Gimme Lemons...

[HopLife]

I am wanting a way to give my beer a strong lemon flavor. It is already brewed and waiting to be kegged. I was thinking of a couple of different methods to add lemon flavor at this stage:

1. Lemon juice. I like this idea because it is very simple, but I am afraid that the flavor may not be strong.

2. putting some lemon zest that has been soaked in a bit of vodka into the secondary

3. Box of lemonhead candies directly into secondary...I don't think anybody else has tried this. The waxy nature of the candies would probably ruin my head retention

4. There is probably a concentrate I could acquire from my local Homebrew shop and add at kegging time.

What would you do? What will work Best?

 

[Brulosopher]

I am wanting a way to give my beer a strong lemon flavor. It is already brewed and waiting to be kegged. I was thinking of a couple of different methods to add lemon flavor at this stage:

1. Lemon juice. I like this idea because it is very simple, but I am afraid that the flavor may not be strong.

2. putting some lemon zest that has been soaked in a bit of vodka into the secondary

3. Box of lemonhead candies directly into secondary...I don't think anybody else has tried this. The waxy nature of the candies would probably ruin my head retention

4. There is probably a concentrate I could acquire from my local Homebrew shop and add at kegging time.

What would you do? What will work Best?

Sorachi Ace

 

[bobbrews]

Lots of Sorachi Ace hops + Lemon zest in the secondary and a clean, crisp recipe that highlights the delicate citrus... no need to do the vodka technique.

 

[thughes]

Sorachi Ace

This^

Dry hopped a saison with Sorachi Ace (1.5 oz in 5 gallons for 5 days) and turned it into a lemon bomb. Had to keg hop it with some Styrian Goldings to mellow it out a bit.

 

[Xpertskir]

Came in to say Sorachi Ace...But now I think what you should really do is make Skeeter Pee.

 

[HopLife]

Thanks everybody for the advice. I haven't used Sorachi Ace yet. It sounds like it will do the trick for me.

@ xpertskir I may have to try making a batch of skeeter pee, it sounds like a fun idea. On this particular occasion I ended up with a thin pale ale that is too light colored and lacks flavor. There is a little bit of an ester taste coming through because I couldn't keep the ferm temps low enough. I hope to hide my defect enough that I can tolerate the beer. Otherwise back to the drawing board.

I need to start thinking about some fall and winter brews anyway.

 

[thughes]

On this particular occasion I ended up with a thin pale ale that is too light colored and lacks flavor. There is a little bit of an ester taste coming through because I couldn't keep the ferm temps low enough. I hope to hide my defect enough that I can tolerate the beer.

Got lemonade?......"shandy"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shandy