Blonde Ale Squeeze My Lemon Summer Blonde

[jbeerman]

Brewed a batch last night using pretty much exact recepie as posted. Zested three large lemons with a potato peeler. Got just over 2oz of zest. This is my fifth brew ever. In less than 2 months I have been a brewing fool.

It is currently Fermenting in the primary at 62ish degrees. I can't wait to try it!

Thanks to Lars for the original post and all the comments who gave suggestions along the way.

I moved this to a secondary today after 10 days. Drank my gravity test sample and wow this stuff rocks! The lemon is pretty strong right now but not over powering. Gravity was at 1.010 The yeast was still pretty active so I put it back in the chamber for more fermenting. now running around 60 degrees.

Thanks Lars I will be brewing more of this awesome beer!

John

 

[jbeerman]

I moved this to a secondary today after 10 days. Drank my gravity test sample and wow this stuff rocks! The lemon is pretty strong right now but not over powering. Gravity was at 1.010 The yeast was still pretty active so I put it back in the chamber for more fermenting. now running around 60 degrees.

Thanks Lars I will be brewing more of this awesome beer!

John

Finished up around 1.009 after another 10 days fermenting around 60 degrees. Kegged it up last night forced carbonation and got it in the kegerator to chill down to 36. Just poured a pint and it is very nice. Citrus lemony finish.

Awesome stuff. Having a couple while brewing up some Beer Muncher Oktoberfast!

 

[thirstydeerbrew]

Just kidding!! Found it!

 

[branman]

Brewed this with Citra and cascade... very loud on the Citrus notes, with a bright lemon finish. Wlp001, dry and crisp. Good summer beer for sure

 

[Dade0]

The Lemon a side, the base recipe for this beer is solid. I underestimated how many lemons I would need to pull of 2oz. and was left with a Pale Ale not a blonde. That won 3rd place as a Pale Ale in the Colorado State Fair 2014 (26 entries). Thanks.

 

[wantonsoup]

No lemon zest or anything in the fermenter? Just 5 minutes in the boil and it imparts enough flavor?

 

[wantonsoup]

Brewing this today as a 3 gal batch with 1.8 oz lemon zest and substituting some 2-row for agave. I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[BeatnikTom]

What better beer to brew on 4th of July?

Here's Squeeze My Lemon (Kolsch) 18th brewing happening now!

Thanks Lars!

https://goo.gl/photos/ngMt446xc6UPomQR8

 

[BeatnikTom]

Well, add another medal to the stack this recipe has taken.

Only changes I make to base recipe are:

1. 17% corn
2. Mashed at 152
3. Kolsch yeast (and accompanying pitch temp, ferm temp,short lagering etc.)
4. zest of one organic lemon (not by weight) zested directly into BK (that's fresh!)

http://oregonstatefair.brewcomp.com/


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152943816135044&set=a.435344655043.212556.523025043

Props to BlindLemonLars for an amazing recipe!

 

[randomjoeys]

This was the first beer I ever brewed. I doubled the recipe and underestimated how many lemons I would need to get 4 oz of zest so I only ended up with 2 oz. It was still amazing though. Kegged it a little bit ago and forced carbed it until last night. Had some people over last night to do a tasting. Killed the whole 5 gallon keg of it in one night. Definitely going to be brewing a lot more of this!!

 

[scottapisani]

So, I found this recipe and came up with a bitchin idea.
I'm a chef and ferment alot of my own stuff. I also preserve alot of stuff.
I have a gallon jar of preserved lemons (salt, cinnamon, clove, pepper etc.........).
I tore down 1 lemon and it is really bright. I added anoth .75 # of Dextrapils to the grain bill.
Mashing in right now. Stoked. Will keep you updated.
Scotch

 

[BeatnikTom]

Sounds amazing!

An extra .75 lbs of dextrin malt is a lot, it *could* make it sweeter than you like. But I don't know what you like.

I've bumped up the sweetness on this one too, but by mashing it at 152 degrees.

Let us know how it turns out. In fact, let us know your final gravity and strain you used when it finishes. I'm curious where it will land.

 

[thadeus_d3]

Finally got around to brewing this. Changed the first cascade addition to 20 minutes to bump up the IBUs. I plan on dry hoppping with cascade and grapefruit zest soaked in vodka. Wife wanted something similar to grapefruit sculpin with fewer IBUs and calories. I think this will be a winner.

