Fruit Beer Lemon-Lime Hefe Weizen

[d-usa]

I've been enjoying my batch, great tasting beer. I might try to go with straight lemonade next time to get more or a Radler feel, but it's damn good.


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[madk1ng]

Quick question about the mash:

Is it: 45 mins with the grain/extract

Then 60 more mins adding hops?

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

If you're doing all extract with this or any other brew, there is no mash. All you do is bring water up to a boil, add extract, and boil for 60 minutes with hop additions when the recipe calls for them.

Most recipes, including this one, do have a 60 minutes boil/

 

[CanAusBrewer]

So I made my own mock-limeade since (from the nutritional info on the website) it is not available where I live, with 200 ml of lime juice freshly squeezed and 192 g table sugar. I boiled the sugar in a small volume of water and then added the lime juice to the boiling sugar and took it off heat. I then topped this up to 1 L with cold water. I have just read that boiling sugar with a small amount of acid makes invert sugar which is more fermentable. Have I just created this by accident and if not will this add strange flavours to my beer?

*edit: what I mean by strange flavour is that I have read that adding table sugar to primary can result in cidery flavours, whatever that means.

 

[bberg]

FG of ~1.008

Racking over to the keg as we speak! Super excited. Going to carb it up, see how it tastes and maybe add some more Limeaide!

 

[CanAusBrewer]

This has been sitting in my fermenter for two weeks. I am going to give it another week to finish and bottle it next Thursday. This is my first hefeweizen and I am used to brewing American style beers but I am not sure about the recommended amount of carbonation to add to this beer.

I plugged my data into the beer priming calculator on Brewer's Friend and by using the mean of the recommended carbonation for this style (3.9 vols CO2). Which means I need to add 239 g table sugar to my 20 L of beer. That seems like an awful lot. Isn't this going to give me undrinkable gushing bottles?

 

[smit70136]

3.9 sounds crazy high to me. If I did the math right, I think you would do better with something closer to 140-150 grams (which I think would give you the equivalent of 1 oz sugar per gallon of beer). I've never used table sugar but it is my understanding that it works basically the same as corn sugar. Not sure how many volumes of carbonation this will provide but it worked fine with the batch I brewed. Good luck!


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[bolus14]

Yea 3.9 is asking for bottle bombs if you're using standard 12 oz bottles.
I think most hefe's fall into 2.5-2.9 vol of CO2. To carb 5 gals to 2.7 vols at 64 degrees would be 124grams of table sugar.

I use the calculator below, hasn't failed me yet.
http://www.homebrewdad.com/priming_sugar_calculator.php

 

[CanAusBrewer]

Ok thanks guys. I suppose I should add I am using PET bottles so no explosion issues to worry about. I do indeed find it strange that Brewer's Friend lists the CO2 for German Wheat Beer at 3.3-4.5 vols CO2.

I only ended up with 20 L due to issues with my efficiency and fermented at exactly 17 deg C so it says to add 130 g. I think this sounds much more realistic.

Back to the original amount of sugar I had calculated (239 g), will the yeast eventually stop if the pressure becomes too great, resulting in an over-sweet over-carbed beer or will they continue to consume all sugars regardless of bottle pressure?

 

[Medic218]

I've made this twice.
The first time I carbed to 4.1 and this time to 4.2.
I haven't had any bombs yet. I did have a few gushers on the first batch but I think that was due to not stiring the priming solution and not getting an even distribution.

 

[zamo27]

I'm first time brewing this and am very excited
The thread is far too long to read it all so here's my question
Can I add home made lemonade concentrate to this beer cause limeade is not available here
Also shall I this to the second or in the primary



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[SD-SLIM]

Hello, yes you can make your own lime-aide....it must be sweet and tart in order for the flavor profile to come through. I never use a secondary, unless I'm using whole fruits...but I moved away from those awhile ago and purée them now....so I only recommend a primary only, set it and forget it....4 days later (or when vigorous fermentation stops) add your lime-aide


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[zamo27]

I added the lemon concentrate last night
Does this look right to you ?
It's mad looking


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[SD-SLIM]

Yup looks right, be sure to wrap that bucket so sunlight doesn't effect the yeast!


