Citrus Wheat

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Lindyrig

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2008
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
Greetings everyone.. I'm pretty new to homebrewing and therefore I worry and don't have any homebrew to help me with the worrying.

I have a brew that is bottled so hopefully I won't have an excuse anymore.

Anyway.. I have a question and look forward to hearing your replies.

I brewed up a Citrus Wheat this weekend. I used an American Wheat Extract kit and followed the instructions on the box to a tee. I then added the peel/zest from 5 lemons and 3 oranges with 15 minutes left in
the boil. I figured I'd give it an extra shot of citrus and squeezed out 7 oz
of lemon/orange juice and added that while transferring to my primary and pitching the yeast. I worried a bit that I might not have added too much citrus, but sure enough, after just 7 hours, it was bubbling away. It's going strong right now with around 4.5 bubbles per 2 seconds. My "beer" room smells kind of like blossoming lemon tree.. (which is a nice smell).

Do you think I overdid the citrus? Will it ruin my beer and make it too sour/undrinkable? Might this turn into a nice spring/summer citrus beverage?

Thank you for any help you can give me..

Lindyrig
 
Greetings everyone.. I'm pretty new to homebrewing and therefore I worry and don't have any homebrew to help me with the worrying.

I have a brew that is bottled so hopefully I won't have an excuse anymore.

Anyway.. I have a question and look forward to hearing your replies.

I brewed up a Citrus Wheat this weekend. I used an American Wheat Extract kit and followed the instructions on the box to a tee. I then added the peel/zest from 5 lemons and 3 oranges with 15 minutes left in
the boil. I figured I'd give it an extra shot of citrus and squeezed out 7 oz
of lemon/orange juice and added that while transferring to my primary and pitching the yeast. I worried a bit that I might not have added too much citrus, but sure enough, after just 7 hours, it was bubbling away. It's going strong right now with around 4.5 bubbles per 2 seconds. My "beer" room smells kind of like blossoming lemon tree.. (which is a nice smell).

Do you think I overdid the citrus? Will it ruin my beer and make it too sour/undrinkable? Might this turn into a nice spring/summer citrus beverage?

Thank you for any help you can give me..

Lindyrig

Whenever I see a recipe that has an extract or citrus added it is usually done in a secondary or at bottling time. I am not sure what adding it to the primary will do though or if it will even have adverse effects.
 
My biggest concern at first was the effects the acidity of the citrus might
have on the yeast. I think I jumped that hurdle and it's churning away
nicely. I kind of used a few different recipes I came across for similar beers, but I might have overkilled it with the 7 oz of juice..
 
My biggest concern at first was the effects the acidity of the citrus might
have on the yeast. I think I jumped that hurdle and it's churning away
nicely. I kind of used a few different recipes I came across for similar beers, but I might have overkilled it with the 7 oz of juice..

That's ok, that is what homebrewing is all about. I would like to know how it turns out too.

I did a Mandarin Hefeweizen as one of my first mini-mash recipes and it was great.
 
I think the fermentation will bubble away some of the aroma and flavor of the citrus, that is why most add it to the secondary. I bet it will be good though, if it is too bitter, just let it sit in the bottle an extra month to let the flavor settle out.
 
Thanks for all your help..

I'm hopeful it turns out alright. I'll keep you posted. The smell isn't as strong as it was earlier.

I look at the bright side and say that no matter how it turns out, at
least I'll have some homebrew to drink when I start worrying in the future
and someone tells me to Relax and have a homebrew.. ;):mug:
 
Back
Top