Fruit Beer Lemon-Lime Hefe Weizen

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slim-I'm 9 days into to fermentation so I obviously won't be tasting this any time soon. I strained my beer when racking to primary to remove all the loose hops and that also meant I removed all the lime zest.
I haven't had any yet but I do plan on brewing this again, regardless of the outcome. That being said, should I leave the zest in next time or what?
 
Anyone use Citra yet? I have a pound I might try it with. Thinking Cascade for the boil and citra all the rest. This is next in the pipeline.

Thanks for sharing!
 
slim-I'm 9 days into to fermentation so I obviously won't be tasting this any time soon. I strained my beer when racking to primary to remove all the loose hops and that also meant I removed all the lime zest.
I haven't had any yet but I do plan on brewing this again, regardless of the outcome. That being said, should I leave the zest in next time or what?

I use my lime zest only in the boil....however I have made this beer and on the first day of fermentation I have started soaking (in a separate container) lime zest in vodka...after fermentation was complete I added the lime extract to my bottling bucket and it made one hell of a lime beer, it was a little too much for me...but I say experiment until you find the perfect beer for you!
 
Anyone use Citra yet? I have a pound I might try it with. Thinking Cascade for the boil and citra all the rest. This is next in the pipeline.

Thanks for sharing!

I have not tried Citra in this recipe yet...only because the flavor varies so much on this particular hop, but smell it/taste it, if you get that grapefruit or lime kind of taste it might be a good sub! Let us know how it goes!
 
What is the typical length of "vigorous fermentation" on this brew? I've had mine in the primary for 4 days and itching to get the lime juice in there.
 
I did two batches at the same time and the 'vigorous fermentation' on both ended about 40 hours after pitching the yeast. I juiced both batches and it kicked up again. I'm at pitch+10 days and there is still noticeable airlock activity in both fermenters.

One neat thing, I pitched two separate ferms at the same time with the same yeast with the same initial activity. I added Simply Limeade to one and Simply Grapefruit to the other. The Grapefruit one was more vigorous and is currently bubbling more often than the limeade one. Just an observation.
 
What is the typical length of "vigorous fermentation" on this brew? I've had mine in the primary for 4 days and itching to get the lime juice in there.

You should be good to go with adding the juice, I usually wait three days and use a blow off tube versus an airlock (just in case).
 
update on the tangerine: brewed 1-10-12, kegged 1-24-12. It is carbed up and ready to go.
taste - the tangerine flavor never really came through, not sure how that happened, I added an entire 1/2 gallon after vigorous fermentation ended. However it is still very delicious. I think the banana flavor is the most pronounced flavor. I ended up using Wyeast 3944 on this batch, due to the 3068 not being available.

appearance - I cold crashed this time and the clarity ended up being perfect for the style.

I still like the original lemon-lime better.
 
I think mine has been in 2 weeks post limeade and I was doing a sample on another beer and had everything sanitized so I grabbed a reading off the LL hefe. I was at 1.016. I put this in the fermenter at 1.064 (planned on that). Hope to get this to 7%.

Sample tasted good. I had good lime flavor retention with a a bit of limey bitterness. Looked like a nice cloudy hefeweizen.
 
update on the tangerine: brewed 1-10-12, kegged 1-24-12. It is carbed up and ready to go.
taste - the tangerine flavor never really came through, not sure how that happened, I added an entire 1/2 gallon after vigorous fermentation ended. However it is still very delicious. I think the banana flavor is the most pronounced flavor. I ended up using Wyeast 3944 on this batch, due to the 3068 not being available.

appearance - I cold crashed this time and the clarity ended up being perfect for the style.

I still like the original lemon-lime better.

Sorry to hear the tangerine never came out...it sounded good!
 
I think mine has been in 2 weeks post limeade and I was doing a sample on another beer and had everything sanitized so I grabbed a reading off the LL hefe. I was at 1.016. I put this in the fermenter at 1.064 (planned on that). Hope to get this to 7%.

Sample tasted good. I had good lime flavor retention with a a bit of limey bitterness. Looked like a nice cloudy hefeweizen.

Your gonna love it...but give it its three weeks to be perfect!
 
Got this one bubbling away right now - so excited!

I did a bit of a variation of the recipe due to circumstances, but I hope it will turn out great, I have high hopes. Here's how it went down....

So SWMBO loves wits (allagash, hoegaarden, etc...) and so do I. I've been neglecting here tastes as of late so I decided that a wit was in the works - then I saw this and had an idea. 10Gal, split into 5 gal of classic wit and 5 gal of this lemon lime american wheat.

