Fruit Beer Lemon-Lime Hefe Weizen

[snowboarda42]

Just finished making this as well, I'm excited!

Came out to 5.5 gallons and 1.059 - think I should water it down or just enjoy the extra abv?

 

[TangoHotel]

ABV! 5.9% is aok!

 

[snowboarda42]

ABV! 5.9% is aok!

Sounds good!

 

[SD-SLIM]

Someone should start a thread tracking these awards.

Sweet recipe slim!

I like that idea...it's hard for me to keep up with all the awards people have won from my recipes.

 

[SpeedyR]

brewed my version last week. it's been in the fermenter about 6 days.

Here's what I ended up with if anyone has any comments or suggestions for future reference:

6lbs DME wheat
.5lb DME extra light
1lb Vienna

heated 4 gallons of water to 160 degrees. Let Vienna steep 25 minutes (too busy talking to my neighbor that just got a home brew kit). boiled, added the Wheat DME (added the other DME around 30 minutes into the boil -not sure why, just seemed to be the right thing to do?) then followed the posted hops schedule:
0.25 Motueka Hops at 60 Minutes
0.25 Sorachi Ace 20 minutes
0.25 Motueka Hops 20 minutes
0.25 Sorachi Ace 7 Minutes

didn't add any lime zest.

made a 1.5liter starter with White Labs Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast the night before. Cooled to 80 degrees, added water to bring OG to 1.055 (around 6 gallons total) and pitched the yeast.

fermentation was bubbly by the next morning, explosive by the next evening (good thing I used a blow off tube! By the way- how do you clean out the messy tube?). on the 3rd night, I added 1.75 liter bottle of simply raspberry lemonade. didn't get to check on it till after the weekend (another 2 days since adding lemonade). Didn't seem to be as much blowoff, but could have just settled down more. still bubby 5 or 6 days later...

plan to leave it in the fermenter for the 3 weeks, check gravity, then keg.

Any thoughts? I saw some references to recipes using LME but I had some DME around so did some basic conversions. I would have added a bit more water to bring the OG down a bit more but was getting pretty full in my fermenting bucket (need to go buy a 7.8gallon bucket!). didn't seem like that was a big difference (1.051target vs. 1.055 measured).

Anyway just thought I'd post what I did, and will post up some photos and review when I tap it.

thanks SD-SLIM for the recipe!!

 

[rjthomas21]

What is everybody doing for fermentation temperatures?

 

[SD-SLIM]

What is everybody doing for fermentation temperatures?

Manufacture of the yeast calls for 66 to 70 degrees

 

[snowboarda42]

Keeping mine right at 68*. I keep it in a cold basement bathroom in the bathtub, and a space heater in the same room with the door closed. Super constant temps that way.

 

[ericrdb]

Could I use 100% lime juice instead of 1/2 oz of lime zest? If so, how much lime juice is recommended?

No zester, no limes, and eager to make this. Thanks!

 

[butterpants]

Could I use 100% lime juice instead of 1/2 oz of lime zest? If so, how much lime juice is recommended?

No zester, no limes, and eager to make this. Thanks!

Lime juice and zest aren't on the same playing field. The zest contains oils and aromatics you're not getting with juice alone.

So you can get Simply Lime juice but not whole limes?? That is pretty bizzare, you live in EBF?

 

[ericrdb]

So you can get Simply Lime juice but not whole limes?? That is pretty bizzare, you live in EBF?

Naw, just hoped to avoid an extra run to the store. <lazy alert>

Ah well -from what I'm reading about this recipe, it'll be worth it!

 

[butterpants]

I had a similar lazy moment making my batch.... couldn't get Mouteka anywhere local. Subbed Citra and tweak the schedule to keep IBU's similar. I would have never tried it without the zest tho. REALLY wish I could have made the original recipie then tweaked to my desires later.

Undoubtedly would still make a good beer sans zest, if your ducks are in a row but why chance it.... send your woman out

 

[snowboarda42]

Is anyone racking this to secondary at all or just the three weeks in primary?

 

[butterpants]

Primary

 

[CastleSeven]

Hey SD,

Looks like another person had the same issue I'm currently having. 20 days in primary and gravity is at 1.021. I understand your recommendation is to rack to a different fermenter to get rid of the current yeast cake and pitch a packet of dry safeale US-05.

Question - do I need to make a starter for this yeast, or just pitch it?

 

[butterpants]

You shouldn't make a starter with a dry yeast. Use an online calculator to make sure your pitch is enough (packets) for the given gravity. If you need more, buy more packets... they are cheap.... just keep an eye on the freshness date.

Dry yeast are designed and packaged to be rehydrated and dumped into action.

 

[butterpants]

FYI my brew of this is now on gas. About half carbed and it's the best Heff I've ever had. Neighborhood agrees. I want to give thanks to Slim for the formulation and the willingness to post it and provide feedback. I will most likely have this in a keg for the rest of my brewing years.... yes it's that good.

I ended up subbing Citra for Motueka and tossed in some lemon zest as well as lime (cuz i like me some lemons) but it's still straight up fabulous. Will post my complete recipe when I get time

 

[SD-SLIM]

Hey SD,

Looks like another person had the same issue I'm currently having. 20 days in primary and gravity is at 1.021. I understand your recommendation is to rack to a different fermenter to get rid of the current yeast cake and pitch a packet of dry safeale US-05.

