[MarcInDavis]

I am tinkering with a kettle sour with some lemon puree and vanilla.  I've made several fruited sours and typically use 5+ lbs per gallon but with a lemon puree that seems like it might be overkill, especially being that it is sour to begin with.  I am not a fan of the mouth-puckering sours that some make where the individual flavors are lost to the harsh sour taste, looking for soothing a bit more nuanced and hoping to get help with a starting point. Given that I am using lemon I will be shooting for a wort Ph of about 3.5.  Thoughts?

[erockrph]

I have never used citrus juice directly in either mead or beer, but lemon is generally around pH 2 so I'd definitely take that into consideration. I'd consider using a small amount of puree and supplement with lemon zest to get more flavor with less of a pH drop.

[pv]

I have never used a puree in beer, but I do make a knock-off of Pete's Wicked Summer Brew every year (yup just before summer).  I use the zest of two lemons (for a 5 gal batch) with 5 minutes left in the boil.  This sees to add enough hint of lemon for me and people always can tell its lemon.  It is not really over powering, so maybe use 3 or 4 if you really want a taste of lemon.  Too much lemon might smell/taste like Pledge.  Let us know what you decide, and how it turns out.

[MarcInDavis]

Thanks for the input gents.  The beer that got me thinking this way is a kettle sour that said it used lemon puree, vanilla, and cinnamon. maybe I'll do a few test batches to dial in the lemon flavor.