Making hard lemonade

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Golddiggie

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Since there are a few other threads that the subject has pretty much taken over, I thought it was time to make a thread just for it...

I'm making a 3 gallon batch of hard lemonade (it's just sooooo haaaaard!)... Ingredients are as follows:
6 12oz cans pink lemonade concentrate
4# store brand honey
1 packet Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast (hydrated)
1-1/2tsp DAP
Potassium Carbonate (or bicarbonate) to bring the PH to a better level for the yeast.
Blow-off tube installed into carboy bung hole
water to fill to 3 gallons.
Expected ABV: 13-14%

I started this back on 2/22/11 and it was foaming like a bastard when aerated once a day, after about 4 days. It took that long since I wasn't able to mix the honey in properly from the start. I used PH test strips to see where the must PH was early on and use potassium carbonate to increase it closer to the range that the yeast is ok with. The honey has since gone fully into solution, and fermentation has calmed down. I have a feeling that it's on it's way towards being complete.

Normal time frame, depending on if you feed it enough, and get the PH at least high enough to not stress the yeast, is about 2-4 weeks fermenting.

I'm planning on carbonating this, so using bottles rated for beer. If you don't want to carbonate it, I would either pick a yeast that won't go above your ABV target (so it doesn't finish dry) or you'll need to stabilize it before back sweetening it (also stopping the yeast from eating more sugars introduced later)...

I'm not along in that I'm thinking of using another can of concentrate to carbonate with. In the 3 gallon batch, that would be no more than 1/2 a can, depending on how high a carbonation you want. I'll add half of the can of concentrate to the batch about 1-2 weeks before I plan to carbonate it up (so in another week or two) reserving the balance for carbonating. I'm thinking that instead of cooking the concentrate, I'll use a sanitized spatula to mix it in as I rack into the bottling bucket. I do hope that the extra 1/2 can will help bring back some of the color the must had originally. It's gotten much lighter since fermenting really kicked off.

I'm also considering adding dried cherries to the must before priming (about a week or so before) to add that flavor. But maybe I'll just add one or so to some of the bottles, so that some will have that flavor in them, while other bottles wont'... Still on the fence there, but I do have time.

If you decide to make this as well, or have a batch running, post up how it's going... I'm about to pull the blow-off tube from mine (sometime today most likely) and install an airlock. Now that it's not foaming anymore.
 
Thank you Goldiggie for posting your recipe. Hopefully, I will be trying it in the future.

One question: what's DPA?:confused:

Let us know how it turns out...
 
Have you seen the skeeter pee site? It sounds good. I'm thinking of trying it sometime in the near future.
 
DAP is a yeast nutrient (found at most LHBS and online HBS)... It's often used when making wine, or mead, since the must has little, or no, FAN (amino nitrogen) for the yeast to munch on. DAP solves that issue. There are other nutrients available, just be sure to get one for wine/mead and not beer. Beer nutrients won't have as much nitrogen in them, so you'll end up using more to get the same result.

Hope we get enough groups of people, close enough together (geographically) that we can meet up and do some sampling of what we all made...

I have a feeling that I'll be letting mine age for a little bit before I bottle and carbonate... :D Or it will sit in bottles for a couple of months so that it has some time to get rid of any 'hot' flavors... You get those when you hit 13%+ABV... :rockin:

Haven't checked out skeeter pee... Just sounds so wrong to me... :eek:
 
Thank you. I know what yeast nutrient is (I have a jar, and one of yeast energizer, from my winemaking days). I didn't know you guys called it "DAP"...

Do you think replacing the yeast would make a big difference? I have packets of montrachet and champagne, also left from those times. Even when the yeast is over 3 years old, I used the champagne for my last batch, and, even when I dry pitched it, it gave out a nice, strong fermentation, so I'd love to use it, especially champagne, that seems to be a lot tougher than montrachet.
 
