21st Amendment Brewery brings a very unique factor to the craft-beer world: cans.  One can of beer they brew is the Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer.  The can poured out and presented a rather large, foamy, and white head which dissipated relatively quickly (although certainly nowhere near as quick as the previously reviewed Audacious Apricot).  This beer had a very murky straw color.  The aromas, although mostly minimal, were very clear – wheat and watermelon.  The initial flavor was rather light, to be honest, and consisted mostly of seemingly standard wheat beer flavors.  But when the finish rolls around, the watermelon really kicks you in the face, and I mean square in the face.  With each sip, the rather long nature of the finish seems to build more and more upon itself.  By the end, the dominating watermelon made it almost seem as if I was drinking some type of candy-based concoction, rather than a wheat beer.  This is definitely one of the more unique brews I’ve ever had the opportunity to taste.

The Canadian brewery Unibroue brings us the competitor, Trois Pistoles, an Abbey style ale.  Weighing in at an impressive 9.0% ABV, I wondered if the alcohol content would be apparent, like with the 3 Philosophers.  The frothy, white head dissipates slowly, leaving some traces behind.  The ruby-brown beer was nearly completely opaque, but a nice soft level of carbonation was still detectable.  An interesting aroma, mostly of chocolate, was very pleasing.  It even seemed to have some citrus and some roasted notes hidden beneath.  The flavor of this beer had a decent, chocolate sweetness to it, with better hints of that citrus character.  I had taken a number of sips of this beer and loved the complex combination of the chocolate and citrus flavors.  Then, I realized that the high ABV was almost completely masked.  I imagine if I didn’t know how strong the beer was, it would have been difficult to notice, although if you search long enough you can find it.

The decision:  This was a very interesting match, including possibly the most unique brew I’ve ever tasted.  But unique isn’t the basis for this competition, and there can be only one winner.  In the end, I had to tip in favor of the complex combination of flavors, and aromas, in the Trois Pistoles.  The watermelon flavor and seemingly everlasting finish was interesting, but the lovely combination of chocolate and citrus tipped the scales in favor of Unibroue.  I look forward to seeing Trois Pistoles take on Pyramid’s Haywire Hefeweizen in Division 2, Round 1 action.  So, did I call this match right?