twist layered on top, and it’s one of the widest-distributed watermelon beers around, which makes it the easiest one on this list to actually find. It leans sweeter than the 21st Amendment version, closer to fresh watermelon juice than a dry cider-style fruit beer.
Farmhouse Watermelon Ale
Many regional breweries run a watermelon saison or farmhouse ale as a limited taproom-only summer batch. These tend to use whole fruit or juice rather than extract, giving a drier, slightly funky edge from the saison yeast that plays well against the fruit’s sweetness. Availability shifts year to year and brewery to brewery, so it’s worth asking your local taproom staff whether their current watermelon seasonal uses real fruit or added flavoring before ordering a flight.
Watermelon Shandy
Some breweries and bars mix a plain wheat beer with watermelon juice on the spot rather than brewing the fruit in, which is technically a shandy rather than a fruited beer. It’s worth knowing the difference: a shandy dilutes the beer’s ABV with juice, while a true fruited beer like the 21st Amendment or Blue Moon versions above ferments or infuses the fruit into the finished beer. Our radler and shandy dilution guide covers exactly how much a mixer like this cuts your drink’s alcohol content.
What Makes a Good Watermelon Beer
Almost every watermelon beer starts life as an American wheat ale, the same style behind classics like Blue Moon. The base beer is light-bodied and only mildly bitter, which leaves room for the fruit to actually come through instead of getting buried under hops. The best examples add real watermelon, either juiced or pureed, during or after fermentation, rather than relying purely on flavor extract. If a can lists “natural watermelon flavor” with no mention of actual fruit in the brewing process, expect a sweeter, more one-dimensional beer.
More Fruited Beer Styles to Explore
If watermelon isn’t quite your flavor, the same real-fruit-vs-extract logic applies across every fruited beer category. Our grapefruit beer roundup covers the tart, hop-friendly end of the spectrum, while best banana beers, best caramel beers, and best vanilla beers dig into the sweeter, dessert-adjacent styles. If you want something savory instead, best peanut butter beers is the one to read next.
FAQ
Are watermelon beers seasonal?
Most are released as limited summer seasonals rather than year-round beers, so availability drops off heading into fall. Check our beer history guide for more on how seasonal brewing calendars work.
Do watermelon beers taste artificial?
Not the good ones. Beers brewed with real watermelon juice or puree taste closer to fresh fruit than candy. Ones relying only on flavoring extract tend to taste more artificial and sweet.
What’s the difference between a watermelon beer and a watermelon shandy?
A watermelon beer has the fruit brewed or infused into the beer itself. A shandy is a plain beer mixed with watermelon juice at the bar, which also lowers the drink’s ABV.
Is Blue Moon Watermelon Wheat available year-round?
No, it’s typically a summer seasonal release, though Blue Moon’s base Belgian White wheat beer is available year-round if you want the same style outside of watermelon season.
