Beer and lemonade, in the keg?

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billpaustin

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For this summer, I want to have a light Wit beer, mixed with lemonade. Could I just mix lemonade and beer in the keg? Carbonate them both together?

Of course I could just serve lemonade on the side, but it would be great if I can keg lemonade and beer together.

edit: I can see that the sugar in the lemonade could restart fermentation, but if we drink it really fast (weekend at the lake), that shouldn't be a problem.
 
If you want a lime type wit, then use lime zest to primary, not lemonade.
I have successfully brewed this few times, recipe found here.

Thanks,

Nilo
 
Add a stabilizer like potassium sorbate to prevent fermentation from starting again and then force carb the mix.
 
+1 to stabilizing the lemonade to prevent fermentation.

There are some great recipes for hard lemonade on this site, too.
 
You could definitely mix the two together in a keg. As was said before though it might be smart to add potassium sorbate to hinder the fermentation of the lemonade. Although I'm not sure how it's going to turn out taste wise, if you allow the lemonade to ferment it may raise your ABV considerably and be dry (IE not much of that lemonade taste.) I think it would be an interesting experiment none the less.
 
Is there really much concern about fermentation restarting if it's in a chilled keg (at 38-40 degrees or whatever)? I could see concern if there's a chance you'd be leaving the keg at room temp, of course, but I would have thought most yeasts (and especially ale yeasts as you'd presumably be using with a Wit) would be pretty dormant at fridge temps.

I'm hoping that's the case since I'm soon going to be kegging up my first back-sweetened cider and am planning on low temp rather than additives to keep the yeast from eating the sweetener and carbing the hell out of my cider!
 
Purely anecdotal here but I drew off a growler of Apfelwein out of my bottling bucket (sugar was already added) and tossed it in the fridge for instant apple goodness. After a day in the fridge it would hiss CO2 whenever I opened it even when there was next to nothing left in the growler. Of course that was champagne yeast instead of ale yeast...
 
Do you think the lemonade and beer would separate once in the keg? What if left for a while?
Kinda like oil and water?

Just tossing other thoughts/possible issues out there.
 
Wouldn't the citric acid in the lemonade inhibit the yeast?

Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne Yeast works well in an acidic environment if you do this: Rehydrate yeast by combining 1 cup warm water with 1 tbsp of lemonade concentrate and just a couple yeast nutrient pellets with Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast, Allow to sit for at least a half hour. You should see vigorous action in the yeast when ready.

Most yeasts do NOT like the acidic lemonade but EC-1118 works well with it.
 
Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne Yeast works well in an acidic environment if you do this: Rehydrate yeast by combining 1 cup warm water with 1 tbsp of lemonade concentrate and just a couple yeast nutrient pellets with Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast, Allow to sit for at least a half hour. You should see vigorous action in the yeast when ready.

Most yeasts do NOT like the acidic lemonade but EC-1118 works well with it.

I don't think he is wanting to ferment it anymore than the beer already has been.

I don't see the issue with mixing in the keg. But I also don't see why you couldn't have a pitcher of lemonade and pour beer over it in your glass too. That way you have more beer in the keg.
 
I imagine that an ale yeast that was suddenly added to a pretty acidic mixture would not be happy and do no more fermentation.
 
I threw together a half-lager, half concentrate lemonade mixture a couple of weeks ago with some leftover ingredients, let it ferment for 2 weeks at a low temperature (60F) and then bottled with some more lemonade concentrate. Early tasting revealed a dry beer/lemon taste, sitting around 3.5% ABV. I'll update in 2 weeks when I let it carb for a bit.
 
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