Light Lemonade Mead

homebrewer_99 · 07-15-2009, 02:23 AM

I do a lot of reading and wondering if I could make a light and refreshing LEMONADE MEAD...OK, intro crap over...let's get to the recipe...

These were just the ingredients I used, if you want to try something different feel free...

Heat 1 gal water to 170.

Add:

5 lbs Sue Bee Honey
2 lbs Corn Sugar
5 tsp Yeast Nutrient

Dissolve all.

Add 4 cans of All Natural MINUTE MAID Premium Lemonade Frozen Concentrate, 12 oz cans (15% Real Lemon Juice)...so says the label...

Bring water back up to 170F.

As with my beer water I always place 4 gals of PUR filtered tap water in the freezer for top off water. I don't always use all of it, but I want if available if I need more colder water.

Add some cold water to pot to bring down temp and pour into a sanitized carboy. If you use a funnel it'll be OK since this is where it's OK to aerate your wort/must.

Top off with 4 gals of water.

OG was 1.087

Sample tasted honey sweet with a good lemonade flavor

Once cooled, add 1 packet Lalvin D-47 yeast. I did not rehydrate, but just sprinkled it on.

I hoped to make a nice and light lemonade mead. I thought about using some potassium sorbate at about 1.020 to keep it sweet, but now I think it's not the right thing to do. You could split your batch up if you want.

I started this mead on 28 Jun. It's now 14 July and it's done.

Here are my notes (with dates):

28 Jun 09: Temp: 96F (plus 5 for temperature compensation)
OG: 1.082 + 5 = 1.087

2 July 09: Temp: 75F / Gravity: 1.040 + 2 = 1.040. Looks a lot like lemonade...pale yellow and cloudy. It's tasting very nice though. Some yeast flavor, but both sweet and tart. Surprisingly smooth.

10 Jul 09: Temp: 78F / Gravity: 0.998 +2 = 1.000. Only lightly clouded now. Still has a honey odor. Lemon (flavor), tartness and honey flavor all coming through nicely. Racked to secondary.

14 Jul 09: Temp: 76F / Gravity: 0.998 + 2 = 1.000. This mead seems to be done fermenting. Almost completely clear. Nice honey smell. Sample has a good light lemon and honey flavor. Neither flavor is overwhelming. It has a slight dry finish. Smooth and easy to drink.

OG: 1.087
FG: 1.000

Potential alcohol: 9.135% ABW / 11.419% ABV This is really smooth. No alcohol bite (fusel oils) or esters.

I'll let it sit a little while longer (a week or so) before bottling and finish up on the notes here.

homebrewer_99 · 07-19-2009, 08:12 AM

I took a bottle of this to a work party on Wed...it disappeared in less than 10 minutes.

BenS · 07-25-2009, 06:42 PM

I tried to make this a few days ago and after a few hours it looked like all the honey seperated out and settled on the bottom. This was my first mead and I figured I'd give it a try. Was the honey and sugar supposed to be boiled? I held the temp around 170F for 15 min or so before I added the lemonade. After I cooled it the OG was only 1.050. The next day I shook it up just for the heck of it and it mixed up well but didn't take long to seperate again. What did I do wrong??

homebrewer_99 · 07-26-2009, 03:28 AM

I'm not sure if you did anything wrong...170F should have dissolved and pasteurized all of the honey.

I wouldn't worry about the gravity being 1.050. It'll still ferment out to a decent percentage.

Re-reading my recipe...I screwed up. I only used a TOTAL of 4 gals of water.
The water reduction (from the normal 5g to 4g) is what made the OG so high.

I apologize.

**lcasanova** · 08-10-2009, 05:00 AM

Sounds good, I'll have to add this to my "To do" list

homebrewer_99 · 08-10-2009, 06:11 PM

It is "very light"...with just enough of a tart twang. Very easy to drink too much of.

**jezter6** · 08-10-2009, 07:01 PM

Wow - 1 month from brew to drinkin?

I might have to make this...

homebrewer_99 · 08-11-2009, 08:05 PM

I'll bring some to York.

BenS · 08-13-2009, 05:07 AM

So I took a sample of my batch today and I got 1.008. It tasted tart and very strong, as in alcohol content. I think my OG reading was off just a bit. As this is my first mead, I had a hard time tasting or smelling the honey. It still looks like lemonade in the carboy and hasn't cleared at all. Is it normal for meads not to form a very strong krausen? I never got to much of anything on top but it is bubbling away. It's been a slower fermentation than I thought but I suppose you only learn when things go unexpectedly.

homebrewer_99 · 08-13-2009, 11:31 AM

Honey and wine yeasts don't seem to make much if any kreusen at all.

Honey also takes longer to ferment out than malt. That's one reason for adding some corn sugar and yeast nutrient to give the yeast a boost.

Let the lemonade sit a while longer if you want it clear. Mine's very clear right now.

After it's done you can always add some potassium sorbate to retard further fermentation then backsweeten it to taste to remove some of the tartness.

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