pfriem Lemon Zest Farmhouse Ale
We built a traditional farmhouse ale base and infused it with lemon zest, which gives this beer a bright, fresh lemon flavor that is balanced by the earthy and fruity base. A super-refreshing and playful summer crusher.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 78% OG: 1.056 FG: 1.005 IBUS: 29 ABV: 6.2%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
6 lb (2.7 kg) Gambrinus Pilsner
5 lb (2.3 kg) Weyermann Pilsner
1 lb (454 g) Rahr Raw White Wheat 1 lb (454 g) Weyermann Malted Spelt
HOPS AND ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.5 oz (14 g) Tettnanger [3.8% AA] at 60 minutes 0.4 oz (11 g) Huell Melon [6.1% AA] at 5 minutes 1.3 oz (37 g) El Dorado [17.4% AA] at 5 minutes One large lemon (see below) Dry Hop Schedule
1.2 oz (34 g) each Huell Melon [6.1% AA] and El Dorado [17.4% AA]
YEAST
Imperial Organic Yeast B56 Rustic EC-1118 champagne yeast for bottle conditioning
DIRECTIONS
Mash the grains at 147°F (64°C) for 90 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge the grains and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 l) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 70 minutes following the hops schedule.
After the boil, chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 75°F (24°C). Aerate the wort and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 80°F (27°C). After the beer reaches terminal gravity and passes VDK (vicinal diketone) analysis, cool to 60°F (15°C) and dry hop. Wait 2 days, remove from dry hops, and cool to
29°F (-2°C). Wait 3–7 days, removing yeast and hops material every other day. Zest one large lemon and add the zest, being careful to introduce as little oxygen as possible. Let your palate be your guide for how long to leave the beer on the lemon zest.
Bottle condition with EC-1118 and dextrose.
BREWER’S NOTES
Feel free to experiment with the zest, try other citrus, etc. (tangelos are a crew favorite), but in our experience Meyer lemon zest is very bitter. Stick to the big yellow ones.
Be sure to have a strategy to remove all of the zest afterward because if particulate makes it into bottles, it’s likely to cause gushing. We use a centrifuge, but I can see a teabag setup working great on the homebrew scale. Cheers!