Hi Fellow Brewers:
A friend and I plan to make a Honey Lemon Wheat beer soon. We intended to use Meyer Lemon zest, added at whirlpool and steeped 20 minutes. But, another friend recently reported he had bad flavor, aroma and poor results with Meyer lemons as compared with a previous beer made with “regular” type lemons from the grocery store.
Any experience or advice on this potential concern?
Thanks much.
Jack R
Hmm I don’t know why meyer lemons would be bad from a zest perspective. I would zest one and if it smells like you are hoping, use it. Different processes will obviously yield different results. If you want an in your face zesty experience, add it to the fermenter as the beer is finishing up…
Meyer lemons have a more gentle and more floral flavor than the common grocery store varieties (like Eureka). I could see why he found that flavor underwhelming and off if he was expecting the bright citrusy flavor of those grocery store flavors. It depends which flavor you want in your beer.