Blonde Ale Squeeze My Lemon Summer Blonde

I doubt that cold water would extract much essential oil from the zest. How fine did you zest the rind? I just take large flat slices, using a vegetable peeler.

When I make it, there is just the tiniest suggestion of lemon. It should definitely not be overpowering.

i used a microplane, so it was basically as fine as I could get it. Maybe the carbonation and conditioning will age drive some out.

Hm, I used a file-grater, so all the zest was in itty bitty pieces, like shredded cheese. Maybe I should expect it to be SUPER lemony then?

Bottled! This guy got 10 days in the primary, and about a month and a half in the secondary. It smelled good going into bottles. I used DME in lieu of priming sugar, in part because I was concerned about the surfeit of lemon zest I (apparently) used. So it's gonna be a while before it's carbonated long enough to drink, but I'm anticipating something great.

i think this might be one of the 2 next brews i do. looks pretty good to me

I microplaned about 12 lemons to get the 2oz of "zest"
I dumped 1/2 half the batch... zesting it made it WAYYYYYYYYYYYY to lemony.....
The base beer was awesome and I'm definately going to try it again without the microplaning and just use the "slices" of lemon rind.

My label for the new bottles is here.

It's finally done and ready to drink!

I was very skeptical when I tasted it while racking-- it frankly tasted weird. It tasted strange when I bottled it too. I think it's because I used nottingham and my living room was just a tad too warm for that yeast. The beer also changed colors! I don't know what that was about... it was first very light in the carboy, then became much darker post fermentation.

But when its cold and carbed it tastes really good. Does not taste anything like any other beer I've made. Going to be great drinking this on the porch on a hot summer day (it's been 105 here in OR)!

I made the lemoncello with the left over zest, too! I've never had lemoncello either, so that taste is also new. Used everclear as to your suggestion. Very tasty stuff!

Cool beans Llama, I'm glad you're enjoying both the beer and the limoncello!

GreenwoodRover said:

I microplaned about 12 lemons to get the 2oz of "zest"
I dumped 1/2 half the batch... zesting it made it WAYYYYYYYYYYYY to lemony.....
The base beer was awesome and I'm definately going to try it again without the microplaning and just use the "slices" of lemon rind.

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Hm...I just brewed this on Monday, and I used a MicroPlane and 8 lemons too. It was definitely lemony, but I don't think overly so. My sense of smell isn't that great, so maybe I just can't smell it as much.

Anyhow, it's fermenting with Notty right now and I can't wait to taste it. Hopefully it'll still be summer enough here when it's done -- we just got out the other side of a big heat wave, and the forecast for the next week or so is definitely fall-like.

It's been a while, but I think I'm throwing in the towel: my batch didn't turn out good at all. It's drinkable, but the lemon is overpowering.

I think that the flaw was probably in the execution. I grated the zest instead of slicing it, and as a result there was MUCH more surface area. Plus, it basically didn't filter when I transferred to the carboy, so it had a LONG time to leach flavor into the beer.

pericles said:

It's been a while, but I think I'm throwing in the towel: my batch didn't turn out good at all. It's drinkable, but the lemon is overpowering.

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With my last batch, I steeped the zest in everclear while the beer was fermenting, filtered it and added it while kegging. Way too lemony!!

I couldn't bear to throw the batch away, so I brewed another without any lemon and mixed the two together. Ended up with two kegs that were about right. Just a thought.

You know as it ages the lemon flavor lowers. Don't toss in the towel too quick. Just my opinion.

Is there an extract version of this?

d510addict said:

Is there an extract version of this?

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Try substituting 4lbs of extra light DME and a pound or so of corn sugar for the 2-row and flaked corn.

That's exactly how I made it, before converting to all-grain.

Also what kind of lemons are you using? A good meyer lemon zest sounds like it would work great for this.

This sounds great! Read whole thread...Down here in Houston area, this stuff will go good. Even now it is only 45 today and tommorrow, slightly colder at night. I love the heavy darks, but I am thinking of making this one next, so that I have a good grip on it for next summer when it is over a hundred, every day, off and on, for several months.....Did I mention that we actually LIKE snow down here!:rockin:

LemonLars,
I'm planning on brewing this over the weekend, but am a little concerned with it turning out too lemony like some of the posters... I am brewing a half batch so was planning on using 1 oz (by weight) of lemon zest (most likely from myer lemons). I see that some of those whose ended up too lemony seemed to microplane the lemons. I was originally planning on doing this but saw that you do large flat slices with a vegetable peeler. So, my assumption is as one person stated that there is less surface area and the flavors won't extract as much and that you are able to filter the peel out more easily before transferring to the fermenter. Am I correct that you filter or fish the peel out before transferring to the fermenter? Also, how many lemons does it usually take for you? It seems like the average is 6 for the full 5g batch.

Thanks for your assistance, I just want to get this right as I am brewing it to be ready in time for my girlfriend's birthday.

keesimps said:

LemonLars,
I'm planning on brewing this over the weekend, but am a little concerned with it turning out too lemony like some of the posters...

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You know, it's tricky...the lemon zest is a bit of a wild card. Every lemon is unique, and I'm sure different varieties will lend significantly different levels of flavor. I definitely need a more precise means of integrating the lemon component.

When boiling the zest, I put it in a nylon paint straining bag, just like I do with my hops. But the next time I brew this, I'm going to go with the zest steeped in vodka/everclear approach. However, I'm going to slowly and incrementally add the vodka in a bottling bucket until I'm just tasting a hint of it...then it's into the keg or bottles. The lemon is definitely intended to be a subtle complement to the hops, and not a strong part of the overall flavor.