Im doing the same reciepe as golddiggie i was thinking after i bottle this batch i might try a batch of skeeter pee just to tast the difference. I plan on just using the slurry from this current batch as the yeasties will already be use to the acidic enviroment of hard lemonade.
 
DAP is a type of nutrient... Depending on what you have, it could be DAP, but it could be something else (most contain DAP though, I believe)...

I would go with a yeast that produces results you like... If you plan to have something finish sweeter, at a lower ABV, use that strain. If you want higher ABV, then use a different strain. I went with 71B because I like the spec's of the yeast. I've used both EC-1118 and D47 before with solid results. Not used any red star yeast to date.

Champagne yeast tends to be more robust, I believe, since it can also go up to the 18% ABV range. Do you want 18% ABV hard lemonade, or are you looking to let it ferment dry at a lower ABV, stabilize it, then back sweeten it? I'm more in line with the KISS model in my mead/must fermenting... I'd rather have it finish with a little residual sweetness, and not be able to ferment any more, than have to let it go dry and then back sweeten it (after stabilizing and such)... Since I plan to carbonate this batch, I'm going to be pushing it right to the edge for ABV. I do hope that the hard lemonade carbonates right in the bottles, but still has a touch of sweetness in them when it comes time to drink them. I'll probably give them at least 4-6 weeks in the bottles before opening up one...

I probably won't make another batch for a while, depending on how this one comes out... So, I probably won't save the yeast slurry... That is, unless I'm working again before it's ready to be bottled up... [fingers crossed]
 
Yes, I just checked. It's DAP. And the energizer is DAP+yeast hulls+magnesium sulphate+vitamin B complex, so I have some extra options...:)

I have plenty of potassium sorbate and Campden tablets, so I was thinking on keeping an eye on fermentation (you know, making the sacrifice of tasting it, every now and then ;)), and stabilizing it when the sweetness is right. I used to make fruit wines, in the 13-15% ABV range, but now, I want something less alcoholic, maybe in the 7-8% ABV range, so I'm thinking if I get it to a 1.080 OG, and stabilize it around 1.020, I should be ok...
 
im just swiching from another tread that weve been discussing this but wasnt really for hard lemmonade so im glad to see theres a proper tread for this now.

i started my hards lemmonade on 20/02/2011.
i added 2gals of a french lemmonade that i bought
3pounds of store bought honey (tesco to be exact)
2tsp yeast nutriant
pinch all purpose white wine yeast
didnt have a hydometer at the time but since then ive worked it out using the got mead calculator that my OG 1.106

after 2 weeks (today) i tested the gravity of the must and
got reading of 1.024
that leads me to beleive im at about 11% abv at the moment
and its still going strong:rockin:

im gona leave this till finishes fermenting and then add sum mixed fruit
to 1 gal and tinking about sum blueberrys to the other 1gal.
 
Inodoro, why not just make it with an OG of ~1.060, let it ferment dry, then stabilize and back sweeten it to where you want it? I would think that would be better than trying to catch it at just the right time...

Is Mike's HL carbonated?
 
I've added cherries or other fruit to the bottle at priming before and didn't consider a slightly higher sugar potential there resulting in a couple burst bottles. Best to do the whole batch, or split it in 2 and only fruit half.. no fruit in the bottles. Not only is it unattractive but it increases the likelihood of bombs.
 
Inodoro, why not just make it with an OG of ~1.060, let it ferment dry, then stabilize and back sweeten it to where you want it? I would think that would be better than trying to catch it at just the right time...

Is Mike's HL carbonated?

Yeah, I could do that... But then what would be my excuse for tasting it? :D
Either way, I'd think, having all that honey, it wouldn't finish completely dry... right? :confused:

I would love to carbonate mine, so I'll probably do it your way anyways, and if it's not too dry at the end, I may add some extra honey, and carbonate it in the bottle. There's no way I'm gonna get the money for a corny anytime soon...:(
 
I have a blackberry melomel that was at 1.002 last time I checked... 8# honey, 7.5# fresh blackberries over the span of fermenting and post fermentation (3# while fermenting, 4.5# post, but it kicked off some more activity)... The ABV is almost at the limit for D47 (14%)... My two traditional meads are at 17.9% last time I checked... I've seen other people ferment mead to dry levels before. It all depends on where you start, and what yeast you use.

