using kaffir lime leaves

[dgez]

I have some fresh kaffir lime leaves that I want to use in my next brew. Does anybody have any idea how to use them?

As a test, I boiled about 5 leaves in a pint of water and drank the water when cooled to get an idea of what it would do. There is indeed a slight citrus flavor.. thats good, but there is also a bitter 'leafy' taste as well...like if you grabbed some leaves from the backyard and boiled them. I would like to get the citrus flavor out of them and leave the leafyness behind. How do I do this?

 

[carnevoodoo]

Steep the leaves in the water. Do not let it get to boiling, or boil the water and cool to about 170 degrees before you add the leaves. This will get rid of any bitterness you have. I make the Stone 04/04/04 Vertical Epic clone every year, and I have very good luck with kaffir lime when I do this.

 

[dgez]

thanks for the reply.

how long do you steep for?
how many leaves for a 5 gallon batch?
whole leaves? chopped? shredded? julienne???
do you add the liquid to primary or 2ndary?

 

[phished880]

One of the stone epic series used them, you may want to check their site for the recipe to use as a guidance.

 

[dgez]

ok, so here's what I did. I took about 6 of the larger leaves (about the size of a leaf off of a holly bush) and chopped them up julienne style. I put them in a cup of water and brought to a boil (to sterilize more than anything else). As soon as it started to boil, I removed from heat. Once cooled I added the entire contents to a fresh carboy and racked my beer on it. Some of the chopped lime leaves were floating on top, kinda like dry hopping. I let it 2ndry ferment at room temp for an additional week. Then I moved the carboy into the fridge at about 38 degrees for an additional week. I tasted it when it came time to keg and man o man the lime is waaaaaay overpowering. So its been sitting on 15 psi for about 3 days now. I just tasted it and its still overpowering, but not quite as much as it was a few days prior. At this point I would consider it undrinkable. I am hoping a few weeks in the keg will mellow the lime leaf flavor. My goal was a barely noticeable flavor, with 6 leaves I thought I was err'ing on the side of not tasting them at all. In retrospect, I should have used just 1 or maybe two leaves. Oh well live and learn

 

[Opiate42]

ok, so here's what I did. I took about 6 of the larger leaves (about the size of a leaf off of a holly bush) and chopped them up julienne style. I put them in a cup of water and brought to a boil (to sterilize more than anything else). As soon as it started to boil, I removed from heat. Once cooled I added the entire contents to a fresh carboy and racked my beer on it. Some of the chopped lime leaves were floating on top, kinda like dry hopping. I let it 2ndry ferment at room temp for an additional week. Then I moved the carboy into the fridge at about 38 degrees for an additional week. I tasted it when it came time to keg and man o man the lime is waaaaaay overpowering. So its been sitting on 15 psi for about 3 days now. I just tasted it and its still overpowering, but not quite as much as it was a few days prior. At this point I would consider it undrinkable. I am hoping a few weeks in the keg will mellow the lime leaf flavor. My goal was a barely noticeable flavor, with 6 leaves I thought I was err'ing on the side of not tasting them at all. In retrospect, I should have used just 1 or maybe two leaves. Oh well live and learn

Old post but thanks for this, have some kaffir lime leaves I brought back from Bangkok and want to use them to dry hop, was wondering a good way to sanitize them without losing too much flavour. Am considering half of a single dried leaf for a 1 gallon batch of a light ale or something.

 

[Calichusetts]

Coronado brewery does an IIPA with it called frogs breath or something like that. It was decent, lime came through on the back end

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I have some fresh kaffir lime leaves that I want to use in my next brew. Does anybody have any idea how to use them?

As a test, I boiled about 5 leaves in a pint of water and drank the water when cooled to get an idea of what it would do. There is indeed a slight citrus flavor.. thats good, but there is also a bitter 'leafy' taste as well...like if you grabbed some leaves from the backyard and boiled them. I would like to get the citrus flavor out of them and leave the leafyness behind. How do I do this?

I did a Red IPA with some citrusy hops (Citra, cascade, legacy) I took a handful of kaffir leaves, chopped them juliene style, and steeped them in vodka for 20 minutes. The juice was very limey smelling. The vodka was for steeping but also sanitizing. I didn't want to boil and get a bitter, leafy taste. I put the kaffir in a sanitized hop sack with citra dry hop and put it all into the keg like a dry hop. So far it tastes great with a bit of lime that needs some time to smooth out.