 

[thadeus_d3]

Finally got around to brewing this. Changed the first cascade addition to 20 minutes to bump up the IBUs. I plan on dry hoppping with cascade and grapefruit zest soaked in vodka. Wife wanted something similar to grapefruit sculpin with fewer IBUs and calories. I think this will be a winner.

Tried my first pint last night. Even undercarbed, it's an excellent beer. It's probably one of the best I've ever brewed. It almost has the grapefruit intensity of sculpin, without putting you on your *** after a few. This will stay on tap for sure.

 

[thadeus_d3]

I just made this one again. I'm not sure if I want to add Lemon or grapefruit when I dry hop it. Either way, I'm sure it'll be a fine beer.

 

[dendron8]

I slightly modified the original recipe (as it seems most have as well):

7lb pale 2 row
2lb flaked corn
.5lb carapils
.5lb caramel 60
1oz amarillo
2oz cascade
whirfloc
safale 04

i am doing BIAB, so i double crushed the grain. i am planning to use 2oz of organic lemon zest. will see how it goes!

 

[jmill]

This looks like a great recipe. Going to have to give it a try...maybe this weekend. I've been looking for a good blonde recipe with lemon to potentially add basil from the garden.

 

[dendron8]

So I ended up doing 5 organic lemons, which equated to 3.25oz of zest. Muselin bag, into boil for 10 minutes and additionally it stayed in the wort during the cool down. I pitched at 68 and its in a swamp cooler in my closet now. Fermentation has a wonderful lemon smell when i open the closet door

 

[Thonz]

So, I found this recipe and came up with a bitchin idea.
I'm a chef and ferment alot of my own stuff. I also preserve alot of stuff.
I have a gallon jar of preserved lemons (salt, cinnamon, clove, pepper etc.........).
I tore down 1 lemon and it is really bright. I added anoth .75 # of Dextrapils to the grain bill.
Mashing in right now. Stoked. Will keep you updated.
Scotch

How did this turn out?

 

[beerguyfrmsd]

So I ended up doing 5 organic lemons, which equated to 3.25oz of zest. Muselin bag, into boil for 10 minutes and additionally it stayed in the wort during the cool down. I pitched at 68 and its in a swamp cooler in my closet now. Fermentation has a wonderful lemon smell when i open the closet door

Any update on how strong the lemon aroma and flavor are pronounced? With all that aroma you smell I wonder if it will stay in the final product.

 

[Shenanigans]

Anyone tried this with lemon drop hops?

 

[dendron8]

Any update on how strong the lemon aroma and flavor are pronounced? With all that aroma you smell I wonder if it will stay in the final product.

Ya while checking the gravity at day 16 I tasted, and was not getting much lemon either smell or taste.. So I did another 5 lemons' zest and threw them directly into primary. On day 22 (yesterday) I bottled and now I am getting lemon smell and taste. Not over powering but definitely pronounced.

 

[beerguyfrmsd]

Ya while checking the gravity at day 16 I tasted, and was not getting much lemon either smell or taste.. So I did another 5 lemons' zest and threw them directly into primary. On day 22 (yesterday) I bottled and now I am getting lemon smell and taste. Not over powering but definitely pronounced.

Thanks for the feedback dendron8 :rockin: , more lemons sounds good to me

 

[dendron8]

Tested this, definitely has a lemon pledge taste .

 

[BigCrazyAl]

I brewed this yesterday. The only change to the recipe based on others responses was 1.25 oz. of zested organic lemon (using a microplane). I'll try to update with how it turns out but it's bubbling away in the basement now.

 

[BigCrazyAl]

Tasting this today after a week in the bottle. I can't help myself, this bottle was only half full anyway as it was last on bottling day. Since the yeast isn't fully done working and just 24 hours in the fridge, there's a slight yeasty flavor but the beer is surprisingly pleasant.

Lemon is balanced, pronounced but not overpowering. No weird chemical flavors since the lemons were organic. Beer is light and retains small amount of head even now. Can't wait to try in a couple more weeks!

Overall, would definitely brew again.

Edit: Added the picture of the finished product. Very tasty with a slight tartness from the lemons. Perfect for a summer evening on the patio enjoying the weather.

 

[40oz]

Going to try this recipe this weekend!

 

[Dade0]

good idea!!!!

 

[Dade0]

How did it turn out. People post and never tell us how it turned out.

 

[Dade0]

Wow, a **** load of lemon flavor & aroma. Anything beer like left??