Adding a citrus flavour

I'm about to bottle my first batch tonight, a nice Dark Munich Lager that looking pretty darn good might I add!

I'm already thinking of my second batch that I want to start next week and my wife (yeah I'm blaming her, even though I still like it) has requested a nice light lager and for it to be infused with a citrus/lime flavour.

Seeing this would be my second batch, what method do you think would be the most fool proof?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lee

Add lemon peels the last few minutes of the boil. You should be able to pick them up at your brew shop pretty cheap.


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How would it work if I bought a kit?

The brewhouse I use requires me to add 8 liters of water. Could I boil lemon peels in that 8 liters and then add it?

I'm not sure I'm ready to go the full brew yet. I have to admit that I'm a little intimidated by the full process.

You can add things outside the kit. They should sell dried lemon peel to add. I like buying the dried peels, you can add fresh to it but make sure you use a vegetable peeler and do not get the white stuff in, only the yellow part of the peel.


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So she wants actual citrus flavor, not from hops? Many hops can produce intense citrus flavors. You would simply substitute for the later additions (15 to 0 minute). If you multiply the weight (ounces) * AAU of the original and make sure the weight * AAU of the replacement variety is the same you're pretty safe.

If she wants a defined citrus flavor, then dried lemon or orange peel like dhelegda suggested would be easiest.

Yeah I hate math but love to brew, easiest makes it fun, math makes it work. But totally up to you, as long as you are having fun!


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johngaltsmotor said:

So she wants actual citrus flavor, not from hops? Many hops can produce intense citrus flavors. You would simply substitute for the later additions (15 to 0 minute). If you multiply the weight (ounces) * AAU of the original and make sure the weight * AAU of the replacement variety is the same you're pretty safe.

If she wants a defined citrus flavor, then dried lemon or orange peel like dhelegda suggested would be easiest.

Click to expand...

Can you also get lime peel as well?
As for the hops, I'm just not there yet. IT will be my second batch. This kit comes with the liquid wort and you simply need to add 8 liters of water.

Where or how would be the best way to calculate the weight replacement?

As with all beer items, freshness is important. So go buy a few oranges, lemons and limes, zest them, and add after flameout. I just finished a citrus wheat, and one bit of advice is to use a lower proportion of lemon than orange since lemon comes out very strong. I can't see how you could get this fresh citrus flavor & smell from some dried stuff that sat on the shelf for a year.


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SpeedYellow said:

As with all beer items, freshness is important. So go buy a few oranges, lemons and limes, zest them, and add after flameout. I just finished a citrus wheat, and one bit of advice is to use a lower proportion of lemon than orange since lemon comes out very strong. I can't see how you could get this fresh citrus flavor & smell from some dried stuff that sat on the shelf for a year.


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Click to expand...

So would you put the zest into a "bag" and soak them after the flameout and remove before putting them into the primary fermenter?

I like your idea of going fresh and would tend to agree it would probably give you more flavour.

SpeedYellow said:

As with all beer items, freshness is important. So go buy a few oranges, lemons and limes, zest them, and add after flameout. I just finished a citrus wheat, and one bit of advice is to use a lower proportion of lemon than orange since lemon comes out very strong. I can't see how you could get this fresh citrus flavor & smell from some dried stuff that sat on the shelf for a year.


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Click to expand...

I have never had a problem using dried. But using fresh, you just have to be careful to only use use the yellow green, orange from the citrus...any white and it gives it bad flavor!


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18Brews said:

Can you also get lime peel as well?
As for the hops, I'm just not there yet. IT will be my second batch. This kit comes with the liquid wort and you simply need to add 8 liters of water.

Where or how would be the best way to calculate the weight replacement?

Click to expand...

If all you do is add water then it is already hopped and there is no way to substitute. (Sorry I missed that as I was thinking you mean extract, not actual wort.)
If/when you move to kits, each hop addition typically lists the variety and Alpha Acid % on the bag. If they give you 1oz of 10AA%, you have 1*10=10 Alpha Acid Units, so you could use 2oz of a 5AA% variety or 1/2oz of a 20AA% variety.

18Brews said:

So would you put the zest into a "bag" and soak them after the flameout and remove before putting them into the primary fermenter?

I like your idea of going fresh and would tend to agree it would probably give you more flavour.

Click to expand...

Using a bag is your call. I did not, in order to maximize the citrus effect, but the downside is that some small pieces may end up in the final product. I also "dry hopped" with another addition of orange & lemon zest, also without a bag. Most of the zest has sunk, so I'll give it a few more days before racking to keg and perhaps the rest will have sunk too. I used 60:40 orange:lemon, but I can only taste lemon.

Also - I presume citrus oils can be delicate, so I cooled the wort to 180-190 before steeping. Just a thought.

I brewed a citrus IPA (I got a good bit of citrus aroma and flavor from the hops like stated above) but i also added 3 Valencia oranges 2 days into fermentation and it made a huge difference. The aroma is awesome and it has a wonderful citrus aftertaste. There is a lot of good info in this post, I dont think you can go wrong with any of the recommendations.

Well I've decided to go with a different kit for this experiment. Instead of liquid wort in a bag I went with a pale ale kit which I will have make the wort myself. Go big or go home right lol.

The reason I got into this was to experiment so why wait?

I'm still undecided which route I will take, especially when it will be my first try with this method, 2nd batch overall.

Thanks for your recommendations though, much appreciated.

I find that lemongrass works even better than lemon peel. Lemongrass plus some orange zest and you'll be citrusy as hell.

For your first kit I would say stick to what they give you in the kit.
If you decide to add citrus zest then do some research on here specifically searching zest so you get the best information as far as how much and when to add it, etc.

Good luck! And remember, brewing is supposed to be fun, don't take it too seriously :-D

An easy method to add any adjunct flavor is to just soak it in vodka for a day or 2 and dump it all in after fermentation is complete.

So, zest the peel of of a couple lemons/limes whatever, soak in about 4oz vodka and dump it in at bottling.


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It's your second batch-try to avoid doing anything weird to screw it up. Just give your wife a wedge of lime at serving.

Ah yes… I have a multiple award winning citrus-chamomile Mexican lager I do and am at about 90 gallons brewed so far of that tasty little invention. Credibility aside (It is the interwebs after all) I have been (for a 5.5 gallon batch) using 4 each lemons and limes peeled with a vegetable peeler (so you just get the strips of rind and minimal pith) and juice from 2 of the lemons and three of the limes. I pitch the citrus in at 5 minutes and leave in until I strain into primary. Seriously, this recipe is the single most requested brew I have… I always have 15 or so gallons in various stages at all times; I cannot brew enough. As for the technique, I have tried over the last 90 or so gallons (about 50 batches since 2012) every citrus peel available and in every form (Dried vs. fresh) since inception. In my humble little opinion this is by far the best method (Fresh peel with a little juice) to impart a citrus flavor (without using fake extracts) and lifting the balance by adding the acid (Juice) to the batch. Dang good….

P.S. The recipe started out as a kit (Mexican Cervesa from Austin Home Brew Supply) that has been tweaked over the years… You’d be hard pressed to find better if you just went with a Mexican Lager extract kit and add the citrus… And, if ya really want to kick it up… Add 0.75 ounces of dried chamomile at 5 minutes as well… Oooo… So tasty.

Cheers,

-jms