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[zamo27]

Phew! No direct sunlight just normal day light. All is in the spare bedroom shall I keep fermenting brews in the dark?


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[SD-SLIM]

Yes wrap them in a blanket....uv light will effect the yeast.


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[lammbn]

Slim- Your mention of a kiwi IPA has me intrigued now. Any hope of a link to a recipe?

 

[byfli]

Hi Slim,

I am about to brew this recipe, which looks fantastic. I have read this (except the most recent) thread and have searched it also and have two questions that I think are not addressed. If I missed them I apologize.

Here goes: 1st what is the water profile that is used for this beer and 2nd I have maris otter on hand will it be OK to sub for the 2-row pale malt

thanks for the recipe!

 

[SD-SLIM]

In regards to malt, marriss otter is a good sub. As for the water profile, I stopped filtering my water because I like the taste of Fort Worth, Texas water...if you want to drill in to that profile, the city of Fort Worth has it online, and if your waters bad a good reverse osmosis system will take care of everything!


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[byfli]

Slim

Thanks for the fast reply. I brewed this yesterday, I had one slight screw up (forgot to attach parts to my boil kettle and had to drain it and start over) after that all went smooth. I used bottled water and adjusted it to what I use for german wheat beers (I have the water report). I changed things a little as follows:

Maris Otter 6 lbs for 6.25lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
4.25 lbs White Wheat Malt instead of 4 lbs White Wheat Malt
added 5 oz acidulated malt (ez water adjustment for ph level)
lowed the 60 min Motueka hops to .15 oz from .25 so my IBUs stayed in range.
upped lime zest to .6 oz because that is what I got from 5 limes

I split the batch into 2 carboys and am using to different yeasts the White Labs Hefeweizen IV (wlp380) that is called for and the Wyeast 3333 German Wheat that is said to be the same. Just thought I would do an experiment to see if they produce the same beer.

Further, I am thinking of adding one bottle of simply limeade to each so that will be double the limeade, will that be OK or should I stick to the one bottle and split it between my carboys?

Thanks again and I will report my results

 

[SD-SLIM]

I would split the limeade, the intent for this addition is for a layered flavor that works in conjunction with the hops....too much if either one will change the beer


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[areilly]

Will be bottling this brew this weekend...have one question though, will I need to add sugar for priming? If so how much?


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[Medic218]

For anyone interested....4.1 units is too much to carb at. lol Dang phone app.
I would suggest somewhere between 3-3.5 units.

 

[bberg]

For anyone interested....4.1 units is too much to carb at. lol Dang phone app.
I would suggest somewhere between 3-3.5 units.

Agreed - Over carbed my beer... still good, but it could have been better

I guess i'll have to brew it again.... such a shame

 

[madk1ng]

To second @areilly - do we need to add priming sugar (since there's already a ton of sugar from the limeade)?

 

[bolus14]

The sugar from the limeade will get eaten by the yeast, dry out the beer a little, and add to the alcohol. You still need to add priming sugar to carbonate in the bottle.

 

[CanAusBrewer]

No idea why but mine finished super high (1.020) with an OG of 1.051 (before the addition of homemade limeade). I have no idea why. I have never had a beer finish this high before. I primed for 3 volumes with table sugar and the bottles have been carbing for 11 days and they are still overly sweet. I can still get a bit of that fermentation aroma so I am aware they will need more time in the bottle.

I know that high FGs tend to happen more in big beers but I have brewed plenty of double IPAs with US05 and the highest any of them has finished is 1.016. For this beer I used Mangrove Jack's Bavarian Wheat Yeast and fermented at 17 deg C for 18 days. I did this batch as a partial mash BIAB with 3 kg of grain and 1.5 kg of wheat LME. Any idea what might have caused the high FG and how to avoid it in the future? I still have so much Motueka and Sirachi Ace that I will need to make a few batches of this haha.

Additionally, I am going away for a few weeks overseas. Do you reckon this will dry out in the bottle while I am away or will it continue to taste like lemon lime Gatorade?