Question - do I need to make a starter for this yeast, or just pitch it?

I have to be honest...in brewing, **** happens...the why is irrelevant, because so many factors can come in to play...but now, you need to act to save your beer. Dry yeast is a great option to get fermentation going again because it does the job rapidly and will get rid of some of the prior fermentation mistakes, but it will also get rid of some flavors.
No starter needed for dry yeast, and should that yeast not work then its because you beer lacks fermentable sugars, at this point you can add honey or alcohol boosters.

 

[SD-SLIM]

FYI my brew of this is now on gas. About half carbed and it's the best Heff I've ever had. Neighborhood agrees. I want to give thanks to Slim for the formulation and the willingness to post it and provide feedback. I will most likely have this in a keg for the rest of my brewing years.... yes it's that good.

I ended up subbing Citra for Motueka and tossed in some lemon zest as well as lime (cuz i like me some lemons) but it's still straight up fabulous. Will post my complete recipe when I get time

Glad you liked the recipe!

 

[brumanchu]

I brewed this about 5 1/2 weeks ago. Fermented for 3 weeks, 2 plus weeks in the bottle now and it's very good, I tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes but a very nice beer. I used wlp001 instead of the hefe yeast and love the clean lime taste. I read a lot here but don't post often but wanted to thank the OP for sharing his recipe. Also wanted to say this beer looks fantastic.

 

[SD-SLIM]

I brewed this about 5 1/2 weeks ago. Fermented for 3 weeks, 2 plus weeks in the bottle now and it's very good, I tweaked it a bit to suit my tastes but a very nice beer. I used wlp001 instead of the hefe yeast and love the clean lime taste. I read a lot here but don't post often but wanted to thank the OP for sharing his recipe. Also wanted to say this beer looks fantastic.

Great picture...and I am glad you liked the recipe!

 

[bgcfman]

I have lemon lime in fermenter now. My second all grain. I am concerned that adding limeade 3 days from removing from primary will cause premature carbonation. Any thoughts?

 

[bgcfman]

Adding lime aid doesn't start carbonation early because of sugar content in lime aide. At what point in fermentation was it added.

 

[bgcfman]

I am 10 days in primary. It sounds from what I am reading I can add now. Thanks for your reply

 

[butterpants]

What are the leading choices to do with a clean non-heff yeast? Wheels are turni g and thinking of no banana/clove funk and just the citrus banging through.

 

[brumanchu]

I used WLP001 California Ale yeast and fermented around 65 degrees. It's a very clean yeast and turned out great. Here's another picture in addition to the one I posted earlier in this thread. Just over 3 weeks in the bottle and check out the lacing on the glass!

 

[butterpants]

I used WLP001 California Ale yeast and fermented around 65 degrees. It's a very clean yeast and turned out great. Here's another picture in addition to the one I posted earlier in this thread. Just over 3 weeks in the bottle and check out the lacing on the glass!

ok. next time I'll try that. while I'm down with esters/phenols, swmbo won't touch it.... pretty annoying since it is an excellent heff, but I'm here to please! where's the sarcasm button

 

[DoctorJones]

Great beer - this one didn't last long in my house!

 

[butterpants]

 

[markus2982]

Brewing this up tomorrow. I know I'm a bit late based on season but this is the first chance I've had.

 

[SD-SLIM]

Brewing this up tomorrow. I know I'm a bit late based on season but this is the first chance I've had.

As long as can get the hops and grain, it's never too late to brew this beer!

 

[markus2982]

As long as can get the hops and grain, it's never too late to brew this beer!

Touche!

 

[FermentedTed]

For what it's worth I placed 3rd in the wheat beer category at my local fair with the original recipe. The comments were very positive. This was my first competition. Thanks Slim.

I'm curious what category people are entering this under for competitions. 15A-Weizen? 20A-Fruit Beer? Something else I'm missing?

 

[butterpants]

I'm curious what category people are entering this under for competitions. 15A-Weizen? 20A-Fruit Beer? Something else I'm missing?

good question

 

[markus2982]

Brewed this yesterday (9/3) on my day off. I have to say, it smelled amazing in the kettle. Can't wait until I "have" to take gravity readings. I'm hoping this will be the beer to get my wife able to tolerate beer. (She rarely drinks beer at all)

 

[JonesSoda6]

I'm curious what category people are entering this under for competitions. 15A-Weizen? 20A-Fruit Beer? Something else I'm missing?

I submitted it under speciality beer. Took an HM

 

[butterpants]

Citrus really comes out after a few weeks on gas....

 

[Mcaudio]

Brewed the extract version this week. OG was 1.058. Messed something up somewhere but I'm sure it will be fine. Will be adding limeade this weekend. So far it smells great in the fermenter.

 

[loudrail]

Brewed this on Sunday in my new brutus 10 herms setup. OG came in good at 1.052 Can't wait to try this

 

[FermentedTed]

I submitted it under speciality beer. Took an HM

Excellent! Thanks, and congrats!