Looking for some info, Lime Lager?

[ScottM]

I'm not sure if this is going to be possible but if there was ever a place to ask I guess this is it

I'm a big lager fan but I don't enjoy Ales, Beers or Stouts etc......... *space to get stick*.......

I've tried to make a few lagers from kits and the best success I have had was with a mexican cerveza. It was barely drinkable, had no body and next to no gas though so I'm thinking that kits are probably even less of an answer for Lager than they are for other Beers etc.

Basically I'm looking to achieve something akin to Budweiser Lime (from the states). In America it was "Light" but I'm not fussed about that. I just want a nice (generic) lager taste with a hint of lime. Obviously this is possible but is it likely that I will be able to achieve such a feat given that my experience is currently 2 failed lager kits, 2 failed cider kits, 1 reasonable lager kit, 2 good cider kits and fiery ginger beer yet to be determined?

Has anyone stumbled across any recipes that would be close to what I am after? Most of the ones I've seen seem geared towards ales, etc, rather than lager.

Going for TC next and then wine but my bins will be spare once the ginger beer is done in a couple of weeks so I would like to try lager again.

Thanks :)

 

[pittsy]

to get an improvement you prob need to move onto extract using extra light dried malt extract some hops (maybe saaz or tetnanger) and some lager yeast and using lime peel (and ferment at 12c approx ) and lager it (after fermenting leave in fv for a month at 2c) the condition it for a few months , like you i never liked any of my kit beers (tasted like piss water) then i moved to extract and my faith in brewing was born (now i do AG) :thumb:

 

[ScottM]

What I understood of that sounds great

Looks like I'm screwed though as it's going to be too big an outlay to get a fridge just for my littlest homebrew

 

[Sandimas]

Surprised your Mexican Cerveza lacked gas, I've just done one and it's got plenty, although I did leave the bottles out in the warm a bit longer than usual before cooling (full 2 weeks) and with a bit of extra sugar (3/4 tsp per bottle). Brewed it with a lemon and lime tea (2 lemons and 4 limes juiced and zested), but this didn't really come through that much, so I'm supplementing each bottle with a bit of lime cordial when I pour it.

Not the best thing I've brewed, but not bad and quite refreshing, will do it short to 20L next time to see if I can get a bit more flavour.

 

[ScottM]

Surprised your Mexican Cerveza lacked gas, I've just done one and it's got plenty, although I did leave the bottles out in the warm a bit longer than usual before cooling (full 2 weeks) and with a bit of extra sugar (3/4 tsp per bottle). Brewed it with a lemon and lime tea (2 lemons and 4 limes juiced and zested), but this didn't really come through that much, so I'm supplementing each bottle with a bit of lime cordial when I pour it.

Not the best thing I've brewed, but not bad and quite refreshing, will do it short to 20L next time to see if I can get a bit more flavour.

That's what I found with it. Making it up to 23l was far too watery, it had no body and next to no flavour. It wasn't totally lacking in gas, it had some, just not as much as it should have had. It was alcoholic and drinkable though lol.

 

[pittsy]

look on ebay for fridges and such places , you may do well and get 1 for around £20 ish , most times collection etc , worth it , btw lagering is not needed just better but a good lager yeast will need to ferment at around 12c , you could do this by putting fv into a larger box/bucket of water and just chuck some ice in (small amount to keep temp down a little) and use a cheap digital fish tank thermometer

 

[ScottM]

So for extract am I right in saying I just need the yeast, extra light DME & hops to make a brew? I'm literally just looking to step away from the tinned variety now so excuse me asking stupid questions lol.

I'll maybe look into a fridge once my car is finished (rebuild). I literally have zero space to put one for now.

