Lime zest in vodka for Mexican Lager

[jtrux]

I have the zest of 4 limes that has been covered in vodka for about a month. Any downfall to adding to my Mexican Lager near the end of fermentation? How much would you add 1/4 or 1/2 of it? I want a distinct lime taste without having to add a lime wedge with each glass but don’t want it over powering. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

 

[Sammy86]

That's some limey vodka you got right there!

I'm in the camp of add a little and add more as you go camp. Once you dump that in there isn't getting it out.
Start small and taste and work your way up until you've hit it.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I would agree with @Sammy86 . Add a little bit and taste it and go from there. Depending on what you ferment in, this could be troublesome though. What do you ferment in?

Do you bottle or keg?

If you bottle and want to get real precise, strain out the actual zest so all you have left is vodka. Use a 1mL syringe from amazon and dose each bottle with a measured amount of the vodka prior to bottling. Prior to this, you'd have to pull a couple of samples and try different dosages to see what dosage you like, then do the math to figure out what that addition is for a 12oz bottle.

We just did a mexican lager and used Motueka hops as a late addition in the boil and then a dry hop after fermentation completed. After about 3 weeks of lagering, that beer had a fantastic lime flavor to it. Didn't need a lime at all.

 

[Sammy86]

We just did a mexican lager and used Motueka hops as a late addition in the boil and then a dry hop after fermentation completed. After about 3 weeks of lagering, that beer had a fantastic lime flavor to it. Didn't need a lime at all.

I just did an American Wheat with Mouteka and Pacifica hops...I'm absolutely loving it!

 

[Rob2010SS]

I just did an American Wheat with Mouteka and Pacifica hops...I'm absolutely loving it!

Nice! I haven't used pacifica but motueka is a great hop! I've definitely been under-utilizing it for sure!

 

[TenaCJed]

Agree with the others, wait until fermentation is complete, then start adding it in slowly, gently mix it in and taste, continue until you have the flavor you want and then package.
If you are kegging, then I would do it in the keg that you can hit it with co2, purging several times to at least limit the amount of 02, headspace is minimal so you are not wasting too much. Then you can roll and kind of shake it in, then you can give it a taste.

 

[jtrux]

Thank everyone for the tips. Yes I keg. My recipe uses motueka at 5min. I’ve never gotten the lime flavor from it before. But this batch I got a hydra and cooled it off within minutes so maybe I’ll get a little more flavor out of this batch. Adding the lime zest extract in small amounts is good advice. Thanks

 

[Rob2010SS]

Thank everyone for the tips. Yes I keg. My recipe uses motueka at 5min. I’ve never gotten the lime flavor from it before. But this batch I got a hydra and cooled it off within minutes so maybe I’ll get a little more flavor out of this batch. Adding the lime zest extract in small amounts is good advice. Thanks

If you haven't kegged yet, you may consider the dry hop. It doesn't take much and we were very pleased with what we got from that. Just my 2 cents again

 

[Lefou]

Some citrus zest, especially limes, will add not only bittering, but something called furocoumarins to your beer. Just a friendly warning for anyone who has a sensitivity to sun or UV because it could aggravate a sunburn. In the summer I have a habit of adding ice and a slice of lime to beer AFTER doing my mowing.