Lime in Mexican Cerveza?

MikeH

Hello,

The Coopers Mexican Cerveza is an excellent beer kit and tastes even better with a slice of lime in it. I was wondering if it would be safe to sterilise a whole lime or two, rinse them off thoroughly then slice them or just cut in half may be and drop into the wort during primary fermentation? My concern would be that the citrus acid would kill the yeast? Or of course, rather than using actual limes, a few ml of concentrated lime juice from the supermarket would also do the trick. I'm just not sure about the possibility of killing the yeast and I don't want to try it out and ruin a whole batch. If any one has any knowledge about this sort of thing please can you let us know?

Cheers, Mike...

HBO_Staff

Hi Mike, with it being a small amount of lime we wouldn't expect it to harm the fermentation if added to the brew at the fermentation stage, although you may prefer to add at the end of fermentation before bottling. Adding a concentrate at the fermentation stage is something people do, although getting the right amount to give the flavour you want to the batch is trial and error, it will save having to add lime to each bottle though as you drink it. Perhaps start by adding less rather than more, as if it is not enough you can always top up when you drink it but you can't remove it from the finished cerveza if the flavour is too strong

MikeH

Thanks for your reassurance and tips. I think I'll give it a go next time I brew a batch. Currently doing a Simply Bitter which I'm going to dry hop.

Cheers, Mike...

Galoot

Just a note - if you use cordial at the bottling stage remember that it contains sugar. So remember take this in to the priming calculation or you could make it too fizzy (or cause bottle bombs if they are glass bottles).

Personally I'd just buy limes and add a slice in the finished product.