Single Hop: Lemon Drop - Homebrew Recipe

This blog provides information for educational purposes only. Read our complete summary for more info.

Single hop beers are all the rage nowadays, and the kegerator at Clawhammer's HQ has been running low lately. With Summer just around the corner, we need a tasty summertime beer that we can start drinking immediately. That's why we brewed a Session IPA with Lemondrop hops using Clawhammer's 10.5 gallon Electric Brewing System. It's our first crack at making a single hop beer using this variety. Will it be good? Read on or watch the video to find out.

Session IPA Style Guidelines

  • Golden or copper color
  • OG - 1.038 - 1.052
  • Low ABV - 3% - 4% - Beers exceeding 5% ABV are not considered Session IPAs
  • Medium Bitterness - 40 - 55 IBUs

Single Hop Lemon Drop - Homebrew Recipe Video

Here's the video, in case you aren't the readin' type. However, if you're interested in brewing this beer, scroll down for full recipe details.

Water

Beginning water volume: 7.04 gallons (26.6 liters), with chemistry adjusted to produce the following profile:

  • Calcium: 100ppm
  • Chloride: 136ppm
  • Sulfates: 75ppm
  • Sodium: 14ppm
  • Magnesium: 6ppm
  • Bicarbonates: 25ppm

Note: we also added half a campden tablet at the start of the brew day.

Malts

  • Pilsner (2 row) Ger (2.0 SRM) - 6lbs. (2.7kg) (70.6%)
  • Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) - 1lbs. (.5kg) (11.8%)
  • Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) - 1lbs. 8oz. (.7kg) (17.6%)

adding grain to mill to crush it

We finely crush all of our malts in a mill before mashing

Mashing

We mashed at 152F (66.7C) for 60 minutes then did a mashout for 10 minutes at 170F (76.7C).

mashing in

Mashing in

Hops

We added our Lemondrop hops after our 60-minute boil. We cooled the wort down to 165F (73.9C) and did a whirlpool addition using 4 oz. (113.4g) of hops.

weighing out lemondrop hops

Weighing out hops

adding hops to basket

Adding them to our hop basket

This is our first time using Lemondrop hops and we're hoping it gives our beer a nice citrus, lemon flavor. Although, others who have used this hop tell us the lemon flavor it yields is fairly subtle.

lemondrop hop info

Fermentation

We used Imperial A24 Dry Hop Yeast at the end of the brew day.

Imperial a24 yeast

This yeast will make our final hop aroma excellent. We fermented for 13 days at 68F (20C).

pitching yeast

Pitching yeast

Dry Hops

We dry hopped this beer with 2 oz (56.7g) of Lemondrop hops starting on day 4 of primary fermentation and left the hops in the beer for 3 days.

Benchmarks

  • Post boil volume - 6.04 gallons (22.9 liters)
  • Post-boil gravity - Actual: 1.042
  • Volume into the fermenter - 6.04 gallons (22.9 liters)
  • Final Gravity 1.010
  • Final keg volume: 5.0 gallons (18.9 liters)
  • ABV - 4.20%

Tasting Notes

This one finished with a nice golden color and a little bit of haze. When we tasted it, we could immediately tell why they're called Lemondrop hops. There were a lot of lemon and citrus notes we could smell and taste and no perceivable off flavors, making it a really refreshing and light beer. With an ABV of 4.20%, this should be your go to summertime beer to brew.

emmet drinking lemon drop

"A crushable summer beer for sure"

Portrait of Kyle Brown

Kyle Brown is the owner of Clawhammer Supply, a small scale distillation and brewing equipment company which he founded in 2009. His passion is teaching people about the many uses of distillation equipment as well as how to make beer at home. When he isn't brewing beer or writing about it, you can find him at his local gym or on the running trail.

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.

11 Comments

  • MC
    Comment Author: Michael Crimmins

    Totally made this making ONLY A FEW SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS. ONE MY LOCK HB STORE WAS OUT OF OATS AND MY DUMB SELF GRABED CORN. LOL. BUT HEY IT WORKED FOR REAL AND TWO I WANTED A FAST QUICK GRAIN TO BOTTLE BREW SO I ADJUSTED THE YEAST TO A KEVIK YEAST THAT THAT WOULD FINISH A SMALL BATCH I A WEEK.

    https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/brewsession/441504/recipe/print/1314069

  • M
    Comment Author: Matt

    Just made this but couldn’t get the A24 yeast. So I used Lithuanian farmhouse because its primary profile is lemon. All the flavors are subtle and refreshing. Overall not bad and a reminder of warmer days.

  • BL
    Comment Author: Brian Lampron

    I brewed this beer just recently and it came out awasome. Will defently have this one for the summer time. Recommend if you like the citrus style beer.

  • PL
    Comment Author: Patrick L

    Brewed up a mini-mash version of this, and tasted first bottle today. Turned out pretty good as described, good summer beer. I will be drinking this while my quad ages.

    Mini-mash: Added 1 lb of Carapils as someone had recommended in the comments.
    Replaced the 6 lbs of Pilsner with 1.6 lbs of Pilsner + 3.3 lb Briess Pilsen Light LME

    OG:1.044, 5 gallon. 2 days later dryhopped and left it in (to reduce oxidation, since wasn’t going to leave it in the fermenter long). Bottled on day 8. FG:1.012 , 4.5 gallons. Drank one 13 days later.

  • K
    Comment Author: KEvin

    After the fermentation. When you put it in a container howlong do you rest it before you can drink the beer? Im an amateur im brewing my first beer with a kit but i want to brew with grain.