I'm not 100% sure if I'll carbonate my batch now, or not... Need to find out if Mike's is carbonated or not. If it is, then I'll plan to carbonate. If not, then I'll just let it finish fermenting, give it enough sugars to completely max out the yeast, and have a slight sweetness to it... I don't want too much, just enough to balance it out.

I might pull a gallon of the brew and hit it with the dried cherries... That part might not carbonate though, since it could exceed the yeast's tolerance level (ABV)... I'm trying to ferment it in the cooler temperatures, so that it doesn't go too high. Something I read about 71B, if you ferment cooler, it will hit closer to that 14% mark. If you ferment warmer, it can go above 14%...
 
Hmmm...I was under the impression that honey was only 70% fermentable...:confused:
Too bad. If it stopped fermenting earlier, it would've made my life much easier. Now I'm gonna have to find a way to force carbonate without buying a corny. :(

I never tried Mike's, but I think I remember seeing bubbles in the TV ads. But then again, I'm not quite sure.

Now, reading all the posts here, I'm starting to think about adding fruit to it too. Mango. I really like mango.:tank:
 
Honey is about 80% sugars... But, that doesn't mean it won't ferment out to dry... Plenty of people posting on the got mead site about their mead fermenting dry, within the ABV range of their yeast (like to 12% for a 14% strain) so they have to stabilize in order to back sweeten... Well, and not get bottle bombs, or for it to not ferment the new sugars out...

I'm in the model of letting things go naturally, without forcing them to stop and such. So, I'm not going to try and stabilize something so that I can back sweeten it... I'd rather it finishes out as it can, then either let it age, or feed it a bit more honey to get some sweetness to it... You just need to be careful if you're doing that with mead, since it can become too sweet if you back sweeten to taste now, only to let it age for X months and end up really sweet, or too sweet for you.
 
im just swiching from another tread that weve been discussing this but wasnt really for hard lemmonade so im glad to see theres a proper tread for this now.

i started my hards lemmonade on 20/02/2011.
i added 2gals of a french lemmonade that i bought
3pounds of store bought honey (tesco to be exact)
2tsp yeast nutriant
pinch all purpose white wine yeast
didnt have a hydometer at the time but since then ive worked it out using the got mead calculator that my OG 1.106

after 2 weeks (today) i tested the gravity of the must and
got reading of 1.024
that leads me to beleive im at about 11% abv at the moment
and its still going strong:rockin:

im gona leave this till finishes fermenting and then add sum mixed fruit
to 1 gal and tinking about sum blueberrys to the other 1gal.


Its now 3weeks since i started my hard lemmonade,i racked both gal batches 2day
i got gravity reading of1.010

Racked 1gal onto 600grams of mixed fruit after i added the fruit i got a reading of 1,016
i just mashed fruit lightly with patato masher and added.
im planning on leaving the fruit in this for about 2 weeks in my conservitory should
be nice and cool out there.
is this to long to leave the fruit in this??

I left the other gal batch witout adding anyting "natural"
 
If that's whole fruit, I would only leave it in for 5-7 days before racking off of it...

A SG of 1.010 puts it into the 'medium' dryness/sweetness range. Basically, not dry, but not sweet either. It could drop some more before it's done...

I'm going to take a SG reading on mine towards the end of the week. Since I started my batch on 2/22, I don't think it's done yet. I'll probably end up giving it closer to a full month before racking it. Not sure, still, if I'll put it onto the dried cherries or not. It really all depends on how it is when I test/sample it... I don't plan to make any changes without tasting it first.
 