So I brewed 10 gal with this recipe (mostly what I had on hand...):

5# American 6-row
5# Belgian 2-row
1# Belgian Pale Wheat Malt
9# Flaked Wheat
1# Flaked Barley
4oz Acid Malt

75 min Mash at 153F

1.5oz of whole leaf Fuggles to 15IBU - 60 min boil

1tsp of yeast nutrient

At 15 min to end of boil, pull off 1 liter or so into two saucepans (2 liters total). Add to one saucepan .75oz bitter orange and .5oz cracked corriander seed. Add to second sauce pan zest from 3 small limes, .25oz cracked corriander seed. Boil both for 15 min along side the rest of the wort.

Chill all three vessels, split 8.5gal of post boil wort to 2 fermenters and add one saucepan contents to each fermenter. Oxygenate and add to the wit fermenter 3068 - Weihenstephan yeast and to the lime wheat added US-05.

OG: 1.060

That was 3 days ago. Last night I took half of the Simply Limeade, added 0.25oz of Sorachi Ace and boiled for 5-10min, added the rest of the limeade, chilled and dumped into the US-05 batch. By this morning the carboy was going f****** nuts!

I would say that is smells great, but its a mix of limey goodness mixed with sulfur sh*t from the 3068 yeast...

Anyways, sorry about the long post - I'm super excited to try both of these side by side and see the differences. I know that it wasn't exactly to the original recipe, but the intent was the same.

Cheers!
 
OCBrewin said:
Got this one bubbling away right now - so excited!

I did a bit of a variation of the recipe due to circumstances, but I hope it will turn out great, I have high hopes. Here's how it went down....

So SWMBO loves wits (allagash, hoegaarden, etc...) and so do I. I've been neglecting here tastes as of late so I decided that a wit was in the works - then I saw this and had an idea. 10Gal, split into 5 gal of classic wit and 5 gal of this lemon lime american wheat.

So I brewed 10 gal with this recipe (mostly what I had on hand...):

5# American 6-row
5# Belgian 2-row
1# Belgian Pale Wheat Malt
9# Flaked Wheat
1# Flaked Barley
4oz Acid Malt

75 min Mash at 153F

1.5oz of whole leaf Fuggles to 15IBU - 60 min boil

1tsp of yeast nutrient

At 15 min to end of boil, pull off 1 liter or so into two saucepans (2 liters total). Add to one saucepan .75oz bitter orange and .5oz cracked corriander seed. Add to second sauce pan zest from 3 small limes, .25oz cracked corriander seed. Boil both for 15 min along side the rest of the wort.

Chill all three vessels, split 8.5gal of post boil wort to 2 fermenters and add one saucepan contents to each fermenter. Oxygenate and add to the wit fermenter 3068 - Weihenstephan yeast and to the lime wheat added US-05.

OG: 1.060

That was 3 days ago. Last night I took half of the Simply Limeade, added 0.25oz of Sorachi Ace and boiled for 5-10min, added the rest of the limeade, chilled and dumped into the US-05 batch. By this morning the carboy was going f****** nuts!

I would say that is smells great, but its a mix of limey goodness mixed with sulfur sh*t from the 3068 yeast...

Anyways, sorry about the long post - I'm super excited to try both of these side by side and see the differences. I know that it wasn't exactly to the original recipe, but the intent was the same.

Cheers!

If every beer recipe was the same, we all might like Budweiser...but thankfully it's not, so brew away and keep us posted as to how your experiment went! Don't forget to post pictures, some of us love beer porn!
 
I have just started brewing. In fact I'm drinking my first batch now. Your recipe sound effn amazing. Being new to all of this: What do you mean by vigorous fermentation? Is that just the first few days then add the **** or no. Is this a primary or secondary fermentation? Like I said I'm new to all this terms.
 
mitchcl640 said:
I have just started brewing. In fact I'm drinking my first batch now. Your recipe sound effn amazing. Being new to all of this: What do you mean by vigorous fermentation? Is that just the first few days then add the **** or no. Is this a primary or secondary fermentation? Like I said I'm new to all this terms.

Welcome to brewing...vigorous fermentation happens from 1 to 3 days and it's where the yeast are working hard to convert the sugars to beer, you can some times see the wort moving around like crazy or you can see bubbles coming up in to your airlock at a rapid rate...the reason why you want to wait for this to calm down, is because you will be introducing more sugar, if you didn't wait the yeast would go crazy and start exploding wort through your airlock. I personally never use a secondary, the only reason why I would is if I am aging a beer....so this beer only gets primary fermentation.
 
