Agave Lime Wheat.... any thoughts?

[ajbram]

The Canadian summer is right around the corner, and some friends have expressed an interest in an agave lime wheat. I looked around the forums and saw that this has been tried, but not sure about people's success. Lots used limeade or lime juice, but I am going to go a slightly different route. Here is the recipe I came up with, and I would appreciate any input you guys could give. Some additional info: I'm not trying to be dead on with style, so I'm not so worried about my ABV being a little high-ish. The lime peel extract I am going to use will be of my own making (I have access to a Soxhlet Reflux extractor at work). Will Cascade play nicely with Saaz? I want to get a nice citrusy-ness on this one. Recipe copied and pasted from the recipe builder on Brewer's Friend.




Aniversario del Presidenté - Agave Lime Wheat

Method: All Grain
Style: Witbier
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Efficiency: 75%
Source: Island 17 Brewing
Original Gravity: 1.065 Final Gravity: 1.018 ABV (standard): 6.14%
IBU (tinseth): 14.79 SRM (morey): 3.63

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
7.5 lb Wheat 38 1.8 65.2%
2.5 lb Pilsner 37 1.6 21.7%
1.5 lb Amber Agave Nectar - (late addition) 28 0.5 13%

Hops
Amount Variety Time AA Type Use
1 oz Saaz 60 min 3.5 Pellet Boil
0.25 oz Cascade 5 min 7 Pellet Boil
Mash Steps
Amount Description Type Temp Time
-- Decoction 152 F 60 min
-- Sparge 165 F 10 min

Other Ingredients
Amount Name Time Type Use
3 oz Lime peel extract 5 min Flavor Boil

Yeast
Fermentis / Safale - Safbrew - Wheat Beer Yeast WB-06
Attenuation (avg):
72%
Flocculation:
Low
Optimum Temperature:
59°F - 75°F
Starter:
Yes
Form:
Dry

 

[hopsalot]

Mash Steps
Amount Description Type Temp Time
-- Decoction 152 F 60 min
-- Sparge 165 F 10 min

I think you mean saccharification rest, not decoction. Were you planning on decocting?

 

[ajbram]

I think you mean saccharification rest, not decoction. Were you planning on decocting?

You're right... I clicked the wrong option in the online brew calculator. My bad. Damn dropdown menus.

 

[hopsalot]

hops look good, lime peel looks good, if it is not lime enough, you can always play with it in a secondary or at bottling/kegging. IMO I would use more pilsner and less wheat, 60/40 wheat/pils at the most

 

[ajbram]

Thanks Hopsalot... so if I went 6lb wheat / 4 lb pils, I should be good. I'm thinking of extracting the limes in vodka using some fancy lab equipment and adjusting to taste if needed. Have you experimented with agave at all?

 

[Diaperload]

No comment for the grain bill.

Someone in my beer club is making a Mexican Lager with lime in it. He used the zest of 2 limes. We bottled it yesterday. The lime smell was overpowering and quite strong in lime flavor. I'm not sure what 3oz equates to in # of limes. If 3oz. equals about .75-1.00 lime then I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[TheCatman]

I've had Breckenridge Brewing's Agave Wheat, and it's delicious. I personally don't care for lime, but I think it could work well with the agave as long as it's well-balanced.

 

[hopsalot]

I have used agave syrup in a belgian, could not really taste it, but it was a big estery high abv belgian

 

[ajbram]

I have used agave syrup in a belgian, could not really taste it, but it was a big estery high abv belgian

How much did you use?

 

[hopsalot]

1 pound

 

[tgmartin000]

I just tried my first honey lemon wheat, and was happy with the result. I used 50/50 wheat and two row along with about 7-10% crystal 10,and 1 lb honey. I did the honey in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

For the lemon, I zested 5 large lemons and added it with the honey. It's got a pronounced lemon flavor, which I like, but to each his own. Next time I might cut the lemon by 20%,or add a little honey to balalce it better. There's a blast of lemon up front, with a very subtle taste of honey underneath.

I used tettnanger hops, which worked well, with a nice smooth bitterness. I think your hop schedule will work.