I used frozen fruit let it defrost and mashed it
i read on a site cant remember which one that if i leave it in a cool place for a week or 2 that most of the yeast would settle to the bottom and when i rack again it would leave enough yeast behind to stop it fermenting anymore so thats what i was aiming for as im at 13% i tink its modest enough for most people.you ever hear of doing this??
i know i could add chemicles to do this but wanted to try this method first.
 
If you're planning on having this carbonated, you don't want to leave too much yeast behind.

When making mead you rack several times to get it to clear. This is over a span of months, typically. You'll need to rack it several times, I think, to really get that much yeast out, that it won't start fermenting again if you add sugars to it.

Cold crashing it to get more particles to flocculate out is one thing. But, unless you actually use chemicals to stop the yeast inside it, then get them to flocculate out, and use other things to filter it, chances are there will be at least some yeast left in it.

I was thinking about carbonating mine, at least a bit... I'm hoping that I'll be close enough to the ABV ceiling that it will carbonate, but still leave some sweetness in the bottles...
 
Im also making goldiggie's lemonade going to carbonate, its been going for just over a week now and its still has bubbles coming out of the airlock. I had planned on racking it to a secondary after 3weeks at which point i was gonna add 1.5cans of pink frozen lemonade to the secondary saving the the last .5can for carbonation. Im expecting mine to come in over 13%
 
If you're planning on having this carbonated, you don't want to leave too much yeast behind.

When making mead you rack several times to get it to clear. This is over a span of months, typically. You'll need to rack it several times, I think, to really get that much yeast out, that it won't start fermenting again if you add sugars to it.

Cold crashing it to get more particles to flocculate out is one thing. But, unless you actually use chemicals to stop the yeast inside it, then get them to flocculate out, and use other things to filter it, chances are there will be at least some yeast left in it.

I was thinking about carbonating mine, at least a bit... I'm hoping that I'll be close enough to the ABV ceiling that it will carbonate, but still leave some sweetness in the bottles...
The problem im facing now is that i used a all purpose white wine yeast(that ill never use again)and i cant find the alcohol tollerance anywere on the internet even my supplyier doesnt know,and i dnt want this to go to dry,i tasted it 2day and already its a bit on the dry side for me but at the same time i dont want it to sweet.any ideas of what i can do??
 
Without info on the yeast, it's almost impossible to say... Having good technical data on the yeast helps in many ways, this is just one of them.

If you don't want it to go dry, then you have a couple of choices.
1. Let it finish fully, then start adding sugar/honey until it stops fermenting and puts some sweetness back in.
2. Stop it from fermenting chemically, cold crash it and rack off of what's left in the bottom (give it at least a few days to a week cold crashed).
3. Let it ferment fully, prime it to carbonate, bottle it, and then let it age so that some sweetness comes back in.

The third option would be easier if you knew the info on the yeast, so you would also know if it's going to have enough tolerance left to carbonate.

If you don't care about carbonating this, then you'll probably want to use either of the first two options. Just keep in mind, that if you pick the first, you have no way to know what ABV you'll end up with. You could already be at the edge of the yeast tolerance, but without the info, who's to know?

This is why I use Lalvin yeast for anything that's not beer. Plus, enough people have used the different strains over the years that there's a solid knowledge base for getting more out of the yeasts, or how to stop them in their tracks... With the one I selected, I know it won't go over 14% (or not too far over)... Once it's actally at a FG, I'll probably prime it with enough sugar so that it's closer to the 1.005 mark... Of course, that also depends on where it finishes. If it doesn't finish dry, then it might not actually carbonate. Since this is my first batch, I'll be more forgiving if it's not carbonated. As long as the flavor is good.
 
