Melon Hops

I haven't brewed in a while and I need to get back to it.  That said, I've got some melon hops I want to try, given that they're described as imparting melon and strawberry.  This time, however, I'm going to try a couple of different things.  First off, I'm reducing the boil time, and as such also reducing the amount of water I add to the brew kettle to get things going.  Second, I'm going to try a bit more aggressive to the hopping, using a hop stand.  Actually, this second part really isn't new, as its very similar to what I did with the Summer hops, and boy did that ever turn out good!

Brew Day: 16 Sept 2016

Partial Mash:
14 oz 2-row
2 oz CaraPils

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops:
7 g HBC-438 (AA: 15.7%, @ 20 min; bittering)
1.5 oz Huell Melon hops (AA: 4.5%, 10 min "hop stand"/steep, @ flameout)
14 g Huell Melon (dry hop)

Yeast: Safale US-05 + 1/2 vial Clarity Firm

*I followed all of my usual processes for partial mashing, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast.

Addendum, 28 Sept: Dry hopped the beer today with 14 g Huell Melon hops.  Will bottle on Fri.

Addendum, 30 Sept: Bottled today with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 c. boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles and 1 generous partial fill.  I'm really looking forward to trying this one in a couple of weeks.

Addendum, 14 Oct: Tried my first one tonight...very good.  Pours with a full, pillowy head, lots of lacing (think Bell's Two-hearted).  Fruit in the nose, and fruit with maybe a very tiny bit of pine or cedar on the tongue; this will likely dissipate with time.  None of the harsh bitterness typical of commercial American IPAs, but a very fruit-forward flavor.

As a side note, when I went to get one of the bottles to chill, I noticed that one of his 'brothers' had exploded.  This was my first bottle burst, and thankfully when I started home brewing almost 2 yrs ago, I got one of those storage tubs from Target and I keep the bottles in that while they're conditioning, just in case this sort of thing would happen.