Update on the split batch:

Both are basically winding down, with the lemon-lime still a bit more active because of the sugar addition from the limeade. I have been keeping them in a full bathtub at between 64-66 degrees. Tonight I will move them out and ramp up the temp a few degrees to rouse the yeast a bit. I will also take some gravity readings and beer porn pics.

How many gravity points do you estimate that the Simply Limeade added? I had a post boil OG of 1.060 on both batches, so I'm wondering what the Lemon-Lime Wheat was actually - thinking something like 1.068-70???

Thanks, Cheers!
 
Bottled the L-L-H today. The sample was delicious, lot's of lime but not overwhelming. I'm really looking forward to crackin' one open after they've conditioned.

I'm gonna try an bottle the Grapefruit version tonight after work.

Based on the sample I will certainly brew this again....depending on the final product, this may be pipeline status...
 
Skagdog said:
Bottled the L-L-H today. The sample was delicious, lot's of lime but not overwhelming. I'm really looking forward to crackin' one open after they've conditioned.

I'm gonna try an bottle the Grapefruit version tonight after work.

Based on the sample I will certainly brew this again....depending on the final product, this may be pipeline status...

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it, let me know when you crack one open after it's complete!
 
Got the grapefruit in bottles. GF didn't have the same star power as the LL but who cares? It was just a sample, a very green sample. Looking forward to this one as well.

Glad the boss-man only cracked the whip four hours today. LLH bottled this morning, GFH bottled this evening. This bottling day is also the last step (before consumption) of my first double brew day. Man-o-man..

Happy Brewing!
 
I to brewed a simalar recipe to this. Jut used yours and tweaked a slight bit.
6# white wheat malt
5# pilsner
1# veianna
no motueka hops at lhbs so i just went with sorachi ace at 60 20 and 7 min.
1oz. of lime zest and 1oz. of lemon zest at 5 min.
I had to add a blow off this morning but this brew smells absolutly amazing thanks for the great recipe (even though i made such major changes).
 
johnheather125 said:
I to brewed a simalar recipe to this. Jut used yours and tweaked a slight bit.
6# white wheat malt
5# pilsner
1# veianna
no motueka hops at lhbs so i just went with sorachi ace at 60 20 and 7 min.
1oz. of lime zest and 1oz. of lemon zest at 5 min.
I had to add a blow off this morning but this brew smells absolutly amazing thanks for the great recipe (even though i made such major changes).

Let us know how it finishes off...are you going to add the juice?
 
So I plan on adding the simply limeaid today, but i am wondering what is the best way without introducing oxygen to the beer? did you just pour it in? it seems to me that it would arrerate the beer if you do that. Please let me know.
 
Slim,

I'm planning this to be my third batch, but I'm a PM brewer at this point and not all-grain yet. I'm not entirely comfortable converting recipes because I just don't trust myself and/or software, but can you make a recipe recommendation for a PM version? The beer looks amazing.

Thanks!
 
RCBIV said:
Slim,

I'm planning this to be my third batch, but I'm a PM brewer at this point and not all-grain yet. I'm not entirely comfortable converting recipes because I just don't trust myself and/or software, but can you make a recipe recommendation for a PM version? The beer looks amazing.

Thanks!

You can go all extract with 7lbs 12.6 ounces of Wheat Liquid Extract and 10.7 ounces of pale liquid extract, obviously add enough water to the extract to yield 5 gallons of wort...so based on your equipment that would mean you could need as little as 5.5 gallons or as much as 6.5, it just matters that after it cools down you are left with 5 gallons. Add you extract to water, bring to boil and the rest of the directions are the same...follow the hops schedule and add the limeade after it calms down! Hope this helps....Happy Brewing!
 
Brewing this one today. This recipe sounds like a great river or pool beer for the summer. Can't wait to try it. The Motueka hops weren't available at the LHBS so I ordered from Northern Brewer they stock if you can't find them.
 
ScreamingDemon said:
Brewing this one today. This recipe sounds like a great river or pool beer for the summer. Can't wait to try it. The Motueka hops weren't available at the LHBS so I ordered from Northern Brewer they stock if you can't find them.

Good luck with the brew, I hope you like it...and please post pictures!
 
I put this on gas a couple weeks ago and went on vacation, came back yesterday and drew a pint.

