Fruit Beer Lemon-Lime Hefe Weizen

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Looking forward to this. Fermentation is still active. Probably will pour the Lime-aid in tomorrow. Here's why this beer will improve over the last time. The last time I made this, it was peppery and the bottles were gushers, so there probably was an infection.

1) I used white wheat malt instead of white flaked wheat. Duh!

2) I used Moteuka hops (which required me to drive to another brew store) instead of Saaz. No more pepper!

3) I used WLP380 instead of Salfate Hefe yeast.

4) Hopefully I won't have an infection!

5) I used exactly 1/2 Oz of Lime Zest. I think last time I used a full ounce.
 
I was reading way back about how people were saying that LimeAid will add .5% ABV. The reasoning was if you add up all the sugar, you get 80 grams (I think this was the number).

The problem with this logic however is that you are not just adding sugar when you dump lime-aid in. You are adding water too. :)

Apple Juice has an OG of about 1.054ish. Apple Juice has 24G of sugar. LIme aid has 28G of sugars. My guess is that Limeaid should measure around 1.58 OG.

So if you're at 1.051 for the grain portion for 5-6 gallons, and you add a half gallon of 1.058 Lime-aid, there is no way you are adding .5% ABV. You're probably only going to boost your OG to 1.053ish is my best guess at the most.

My OG is 1.059, so Limeaid won't add any alcohol to my wort, it will only maintain the alcohol % and give me .5 gallons more beer. :)
 
Yep! In most cases, fruit is probably not going to boost your alcohol content much, if at any, and if you have a strong beer with fruit juice, it may even lower your alcohol content! In most realistic cases, it's probably going to be about the same.

Cider making actually teaches you this really well, because you are directly manipulating your SG before fermination by using fruit concentrates, juices, etc. So you get really good at these exercises. "Hmm, what happens when I pour a quart of 1.058 juice into my 2 gallons of 1.050 juice?" "Wow, not much...I'm at 1.053 now and I'm targeting 1.065." This also works vice-versa too. Many, many, many of batches of ciders teaches you this!

BTW, this is my second time making this batch, and unlike the first, I FINALLY got a little blow-off the night after adding Limeiad! The first time, I got no visible activity!

I'm using WLP380. I hope it's OK, because my fermentation temp has been on the cool side, and I've not been able to get it up to the middle of the range. I started at 60F (first pitch). The next day it was 62F (while still in lag phase) and for the vast majority of fermentation it hasn't gone over 64F. The noted "optimal range" is 65-70F.

Once I am able to put a "burper" on it, I plan to move it somewhere where ambient is 68F and let it sit for a couple weeks...

Anyone else use WLP380 on the cool side?
 
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i'll make this again but i think i'll double the lime peel also.
first time I made this it was awesome.
then the lime flavor faded.

Edit: can't find simply lime-aid at walmart this time of yr. guess nobody drinks it in the winter.
Wanted to make a test batch, guess i'll just make my own lime-aid which is basically lime juice and simple sugar.
 
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What a successful beer. My first batch was infected (didn't know it at the time). This second batch was RIGHT on the money. Holy hell, just look at it.

1) Perfect balance of Banana/Clove at a 64F fermentation.
2) Great "bubblegum" finish
3) The body is surprisingly "healthy" and full. I was really expecting a "thin" beer with the Lime-aid, but this has the best body of any hefe I've had. This ain't no "summer-only" beer.
4) It's surprisingly sweet. I'm not sure why. Probably the 158F mash temp. Don't deviate from this mash temp!

Definitely a competition beer and a new benchmark for my home-brews. Professional-quality.

88210804_10157136839499021_534310209548451840_n.jpg

88248315_10157136839564021_8008952025112903680_n.jpg
 
What a successful beer. My first batch was infected (didn't know it at the time). This second batch was RIGHT on the money. Holy hell, just look at it.

1) Perfect balance of Banana/Clove at a 64F fermentation.
2) Great "bubblegum" finish
3) The body is surprisingly "healthy" and full. I was really expecting a "thin" beer with the Lime-aid, but this has the best body of any hefe I've had. This ain't no "summer-only" beer.
4) It's surprisingly sweet. I'm not sure why. Probably the 158F mash temp. Don't deviate from this mash temp!

