adding lime flavour to Mexican Cerveza

[Shanus]

hi just wondering if anyone can help me with what would be the best way to add lime flavour to a Mexican Cerveza beer

im thinging of cutting some limes up and throwing them in
or maybe just the juice of the lime as a crash chill it befor i put it in my keg

[bullfrog]

I've heard of some people using kaffir lime leaves to add a good lime whack into a brew. You can buy them in the supermarket in little jars, all cut up. No idea how much to use, though. If you do go the route of using actual lime, don't add the whole lot in there. You can use the zest and the juice but leave out the pith (white fleshy stuff under the zest.)

Also, you'd want to sanitise any fruit that you're trowing into your brew, so a quick boil or some treatment with a crushed-up campden tablet may be the go.

[Lachy]

Instead of using the kaffir lime leaves from the jar, I'd recommend trying the fresh leaves. Most good greengrocers will stock them along with the fresh herbs.

[RUM57L]

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9829&p=101436#p101436

This is how we've added citrus to a Cerveza recently

[MJ]

I added half a lemon to a coopers draught a long time ago and it turned out to be quite refreshing. Last week I just bottled a mexican cerveza which I added 4 limes, halved. It smelt good as I was bottling, so fingers crossed. I will post a reply here when I get to tasting it.

[Shanus]

mj did you just cut the limes in half and throw them in when brewing it?

did you boil the limes of anything first?

[MJ]

I washed them in the same solution that I used to sterilize the fermenter, which was Neon pinkand then rinsed them. I halved and gave them a little squeeze and threw the halves in the wort. Pitched the yeast and closed it up. Took a couple of days to start bubbling though, but it did start eventually.

[rob m]

2 small limes cut them into chunks,chuck them in and ferment as normal,works every time and tastes great.

[Shanus]

i washed the limes in the same stuff i wash my gear in and then cut them up and throw them in

it started fermenting that night and it foamed up alot in the fermenter

i have just put it in a keg and i tasted some of it and it taste and smells more like a ginger beer then lime flavoured mexican cerveza

the limes have turned from green to army sort of green

is this all normal?
well it taste better once i have chilled it and let it carb up?

[Shanus]

i have tried it coolded down and it still has a bitter taste to it

i think the rind of the limes have made the beer to bitter has anyone else ever had this problem?

not sure if i can drink this keg or if it will end up down the drain

but will try again if anyone has any ideas to improve it

[Brewz 2 You]

i have tried it coolded down and it still has a bitter taste to it

i think the rind of the limes have made the beer to bitter has anyone else ever had this problem?

not sure if i can drink this keg or if it will end up down the drain

but will try again if anyone has any ideas to improve it

The pith or white part of the lime (most citrus) is VERY bitter.
The green top skin is where all the essential oils are- that's what you want.
Maybe that contributed to the overall bitterness.

I would definitely boil any juice with from the limes with your malt or extracts before adding it to the fermenter.
This will help bind some flavour but most importantly sanitize the juice. I use Whirlfloc tab to help clear the beer faster at this stage.
Add just the rind- no pith at the end of the boil- You really need at least 2 limes per 23L to get any effect 6 is better but costly (unless you have a tree out back).

Also you can try bottle conditioning with Lime JUICE cordial (NOT the bright green stuff)
Check the figures but if my memory serves me it's 6g Sugar per 750mL which is 35mL of Cordial per long neck
I Haven’t done this brew since last year, so dont qoute me on those figs.
Check the Nutritional Chart on the back look for total Sugar Carbs per 100mL and you can then work out how many mL makes 6g for a 750mL

Shanus since you're kegging add a whole bottle of the Juice cordial to 19L keg, purge the headspace with CO2 and let the keg sit out for 10 days (22-26C) then chill it, and check/adjust carbonation.

With 100g of Lactose & the above method you can make a really nice Raddler style beer

Hope this helps?

Cheers

James

[hirns]

James

Great post!

Cheers

Hirns

[MJ]

I just tried my lime cerveza and it is quite a nice drop. My wife loves it and she's not a fan of my beers at the best of times. I was told to use six limes, but I thought that was a bit over the top and just used four. It didn't turn out bitter at all. I will be making this again I think.

[Oliver]

Thanks for the update MJ. Now that I've decided to take the plunge into brew in a bag I think the pressure will be on from the missus for me to make her one of these as a bit of quid pro quo for "letting me" go BIAB!

Cheers,

Oliver

[rob m]

i reckon it's a pretty good drop MJ. it's simple,quick and tastes good. i might give your lemon version a go just for the hell of it.