Thanks

 

[pittsy]

yep you got it , if i have same ingredients 3 times and had 3 different yeasts i could have 3 different brews like lager, blond ale , etc however you do add different things for different styles such as dark dried malt for a bitter etc and differnet hops plus different amount of hops depending on what you like/want but its mostly about the yeast . So the lighter the beer the lighter the malt extract and darker the beer darker extract etc etc , have a look on the main page in beer brewing for the how to guide to see how to do it , its easy once you get used to it you only need a large pan around 10l ish or 2 5/6l pans (split it in 2) brew up extract for 60 mins chuck hops in (at start) , job done , add to fv , add cold water to make up 23l add yeast etc

 

[ScottM]

Did a bit of googling and I found this...

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs. extra light dry malt extract
• 1.5 lbs. light honey
• 1 oz. Cascade hops (6% alpha acid): 0.25 oz. for 60 min., 0.25 oz. for 30 min.,
0.5 oz. for steeping
• 1 tsp. Irish moss for 15 min.
• 1 tsp. gypsum
• Wyeast 1056 (American ale) or Yeast Lab Canadian ale (AO7)
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

Bring 2 gal. water to boil. Remove from heat and add dry malt, honey, and gypsum. Return
to boil. Total boil is 60 min. Add 0.25 oz. Cascade and boil for 30 min. Add 0.25 oz. Cascade
and boil for 15 min. more. Add Irish moss and boil for 15 min. more. Turn off heat, add 0.5
oz. Cascade hops, and steep for 2 min. Pour into fermenter and top up with cold, preboiled
water. When cooled below 70° F pitch yeast.

Ferment seven to 10 days in primary at 70° F or below, then transfer to secondary and
ferment another seven days. Prime and bottle.

Does that sound good? If by some minor miracle if I got a fridge in the future would I just substitute the yeast in order to lager it properly, or would I need to change some of the ingredients as well?

 

[ScottM]

yep you got it , if i have same ingredients 3 times and had 3 different yeasts i could have 3 different brews like lager, blond ale , etc however you do add different things for different styles such as dark dried malt for a bitter etc and differnet hops plus different amount of hops depending on what you like/want but its mostly about the yeast . So the lighter the beer the lighter the malt extract and darker the beer darker extract etc etc , have a look on the main page in beer brewing for the how to guide to see how to do it , its easy once you get used to it you only need a large pan around 10l ish or 2 5/6l pans (split it in 2) brew up extract for 60 mins chuck hops in , job done , add to fv , add cold water to make up 23l add yeast etc

Spot on, I'm definitely into this

My only downfall is that I don't have the fridge.... yet... in order to do what I want properly. But even getting close to a decent lager by using an ale yeast with a light malt will keep me happy until the time comes to do it right.

Thanks again :)

 

[pittsy]

ive just remembered you can get some american lager yeast that you can ferment at 18c by the way use cane sugar for priming not corn , i have a look for yeast

 

[pittsy]

you should check out the links above for yeast (liquid) check out brewing temps most are 12c but some are 18c ish (lager yeast ) such as http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=181 ,both malt miller and the homebrew shop sell em (top of page logo adverts just click on em)

 

[ScottM]

you should check out the links above for yeast (liquid) check out brewing temps most are 12c but some are 18c ish (lager yeast ) such as http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=181 ,both malt miller and the homebrew shop sell em (top of page logo adverts just click on em)

That's great, sounds like an ideal starter. I'm getting excited about this now. Any idea how crazy to go with the lime zest? I'll be going for 5 gallons and I would like a nice hint of lime to it but I don't want it to be overpowering. Having never done this before should I just suck it and see or can you recommend what end of the spectrum to go to?

Out of curiosity what is the difference between these yeasts and the normal £1 ones? Obviously they are superior but is it because they are more focused?

 

[pittsy]

they are 10 times better and you can do a 500g malt starter with 8 pints of water in a demi and leave a week thus making enough yeast to make 10 starters so it will in fact be cheaper , if brewing ag you would use around 30/40g of peel but because its smaller amount brewed (10l, although 23l finished it counts as 10l boiling etc )you have to use more than normal so maybe around 60g of peel needed.

