Does lemon peel kill fermentation?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de⁩ to ⁨homebrewing@sopuli.xyz⁩

I’ve been brewing lemonade with a ginger bug and water kefir for quite a while. But whenever I try to incorporate lemon peel it seems to completely halt fermentation. I have tried normal and organic lemons without success. Currently I have a small batch of kefir with lemon juice going. Half of the batch is with lemon peel and that half shows no sign of fermentation after 30 hours (I have already bottled the other half because it was ready). Did any of you have similar experiences? I would really like to include peel for the taste 🙃

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alzymologist@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why do you think it’s stalled? Maybe just lemon peel trapped the gas?

I’ve made lots of mead with citrus peel, including lemon, I’ve used in on secondary though, just to keep more flavor by less gas escape. Maybe you should do the same?

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  It was a very small amount of thinly sliced lemon peel (less than a teaspoon). From the other comments I’m guessing that the lemon was treated with a pesticide that also killed my fermentation.
  
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drre@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
my father ferments lemon peel all the time so i guess that’s not it. is your peel organic, or at least well cleaned? i imagine that the chemicals which prevent the lemon from spoiling are the same which impede fermentation

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- StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Remember that organic doesn’t mean no pesticides were used, but instead that the pesticides are “natural”. Some natural pesticides are worse than synthetic.
  
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  - drre@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    i know next to nothing about this topic. it’s just that in Germany there are citrus fruits marketed as having an edible peel which i figured would also hold for yeasties
    
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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Good to know, I’ll try again but will make sure the better clean the lemons!
  
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tasankovasara@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
One more brewer here routinely making a lemon and ginger infused beer and no problems there. I typically have four large lemons sliced thin for 20 litres of wort. I infuse the lemons and ginger separately and add the infusion late in the boil. I always wash the lemons with hot water to get rid of anything they might spray them with.

Kefir might be different though (I don’t know anything about that process). But maybe making an infusion vs. chucking the peel in the fermentation might help.

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Thanks for your comment! Kefir might be more sensible to whatever treatment the lemons got, I guess I’ll try washing with hot water :)
  
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DampSquid@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I used to work at a pro brewery that made a beer with loads and loads of lemon peel and juice (no bitter pith, thank you) and it absolutely does not kill fermentation.
My fingers and thumbs still hurt from the early days when it was quite a manual job!
That said, you could probably add so much juice that the acidity might kill fermentation.

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Juice shouldn’t be the problem because the other half of my brew without the peel (but also with juice) worked without a problem. But good to know that the lemon itself should work, might be due to pesticide on the lemons…
  
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Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If lemon peel was this reliable at halting fermentation, you’d expect to see a lot more traditional recipes that have a hint of lemon.

You’re sure you’ve got all the info you need to call it? This kind of thing is hard to assess without gravity readings.

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I guess you are right, if it were that potent at stopping spoiling we wouldn’t need all the chemicals we use today to preserve foods :D I’ll try cleaning the lemons more aggressively and see if it helps :D
  
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poleslav@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Definitely not. I sliced 50 lemons up and fermented just those (everything included) with 12 pounds of sugar or so and the resulting wine was 9%. I didn’t even bother balancing the ph or anything either.

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Good to know, I’m going to blame the lemons I used and try again!
  
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whyrat@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’ve done mead with lemon zest before; it fermented as expected. That ingredient by itself should not cause fermentation to stall.

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- dragbone@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Good to know it should work in general. I’ll try again :)
  
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