Thanks, I brewed a batch yesterday (modified to include some yerba mate and other herbs with saaz and cascade) and went with .4 oz microplaned lemon zest from meyer's lemons. I ended up using what the woman had leftover from baking and wanted to be better safe than sorry. At taste before adding to the fermenting carboy, it had a nice slight lemony character, but definitely not overpowering. So, we'll see after fermenting, but I think I should be fine. Let us know how the new and improved Everclear process works! Thanks again LemonLars for the inspiration and quick response...

I have a Lemon Brewing question - this weekend I brewed up a batch using a recipe I made for a Honey-Lemon Blonde ale. I used 2 fresh picked lemons. What I did was cut each lemon in half, squeezed the juice into a cup of water, added a teaspoon of sugar and boiled it. Also I added maybe a teaspoon of zest from the peel. Then strained it and added to the wort during last 2 minutes... Fermentation started the next day and smelled a little bit off - very lemony, not the best smell.

After reading this thread I think maybe using the Lemon Juice could have been bad instead of using only zest.. thoughts anyone?

BlindLemonLars,

I have read that you add a kind a limoncello in your second fermenter. how much or how many oz. do you exactly add to your second fermenter?

Kind Regards.

Has anyone tried any of the following small changes with this recipe?

1. Using 0.5 oz Centennial First Wort Hops in place of 60 min boil?

2. Adding or substituting some flaked rice for some of the corn?

My swmbo likes our home brew with a bit more hops than the original posted recipe. I like the look of the original but I need to keep swmbo happy in order to keep brewing.

Just brewed this beer, and wow did the fresh lemon zest come alive. My O.G. came in a little low, but that was just because I had to add some water to bring the primary up to where I wanted it. I am not worried about it though, I can always make another one !! I cant wait to give this a try.

Just transfered this to the secondary and it is already very clear. Its not going to be long and this is going to be in the keg.

I made an extract version of this last spring and let it keg condition in the fridge for 2 months for a work party. It turned out well and It was a good summer drinker. It didn't get the praise that my other brew did... but it got drank a lot faster.

that could have something to do with the fact that my other brew was a 9% Imperial IPA and they put a skull and cross bones sticker on it to warn people of its alcohol content. :rockin:

Tasting notes on my attempt:

The extract version ended up tasting a little unbalanced in my opinion. I may try some different hops next time and maybe change up the process to get a partial mash version going as I think the grains will help the flavor balance. Don't get me wrong... the extract version i derived from this thread turned out more than decent for the average beer drinker. But as us beer snobs know... the next batch will be better!


Will report back in a few months after i get this one going in the next week or two. I may end up doing a double batch as well since i just got me a new Blingmann 15 gallon boilermaker for x-mas from SWMBO

mwhc22 said:

Tasting notes on my attempt:

The extract version ended up tasting a little unbalanced in my opinion. I may try some different hops next time

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I'm thinking about doing an extract version of this myself since this would only be my 3rd brew. I was just wondering if you followed the extract recipe posted in this thread or if you made up your own. Also was wondering what you meant by unbalanced? too hoppy? too lemony? too malty?

Also I'm thinking of adding 1lb of rasberries and 1lb of blackberries to the secondary. Thanks for the info

Hi Everyone,
Going to give this beer a try (AG), it looks great! What would you think about using the following lemon peel for flavor:
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_75&products_id=11732
Thanks!
John

Brewed the extract version of this and just tried my first pint. Very tasty! I agree with some of the comments here about the extract recipe being a little unbalanced. A little more hoppy in flavor than what I was expecting, and I lost a lot of the lemon... Pretty hard to find, actually. Still, a very tasty brew that probably won't last long. I will definitely be trying the AG version as soon as I finish my setup. Thanks for posting this recipe!

Brewed this on Friday AG and it went well! It was my first AG so we will see how it turns out! I hit the OG dead on so fingers crossed! I had a hard time weighting out the lemon zest so it could be real lemony or not there haha who knows!

So I'm definitely going to make a batch of this along with a Nelson Sauvin Pale Ale for my summer drinking.
I have difficulty getting my fermentation chamber (my closet) down to 62-65 (water bath+t shirt), would you recommend using S-05 if my temps are gonna be closer to 65-68?

Thank you for this recipe! It has been a huge hit with my BMC loving neighbors and I'm loving it on yard work days! This has been the quickest one of my beers has "disapeared" from the fridge. I think it may become a house standard.

Made this for the first time and it is a great summer drink. some friends think it is a bit too tart from the lemon, but i like it so that leaves more for me.

Just brewed a similar version of this tonight.

I used 1.5 ounces of fresh lemon zest (about 3 medium size lemons) and changed the hops and hops schedule. I used Centennial and Falconer's Flight for Bittering @ 60 min. Cascade @ 30 min and Amarillo @ 10 min for aroma. Kept about the same IBUs. OG came out to 1.049 on 10 lbs grain bill with similar ratios with an 80% efficiency. Smells very lemon like, I just hope that it doesnt completely overpower the hops and malt flavors.

Looking forward to giving it a try in a few weeks!

Did not finish out very dry... finished at 1.020

ennis2000000000 said:

Did not finish out very dry... finished at 1.020

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Which Yeast did you use?

just brewed this over the weekend. i went with 1oz of microplaned zest. didn't seem too bad in the overpowering lemon smell. we'll see how it finishes out.

04

ennis2000000000 said:

04

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Ahh Ok. I used US-05

Just kegged my first batch of this. It turned out a little stronger than the original recipe. My OG was 1.060 and FG was 1.010. Hopefully it's not too strong.