Definitely a competition beer and a new benchmark for my home-brews. Professional-quality.

View attachment 669825
View attachment 669826

This one's still on my to-brew list. One of these days.....
 
What a successful beer. My first batch was infected (didn't know it at the time). This second batch was RIGHT on the money. Holy hell, just look at it.

1) Perfect balance of Banana/Clove at a 64F fermentation.
2) Great "bubblegum" finish
3) The body is surprisingly "healthy" and full. I was really expecting a "thin" beer with the Lime-aid, but this has the best body of any hefe I've had. This ain't no "summer-only" beer.
4) It's surprisingly sweet. I'm not sure why. Probably the 158F mash temp. Don't deviate from this mash temp!

Definitely a competition beer and a new benchmark for my home-brews. Professional-quality.

View attachment 669825
View attachment 669826

Congrats for the beautiful and (looks like) tasteful beer!!! By the way would you have your recipe in BeerSmith format to share?
 
Planning a variant of this, and doing it with mango instead of lime or lemons. Has anyone kegged this? If so, what psi is recommended?
 
I made this beer several years ago and it’s back on the list again, but like @NitrogenWidget said I couldn’t find limeade but I did find margarita mix at Costco! So I’m going to try that, I’ll post my results after it’s brewed.
 
I have the grain for this one, but may need to stop by the HBS to see if they have the hops on hand. I want to get this on for the summer. :mug:
 
I tweaked this a bit just to try an idea. I used simply lemonade with blueberry, and used 2 of the 1.75L bottles. Also, used safale K-97.

Made a batch for a wedding, it was gone way too quickly. Everyone loved it. So if you want to try a variant version, try it out. 🤙🏼
 
I have skimmed the thread, but haven't read it all yet... has anyone un-hefe'd this hefeweizen?

I'm interested in trying the recipe, but I'm not a big fan of hefeweizens on their own... if I just used a clean yeast instead of a hefeweizen yeast, think this would still be a worthy brew?

Edit: Oh.,.. I see OCBrewing used US05, along with some other changes, and said it was great. May give it a try with the original recipe, just supping in US05.
 
@Mothman i like you am not a fan of Hefe’s and I can say that it’s not very wheaty I actually just made this and split it but the half I put the lime in that keg must have had some crap in it and it soured. Didn’t enjoy it which is why I made it but it looks like I’ll be drinking some Hefeweizen’s now.
 
I skipped out on brewing this beer this year, but plan to for next year for certain. My main changes were to use all motueka and use trader joe's limeade over simply limeade. It has way more lime flavor which is the goal I am after with this beer.
 
I'm thinking of brewing something like this over the weekend. I was thinking of doing a cream ale base with 4lb of 2r, 3 lb white wht .5 lb aromatic and 1 lb minute rice with 1 lb of lactose at FO. Using lalbrew voss at 95* the hops I have on hand are citra, cascade, chinook, HM and motuka. I was thinking 1 oz citra 60 and FO. With the voss do you think I need to wait for the krausen to fall before adding the limeade? Thought, Ideas welcome. :mug:
 
Here was the last version of my recipe for a 10 gallon batch.
My goal has just to push the lime front entirely and added more hops than necessary.

2 liter yeast starter - one package Omega OYL-021 Hefeweizen on stir plate
Mash at 154 with 7.5 gallons of 169 water treated with 4g Gypsum and 7g CACL.
I did add 1tsp lactic acid 88% to 8 gallons of sparge water, but didn't need that much water for sparging.

12.5 lbs 2-row
10 lbs white wheat
2 lbs Vienna

2.5 oz Motueka 5.1% AAU - 60 minutes
.64 oz lime zest - Bump it to one ounce. That was all I had (6 limes)
1.5 ounce motueka at flameout and whirlpool for 25 minutes
25 minutes later another 1.5 ounce motueka for 20 minutes.
Total 45 minute hop whirlpool before crashing with wort chiller.

Crashed overnight to pitch temp, split the yeast between the 2 carboys and added oxygen.
Fermented at 67 I think. Did not record.
Add 1 gallon of trader joes limeade 9 days in. It has way more lime tartness then simply limeade.
Dryhopped with 3 oz of Motueka for 10 days. (1.5 oz each carboy)
Cold crash to drop hops.
Then kegged.

