Mr Beer Aztec Mexican Cerveza

[Audiacious]

Im new to home brewing and only have 1 completed batch, a Classic American Light that I fermented 3 weeks and conditioned for 2 weeks before setting it in the fridge for the past 8 days. It isnt bad considering. I've seen some simple modifications to that HME to get some different beers, a Honey Ale that I have conditioning right now in fact. I was wondering if there were any simple modifications that can be done to the Cerveza recipe. I though of adding in fresh lime juice and zest since Coronas are usually served with a lime anyways and this is similar. How would I do this? Also I would like to raise the ABV as well. What is a simple yet effective way to do this?? Thanks for the help

 

[Sammy86]

You can add the zest during the boil just make sure you don't get any white in there as it could give some bitterness to the beer.

Lime juice can be added to a secondary or if you don't secondary once primary fermentation is complete add it in stir gently until you have the right amount.

Cheers!

 

[petey_c]

I'm not sure how much zest to add. Sammy86 is right. You don't want to get pith in your beer (the white stuff from a peel). Since it's only 2 gallons, start slow. You can always add more with subsequent batches. I'm sure you don't want to make a Bud light lime.

 

[Audiacious]

No bud Lime, but are there any other tweaks i can do with that Aztec Mexican Cerveza? Thanks for the help. I do have 2 LBKs, right now I only ferment in one and then batch prime and transfer to my second LBK to get some of the trub out and basically mix in the priming solution, ( about 2oz table sugar dissolved in 1 cup water). I then bottle from that second LBK. How would I do secondary fermentation? A week in primary, transfer to secondary another week, then transfer back basically to bottle as I have been??

 

[TonyKZ1]

You might try conditioning/carbonating it longer, normally it's recommended to ferment 3 weeks as you did, and then carb/condition for 4 weeks.

 

[slym2none]

OP - you can actually go to the Mr. Beer site and look up recipes that use the Aztec Cerveza to get an idea of what to do. If they call for booster, use lite DME instead. If they call for one of their LME packs, sub in 1/2 pound DME of the appropriate kind - "Soft" = wheat, "pale" = well, pale, "Smooth" = amber, & "Robust" = dark. Just don't pay more for the MrB stuff, support your local HBS instead.

Also, transferring to a secondary FV is not recommended for new brewers, and really isn't necessary at all unless you are looking to bulk age or are racking the beer onto another flavouring like fruit or oak chips.

 

[slym2none]

You might try conditioning/carbonating it longer, normally it's recommended to ferment 3 weeks as you did, and then carb/condition for (at least - slym) 4 weeks.

Also, this.

 

[TonyKZ1]

Definitely agree on carb/conditioning for 4 weeks or even longer. I've had some of the BrewDemon & Mr. Beer brews that took a lot longer than the 4 weeks, some even 2-3 months. But they were worth the wait.