 

[ScottM]

they are 10 times better and you can do a 500g malt starter with 8 pints of water in a demi and leave a week thus making enough yeast to make 10 starters so it will in fact be cheaper , if brewing ag you would use around 30/40g of peel but because its smaller amount brewed (10l, although 23l finished it counts as 10l boiling etc )you have to use more than normal so maybe around 60g of peel needed.

That's great, thanks very much for your help and insights. Can't wait to get started now

 

[pittsy]

no probs mate

 

[ScottM]

What is it with the US measuring system lol. Just listing the stuff I need to buy and I can't make head nor tail of that ingredients list.

Would this be close....

1.2kg Extra Light Dry Malt Extract
700g Light Honey
30g cascade Hops
120g Sugar for priming

I've just roughly converted lbs to kg/g and "cups" to g lol. Gotta laugh at cups though, that's just lazy. I'm thinking that 120g of priming sugar might be a little low though. I'm used to priming with around 200g for 5 gallons when it comes to lager etc. Or is there something I'm missing?

 

[Pearlfisher]

I'm not sure if this is going to be possible but if there was ever a place to ask I guess this is it

I'm a big lager fan but I don't enjoy Ales, Beers or Stouts etc......... *space to get stick*.......

I've tried to make a few lagers from kits and the best success I have had was with a mexican cerveza. It was barely drinkable, had no body and next to no gas though so I'm thinking that kits are probably even less of an answer for Lager than they are for other Beers etc.

Basically I'm looking to achieve something akin to Budweiser Lime (from the states). In America it was "Light" but I'm not fussed about that. I just want a nice (generic) lager taste with a hint of lime. Obviously this is possible but is it likely that I will be able to achieve such a feat given that my experience is currently 2 failed lager kits, 2 failed cider kits, 1 reasonable lager kit, 2 good cider kits and fiery ginger beer yet to be determined?

Has anyone stumbled across any recipes that would be close to what I am after? Most of the ones I've seen seem geared towards ales, etc, rather than lager.

Going for TC next and then wine but my bins will be spare once the ginger beer is done in a couple of weeks so I would like to try lager again.

Thanks :)

A few kits ago I made a Brupak Linthwaite Light , it was excellent and I'm starting another one next one.

On the instructions it says it can be made into a fine lager by using a lager yeast , I would imagine it would be very good if the light ale is anything to go by.
As to the lime taste.....pass.

 

[pittsy]

hi , ive got a beer tool here with your ingredients in ,i added light instead of extra light extract (it wasn't available) and used orange instead of lime (again not available) the irish moss is used to help get a clear pint (available in local home brew shops etc) have a play with it , at bottom of page (tool) you can change to metric .http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe and incase it doesn't load with recipe on it here it is

To Match: BJCP Beer Style
German Pilsner (Pils

% KG MALT OR FERMENTABLE YIELD EBC

83% 2.500 Light Dry Malt Extract 97% 13

17% 0.500 Honey 76% 2
3
Batch size: 23.0 liters edit

1.047
(1.042 to 1.049)
Final Gravity
1.012
(1.010 to 1.012)
Color
12° EBC / 6° SRM
(Yellow to Gold)
Late Boil Additions
hops
USE TIME GRAMS VARIETY FORM AA

boil 60 mins 50 Cascade leaf 5.5

boil 30 mins 30 Cascade leaf 5.5

boil 15 mins 10 Cascade leaf 5.5

Boil: 10.0 avg liters for 60 minutes
Bitterness
25.5 IBU / 10 HBU

Alcohol
4.7% ABV / 4% ABW

boil 15 min 5 ea Irish Moss

boil 0 min 15 grams Orange Peel

 

[ScottM]

Good little tool that.

Am I right in thinking the initial recipe that I put up is wrong then? If I put in the exact ingredients as per the initial list the AVB is 3.3% with the starting gravity at 1.033. I'm assuming it must be a typo?