 

[MrFeltimo]

So my friends who own a restaurant in Easton PA had there first "ClamJam", a festival that closed the street, had live music and participation from many, many other restaurants from the town.
Part of the festivities was a home brew competition, there were no BJCP judges just local celebs and people choice. I went ahead and entered my version of this fantastic brew, Firstly i did not add the Lime aid, I tasted the lime aid and wasn't sure about it, but what i did do was up the lime zest and done a massive hop addition at about 130 degrees, 1oz of sorachi and 2oz of mutaka. i also used wyeast 3068 but fermented really low, 65ish and massively overpiched, trying to serpress the esters.
Well it worked and I walked away with first place.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Dan

 

[zamo27]

i have made this beer and im not so happy now 3 weeks after in after bottling
while bottling, at 5 days old and 1 week and 2 weeks this beer tasted like pure magic
it punched a nice citrusy punch, banana clove nice head,, fantastic. i had founf my new love

im upset now 3 weeks+ in the bottles and there's no head, it tastes a bit rancid and very strong lime zest notes? also very very dry!
where and how things went pear shape here
please advice cause im sure its my mistake

 

[SD-SLIM]

Sounds like a bottle or cap issue....just didn't seem to seal properly!



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[byfli]

SD-Slim,
I want to thank you for your attention to this thread, answering all the questions and giving advice, very helpful! I bottled my split batches (wlp380 and wyeast 333 compare) on the weekend and did a little sampling. 1st the limeade flavor is very prominent, I like it, but I would not want any more. 2nd the color of mine looks lighter than the pictures posted in the thread. Lastly at this point I have to say the yeasts are very close. I botted them on 2 different days so tasting was not side by side. I will report back with pics and final results in a few weeks. I think it is a fabulous beer and one of the best I have made to date.

Thanks for the help and the recipe, btw are you going to post any other recipes that you have mentioned in these threads?

 

[bberg]

Agree with the previous post.

Well done SD-Slim. All of my friends enjoy it and i can't wait to brew it again next summer.

Cheers!

 

[CanAusBrewer]

No idea why but mine finished super high (1.020) with an OG of 1.051 (before the addition of homemade limeade). I have no idea why. I have never had a beer finish this high before. I primed for 3 volumes with table sugar and the bottles have been carbing for 11 days and they are still overly sweet. I can still get a bit of that fermentation aroma so I am aware they will need more time in the bottle.

I know that high FGs tend to happen more in big beers but I have brewed plenty of double IPAs with US05 and the highest any of them has finished is 1.016. For this beer I used Mangrove Jack's Bavarian Wheat Yeast and fermented at 17 deg C for 18 days. I did this batch as a partial mash BIAB with 3 kg of grain and 1.5 kg of wheat LME. Any idea what might have caused the high FG and how to avoid it in the future? I still have so much Motueka and Sirachi Ace that I will need to make a few batches of this haha.

Additionally, I am going away for a few weeks overseas. Do you reckon this will dry out in the bottle while I am away or will it continue to taste like lemon lime Gatorade?

Never mind my fears. This beer turned out great and I think it is supposed to be a bit sweet considering it is a hefe. I did find that this beer, though highly carbonated does not have great head retention at all. Is that standard for a hefe?

 

[bford]

Just bottled mine on Sunday.... the small sample I had was really great!

Can't wait for it to carb up in the bottles.... Giving it three weeks and a couple of days before trying one.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Bookmarked!

 

[JonesSoda6]

We have brewed this one a few times and at our last competition it scored a 43.5 in fruit beer cat.
Only problem with it is we run through it so quick

 

[jgren]

Brewed this in a variation over the summer and i have to say this is the best beer to have on the beach or boat!

 

[jgren]

Simply limeaid is great addition for the hefe, I have also used newmans own and got almost spot on results.

 

[tmm786]

Brewed this for the first time about a month ago. Everything has seemed fine, but I took a sample today that measured in at 1.024 (about 50% attenuated). Could this be thrown off because of the Simply Limeade being added and not able to be fermented? It tastes pretty good, but don't know if I need to try to get a few more gravity points out of it.

 

[bford]

Gave three bombers of this to three different friends for Christmas.... all have since asked when I'll be brewing it again...

Probably sometime in February.