Carlton Lime Fusion Copy?

[Tinny]

Hi Everyone,
Very new to home brewing, going to bottle my first brew tomorrow hopefully.

I was wondering if anyone has had any success adding lime, to make a beer similar to carlton fusion (which I love) I have read that lime zest is probably best. I am going to add some to some of the bottles, just to see what it does.

Be interested to know if anyone has tried this.

Cheers,

 

[A3k]

I've got to add a disclaimer that i don't like this beer.

But go your hardest.

I'd say go with a can that's light in flavour. If you're getting it from the supermarket get coppers mexican cerveza or canadian blonde. If you're going to a brewshop, get some sort of mexican curveza and ask for an enzyme that helps dry the beer out.

I'd also probably add 500gm dry malt extract, and 500gm of dextrose.

As for the lime, i'd actually consider using bickfords lime cordial. I'd say you're best off making the beer without the lime and putting it in the bottles as you mentioned. Experiment with adding different amounts, using zest and using cordial. That way you'll know what to do next time and can do it in the fermenter.

You'll need to watch out for the sugar though. Lime cordial has lots of sugar in it. This will carbonate the bottle, so you'll need to consider this when adding your carbonating sugar.

The other option is to get a commercial light flavoured lager and chuck some cordial in it until you get the right amount of lime flavour. This will give you an idea of the amounts to use, but will be sweeter than your results as it'll have sugar from the cordial that hasn't been fermented.

One Last thing. I think this topic should be in another area of the forum.

Cheers,
hope that helped somewhat

 

[tonydav]

I'd go along with the light flavoured beer base. I'd also strongly suggest adding it, at least initially, in the bottle when drinking.

At least that way you can experiment without destroying an entire batch.

Furthermore, you may find that once you've been brewing for a bit your tastes will change (that's certainly happened to myself and most of my HB buddies).

 

[Tinny]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I will go the way of lime cordial, I think that does taste yuck in beer. Will try the zest in the bottle for now.

cheers.

 

[bundfish01]

Hi,
I made a lime infused mexican beer late last year. I used a mexican cerviza tin, light malt extract, lager yeast, fermented for 3 weeks at 12 deg. I cut up 2 small limes into 10 thin slices each and added them directly to the fermenter in a hop bag. Turned out great. I make 46 litre batches. 1 small lime would do a 23 litre batch.
Cheers and good luck.

 

[dgilks]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't think I will go the way of lime cordial, I think that does taste yuck in beer. Will try the zest in the bottle for now.

cheers.

Remember that if you did use the cordial, it won't be sweet. All of the sugars will ferment out creating more alcohol. The benefit of using the cordial is that you can control the level of lime flavour in each bottle. This will be difficult to do if you are just adding a bit of lime zest to each bottle.

 

[b_thomas]

If you want a hit of lime sweetness try using Diet Lime, unless you have an aversion to artificial sweeteners.

I actually had one of these today (my boss drinks them, which puts him at the end of the ridicule stick). For me it tasted like Lime Cordial with a hint of beer.

 

[br33zy]

Hi Tinny,

I've made four citrus brews as a cheap quaffer alternative to our BIABs.

Lager kit, 500g wheat malt, amarillo hops (dry hopped in primary) and a lemon or lime (1 week in secondary), US-05 or WY-1272 yeast.

I tried the lime once, but it left a bitterness which tasted like it was from the rind. The lemons have always turned out a more refreshing pleasant flavour.

I just rinse the lemon, cut it into a spiral (sanitised knife) to increase the pulp's exposure to the wort, and pop it in the secondary fermenter. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Cheers

Breezy

 

[Bizier]

You might experiment a little with some citrus heavy hops, such as NZ-grown Cascade, Chinook or Centennial.
You can just chuck them in to your fermenter a few days before you plan on bottling and it will zest the kit up a bit.

I am reading the fruit beer chapter of Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher, who recommends not using the white pith of the fruit because it is bitter, and only using the outer zest. I personally would love to use zest of the elongated variety of cumquats in a beer, I think it has a really nice sweet aromatic oil. Also note that fruit skin is crawling with funky wild bacteria that might sour or funk your brew. You might want to steep zest in a little vodka for a few days before dosing your beer.

Welcome to the world of brewing the best beer you might ever taste, though it might not be your first batch or two. Remember that cooler temps are better, and it is the middle of summer.

Cheers

 

[bum]

If you want a hit of lime sweetness try using Diet Lime, unless you have an aversion to artificial sweeteners.

While I would never think about using it in a beer myself I do have to say that I get none of the artificial sweetener hallmarks from Bickfords Diet Lime cordial that I get from kits with artificial sweeteners. Might be worth a crack if you're so inclined. But don't blame me if it is crap (or at least not the right kind of crap).

 

[mfeighan]

dont forget the salt in the fusions too, no idea how much to add. dont think it will be too much

The other option is to get a commercial light flavoured lager and chuck some cordial in it until you get the right amount of lime flavour. This will give you an idea of the amounts to use, but will be sweeter than your results as it'll have sugar from the cordial that hasn't been fermented.

i guess maybe try what a3k said

 

[blublurag]

I've got a beer in a key all carbonated and ready to go...it hasn't turned out the greatest but is OK. I have found that adding some lime juice cordial makes it pretty drinkable as a Radler style.

I was thinking of putting about a half a bottle of cordial straight into the keg.

Should be OK re yeast eating sugar as the beer is at 4 or 5 degrees. My biggest concern is whether the cordial will sink straight to the bottom or whether it will stay 'mixed'.

Anyone ever done this?

 

[jivesucka]

the lime option is a bad one. looks terrible when you pour into a glass with no head whatsoever.

 

[dmac80]

Hi Tinny,
It might be worth a try brewing a tin of Morgan's Cortez Mexican cerveza. I've used this kit once and if found it had a lemony flavour, which i've read (probably on this forum) was from Morgan's using Glacier hops (i think) in the kit.

Cheers