Tanks for the info I tink ill go with option 2 as id like to no the abv of it.is it candem tabs dat stop the fermenting?
I've already invested in a lalvin yeast for my next batchs.
Just made a mistake with this 1

So I'm gona leave it another week for the fruit flavours to go trough it then ill stop it,rack it after another week in the cold and then leave to age for a while (couple of months)
Do I need airlock in when ageing?
Do I store in warm or cold for ageing?
 
newbee17 said:
Its now 3weeks since i started my hard lemmonade,i racked both gal batches 2day
i got gravity reading of1.010

Racked 1gal onto 600grams of mixed fruit after i added the fruit i got a reading of 1,016
i just mashed fruit lightly with patato masher and added.
im planning on leaving the fruit in this for about 2 weeks in my conservitory should
be nice and cool out there.
is this to long to leave the fruit in this??

I left the other gal batch witout adding anyting "natural"

I have now left the fruit in for 5 days,racked both batches 2day as dere was a good load of sediment in both of them.

The 1 I added the fruit to I had a problem syphining of the fruit it kept blocking the syohon so had to pour it through a strainer so not sure if I've wrecked it of how it will turn out as I've read that I have to try keep it away from the air.

I have both demijohns or jugs as dere known on the other side of the pond in my consevatory with solid bungs as the gravity reading is the same as it was 5 days ago I will assume there finished fermenting
 
I usually don't have any issue with the auto-siphon tube getting blocked until the very end... Even then, it depends on the fruit more than anything else.

I need to take a SG reading of my batch in the next day or two. It looks about ready to be racked off the trub/yeast cake. If it's not ready for bottles yet, then I might put in some more concentrate when racking back into the carboy (I don't have a spare 3 gallon on hand yet)...

Still debating adding the dried cherries to this or not... If I do, I probably won't add any more concentrate, so that I'll still be able to carbonate it up... Also need to start thinking about bottles for it... Since I used most of what I had empty for my last batch of brew... I only have Belgian's left, and those are being saved for BEER... :D
 
when did you brew your lemonade? mines going on 2weeks now havent check gravity on it yet just let it sit, im thinking late next week im gonna bottle them and let sit for another 3-4weeks in the bottle
 
Mine got started on 2/22/11 (technically it was the next day, since it was around 1am I think)...

I've just let mine be since I knew it would need time to ferment fully. I do plan on at least pulling a taste sample soon. I'll check the SG too, just to see where it is (before tasting it)... It could be at .990-.998 for all I know... :rockin: If it is, I'll have to decide what to do, since it could be at the yeast's tolerance level for ABV... Pink lightning anyone?? :rockin: :ban:

Pretty sure it's done, since I'm not seeing any more bubbles in the blow-off bucket... I left that connected in case it decided to go nuts again. The PET carboys 3 gallon mark is a bit high on them. Not sure if I'll use it for a primary again. At least not with a full 3 gallons in it. Maybe with 2.5 gallons.
 
i might check my gravitys tomorrow, i only have the one fermentation bucket right now...i really need some more buckets but dont want to buy any right now
 
I'm about to pick up four 5 gallon Sanke kegs that I'll be using for fermenting and/or aging in... :D I might temporarily retire a couple of my PET carboy fermenters once I get these fully ready for use... Hoping that I'll have at least one ready before the next brew day comes around... Should be kick-ass... Won't need to worry about light getting in there at all... :rockin:
 
For a 4gal batch of hard lemonade I dry pitched two packets of EC-1118 into a 4gal batch per advice towards the end of this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/hard-lemonade-68144/

It started foaming within 5 minutes and seems to be done after about 3 weeks, though I didn't take a gravity reading yet.