Adjust your ferment schedule as needed, I just sometimes get lazy and let things roll.

1.066 OG -1.006 FG

I am pushing this into a pale hef category and I don't care, but I may reduce the malt bill next time since I should lighten it up a tad on the abv.

This is the direction I have headed with this recipe after at least 6 variations. There are a couple beers left.

I also made a partigyle that I added raspberries to and some cantillon culture as an experiment and used ahtanum hops. Its still in the carboy 5 months later.
 
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I recently used this recipe as a starting point for a margarita gose. Added 30 grams of salt and pitched the limeade after Krausen had fallen. Also fermented with Oly's Hot head kveik. Should be tasty. :mug:
 
I recently used this recipe as a starting point for a margarita gose. Added 30 grams of salt and pitched the limeade after Krausen had fallen. Also fermented with Oly's Hot head kveik. Should be tasty. :mug:
I’ll be looking forward to hearing how this turns out! There is a brewery that does a margarita beer near us that is phenomenal and would like to try my own. Did you follow the original recipe or was it a different version? Thanks
 
I’ll be looking forward to hearing how this turns out! There is a brewery that does a margarita beer near us that is phenomenal and would like to try my own. Did you follow the original recipe or was it a different version? Thanks
I believe I used 8 lb MO and 2 lb white wheat malt, with 30 grams of salt and then 1 bottle of the simply limeade after K had fallen. I got it into the keg this weekend and the sample tasted really good with an FG of 1010, about perfect. The salt and lime turned out nice with a great balance. Looking forward to seeing what this tastes like carbed in a couple of weeks. Waiting to a slot in the kegorater.
 
Reviving this thread and awesome recipe. Brewed this last summer and it was a big hit. Just kegged a batch and excited to have this on tap again. Got a little carried away with the boys on brew day and forgot the lime zest. Thinking of adding it to the keg. Anyone try something like this? Also used Santa Cruz limeade since there was no Simply Lime to be found.
 
TNT, I'd make some lime chello and add that to the keg. That way the flavor has already been extracted by the alcohol and you don't have to wait for the beer to pull the flavor out of the zest, but that's just me. :mug:
 
I was going to suggest exactly the same tincture method as @cmac62
Specifically, take the zest of 4-5 limes, green only no white pith, into 1-2 oz good vodka, wait 3 days, strain through sanitized hop sock material into keg.
I've done it with orange into a lackluster keg of Blue Moon clone with excellent results.


[edit: the reason to do the vodka tincture, or pure grain alcohol, is for sanitation as the zest will have all manner of things on/in it which would have been sanitized in the last 5m of the boil had you added it then]
 
Brewing this one again. May need to order some more motueka soon since I only have 4.5oz.
That's not enough for a good dry hop. Will play that by ear, but reviewing on my calculator for final ibu count.
 
think it's time to brew this again. I have home grown sorachi ace hops and some wakatu hops which are also limey type NZ hops. I think i'll go a little bigger with dry hopping and lime zest.
Because the corner of my kitchen is low 60's and i don't have a new ferm chamber yet i think i'm going with T-58 for the yeast.
only 5 gallons.
not sure how this will turn out.
 
think it's time to brew this again. I have home grown sorachi ace hops and some wakatu hops which are also limey type NZ hops. I think i'll go a little bigger with dry hopping and lime zest.
Because the corner of my kitchen is low 60's and i don't have a new ferm chamber yet i think i'm going with T-58 for the yeast.
only 5 gallons.
not sure how this will turn out.
I've had this on my to-brew list for at least three years now. One of these days...
 
I've had this on my to-brew list for at least three years now. One of these days...
I made this back in 2018 when i was still new to brewing. I couldn't find the limeade so used frozen concentrate and originally didn't put enough in and it was bad. Added another can and it was great. but it slowly fermented out because majority of lime flavor faded. but i know better now. since i keg i can knock the yeast down with sorbate to keep that sweet lime flavor around. But i think i need more lime peel also.
 
Best is to zest 5-6 limes, no pith white part, soak 3-4 days in just a couple iz vodka, strain through hop sock into bottling bucket at bottling time or into keg.
 
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