I enjoyed it. I think I am getting a bit too much banana on the nose. I fermented at 65. It's deceiving as the lime is pretty strong. I will check back in a week to see if it mellows to a more hefe level.
 
Cracked my first LLH open today. It's lime-tastic! It's fully carbed up but still needs a little time before its ready.

Mmmmm, thanks for the recipe.
 
Skagdog said:
Cracked my first LLH open today. It's lime-tastic! It fully carbed up but still needs a little time before its ready.

Mmmmm, thanks for the recipe.

Your welcome...I'm almost done traveling for the year and have 11 new recipes I'm working on, so hopefully you will try them too in a couple of months!
 
Brewed this today using ingredients from original post. Smells amazing, can't wait to taste this! I used a 2.5 liter starter and it took off like a banshee within hours. I plan on adding the limeade on day two or three as the bubbling slows down. I ended up with 5.25 gallons and OG 1.60 into the fermenter (70% efficiency). According to Beersmith2 I am about where I should be. Was the original recipe for six gallons and what was the intended OG for this? Seems like I may be a bit high?
 
Brew_Meister said:
Brewed this today using ingredients from original post. Smells amazing, can't wait to taste this! I used a 2.5 liter starter and it took off like a banshee within hours. I plan on adding the limeade on day two or three as the bubbling slows down. I ended up with 5.25 gallons and OG 1.60 into the fermenter (70% efficiency). According to Beersmith2 I am about where I should be. Was the original recipe for six gallons and what was the intended OG for this? Seems like I may be a bit high?

Yeah this beer is a wild one, and yes with the limeade it's a 6 gallon beer recipe...best of luck with it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
 
Cracked a grapefruit edition open for breakfast this morning (I work graveyards so it's technically bed time) and that is a very unique taste. It's not offensive like I normally find grapefruit to be. It's a very subtle citrus taste with a good Hefe mouthfeel.

I think the combo of lime-zest and simply grapefruit creates a more complex beverage for some reason; maybe it's just that GF's aren't consumed as often as lime or they're not really associated with beer. There's something about the GF version that really strikes a cord.

If I didn't know it was brewed with GF and Lime-zest it would really take a couple passes to figure out the flavor. I don't know if that's good or bad in the world of beer but I like the challenge and complexity other than kick your teeth in lime.

I really don't know which one I prefer but I can't wait to brew with the sorachi and moteuka, MORE RESEARCH!!!
 
Added my limeade today after the bubbling slowed, day two of fermentation. I will have to say, I'm excited for this to finish, but the fermentation smells like serious Rhino fart! I have not had a brew that gives off this much sulfur.
 
Update on the Brew...

Kegged both versions (Belgian Wit and American Lemon-Lime, see post #92) and damn! This is good stuff. So, I've only tried the Lemon-Lime and it is sooooo good. I brewed this with US-05 so I think it is a little less phenolic and maybe a bit cleaner.

I get a very crisp, clean lemon-lime flavor. The aroma literally smells like I have a glass of limeade under my nose, but the flavor is a bit more subtle. Definitely lime, but not as sweet as your nose might lead you to believe. Overall, the SWMBO has made it clear that this must be a perm. resident of the keezer, of which I am happy to oblige.

Thanks to the OP!
 
OCBrewin said:
Update on the Brew...

Kegged both versions (Belgian Wit and American Lemon-Lime, see post #92) and damn! This is good stuff. So, I've only tried the Lemon-Lime and it is sooooo good. I brewed this with US-05 so I think it is a little less phenolic and maybe a bit cleaner.

I get a very crisp, clean lemon-lime flavor. The aroma literally smells like I have a glass of limeade under my nose, but the flavor is a bit more subtle. Definitely lime, but not as sweet as your nose might lead you to believe. Overall, the SWMBO has made it clear that this must be a perm. resident of the keezer, of which I am happy to oblige.

Thanks to the OP!

Glad to hear you liked it, so far I haven't heard a negative comment on this recipe!
 
My parents have a huge lime tree and I have actually been thinking about making a lime juice hefe. Do you guys think I might be able to incorporate this recipe with the home grown lime juice instead of the bottled stuff? I would have to pasteurize the juice too right?
 
I've been watching this one for a while and finally got it in my plan for a March brew. My LHBS doesn't stock either hop so I ordered online and await their arrival. This recipe looks crazy delicious and I'm excited to taste it, but worried it's not going to last very long as it sounds like a really tasty brew... I'll post results (and pics) when I get this moving.
 
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