I used Yooper's recipe from that thread, just went with a different yeast strategy. When the guy at the LHBS asked me what I was making he seemed skeptical about it working, I'll have to bring him a bottle when it's done.
 
once i get a full time job, not this part time on call crap, i plan on buying some 5gal kegs to ferment in. question if i use a keg as a primary do i need to have a airlock installed, doesnt seem like the CO2 would cause a keg to blow up....im gonna be bottling my beer for a while anyways
 
What was the OG of your batch?? I think two packets of EC-1118 was a bit of overkill... If you had rehydrated just one, chances are it would have done fine... For references, I used one packet (rehydrated) in my traditional mead batch (OG about 1.160) and it's hit 18% ABV... It was still creeping higher (ABV % wise) when I checked it last... Will take a SG reading soon... As well as taste it... More curious than anything else... Almost time to rack it again anyway. I'm waiting for the lemonade to be finished, so that I have a smaller vessel for it... With samples, and blow-off from that batch, it's less than 5 gallons now...
 
once i get a full time job, not this part time on call crap, i plan on buying some 5gal kegs to ferment in. question if i use a keg as a primary do i need to have a airlock installed, doesnt seem like the CO2 would cause a keg to blow up....im gonna be bottling my beer for a while anyways

You still need to let the CO2 escape, otherwise you won't get beer... Well, not with alcohol in it at least... :eek:

Next one I use (corny especially) I plan on not pulling the relief valve from. That way I use it for other things easily... Just use one of the posts for the airlock or blow-off tube while fermenting... I do like how strong the kegs are... I don't think we could get enough pressure to build up from yeast fermenting to get them to rupture... :D

Had two phone interviews ( one each, Monday and Tuesday) for a job... Should be getting the in person lined up for next week (I hope)... Place is less than 3 miles from where I live... Plus, it would be doing something I want.. Keeping my fingers crossed on this one... Of course, I also have a 12+ month long contract job I've been submitted for... So, I could be working before the end of March, or early April...
 
i went to an interview today and was told they would let me know by friday if i got the job as training starts monday...if i get it i will soon be kegging all my batches
 
For the record Mike's hard lemonade is highly carbonated.

For those of you looking for a sweet, bottle conditioned, lemonaded check out Papper's pausterization thread here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

Basically you ferment your lemonade out, backsweeten and bottle, then after about a week you start testing bottles, when the carbonation level you want is achieved you pausterize the bottles by sticking them in a bath of hot water for around 12 minutes, this kills the yeast leaving the residual sweetness. There are some safety precautions so make sure to read at least the first few pages before attempting this.
I've done it several times with different types of cider and it works very well if you follow the procedure.
 
What was the OG of your batch?? I think two packets of EC-1118 was a bit of overkill... If you had rehydrated just one, chances are it would have done fine... For references, I used one packet (rehydrated) in my traditional mead batch (OG about 1.160) and it's hit 18% ABV... It was still creeping higher (ABV % wise) when I checked it last... Will take a SG reading soon... As well as taste it... More curious than anything else... Almost time to rack it again anyway. I'm waiting for the lemonade to be finished, so that I have a smaller vessel for it... With samples, and blow-off from that batch, it's less than 5 gallons now...

It is overkill but that's kinda the point of this method. The issue is that the pH of the lemonade is a lot lower than mead. People have typically had lots of trouble getting their yeast to behave when doing lemonade and the crazy high pitching rate appears to be foolproof.

My OG was 1.081
 
For the record Mike's hard lemonade is highly carbonated.

For those of you looking for a sweet, bottle conditioned, lemonaded check out Papper's pausterization thread here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

Basically you ferment your lemonade out, backsweeten and bottle, then after about a week you start testing bottles, when the carbonation level you want is achieved you pausterize the bottles by sticking them in a bath of hot water for around 12 minutes, this kills the yeast leaving the residual sweetness. There are some safety precautions so make sure to read at least the first few pages before attempting this.
I've done it several times with different types of cider and it works very well if you follow the procedure.

Something to note, someone in that thread said that the method doesn't work well with EC-1118. My plan is to add Splenda to taste and add sugar for carbonation.
 
Something to note, someone in that thread said that the method doesn't work well with EC-1118. My plan is to add Splenda to taste and add sugar for carbonation.

Hmmm I didn't see that. for what it's worth the batches I pasteurized were EC-1118 what did he say was the problem he had not stopping fermentation or some other issue? I'll have to look for the problems he had to make sure I don't ever end up with bottle bombs.
 
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