Skeeter Pee

Captive said:

If you start off with a very good slurry, it can go from beginning to completion in less than 4 weeks. If your batch is challenged (e.g. by yeast type, temperature, ingredients) it could take longer.

Glad to hear you're still making progress.

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Thanks. The yeast cake might have been tired, it came from an Apfelwein. Looks to be pretty close timewise though.

Accidic said:

Went with small batch for mine. Used the minute maid lemon juice that comes preservative free. My only worry is I was out of energizer. Gave it a dose of nutrient in place of it. Anyone know of an in a pinch substitute for energizer? There are no lhbs in this area (only one or two in my state even since we can buy Chivas Regal, stamped buy the govt healthy for you...). I've killed a starter for nutrient and that seemed to work quite well. Ideas?

Edits: phone based typos.

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have done 2 batches without energizer, with nutrient, fermented gangbusters

I just did skeeterpee with a cake of wlp001. Worked great.

rasherb said:

I just did skeeterpee with a cake of wlp001. Worked great.

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I read thru this whole thread (from the beginning) just to find your answer! What do they say about the "last place I looked?"

Anyway, I just pitched my pee with 1 1/2 cups of Wy 1056 slurry from a Kolsch an hour ago. I can't imagine that that yeast wouldn't handle the OG but I was/am concerned about the pH affecting the yeast. We don't have a LHBS w/i 70 miles so I used what I had and ordered some dry wine yeast for next time (or this time?)

Glad to hear yours worked with Cal Ale.

I really like the EC 1118 for this. I use a starter almost always and have very good luck with it.

Duxx said:

I read thru this whole thread (from the beginning) just to find your answer! What do they say about the "last place I looked?"

Anyway, I just pitched my pee with 1 1/2 cups of Wy 1056 slurry from a Kolsch an hour ago. I can't imagine that that yeast wouldn't handle the OG but I was/am concerned about the pH affecting the yeast. We don't have a LHBS w/i 70 miles so I used what I had and ordered some dry wine yeast for next time (or this time?)

Glad to hear yours worked with Cal Ale.

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So just checked my batch of pee after 24 hours with Wyeast 1056. The SG has already dropped 9 points to 1.056. There is an incredible krausen on the fermenter, much bigger and more rocky than is typical for my beers. Looks like beer yeast is going to work great for this.

Well, like the first time I brewed beer, the anticipation of how the skeeter pee turned out is over! It was a big hit!
Everyone wants to try it, but they want someone else to go first. They all look at you kinda skeptically... Lemon wine?? Is that sold right next to the pork rinds?
Great summer drink, finished at about 10% ABV. My BIL's wife who's from Italy, wants me to ship her a couple of bottles.

I read about 20 pages and did a "search thread" but didn't come up with exactly my question:

I don't have any yeast energizer/nutrient/finings, and my "L"HBS is a three hour round trip (and is only open three days a week!). Would this work without that stuff? Or maybe there is a substitute that I might have or can get at a grocery store (think walmart, not whole foods, as that is a three hour trip as well)? Thanks!

I suggest you buy the stuff you need on the internet. It is worth the wait. You don't want to risk the fart smell. lol

I agree with WIP. This is one of the cheapest wines you can make that also tastes fabulous. Buying the right stuff is probably cheaper than trying to find substitutes that may or may not work. You don't want to go to all the work and have a crappy beverage. I'd suggest you use one of the forum's sponsors, they help keep this forum free for you to use. Here's a list of sponsors: SPONSORS

I've used Midwest Supplies and they've always had good selection, price, service and quick delivery.

Perhaps I wasn't clear but I got the impression the finings were optional. I actually prefer the idea of cloudy SP. The clear looks too mello yello to me personally.

Several in this thread have claimed to pasturize them rather than addiives at the end but you are going to have to do something. Can't help you with the energizer but as dinner says above it seems to work ok without it in a pinch (I did add yeast nutrient for the energizer tho). In more than a few cases I've used the wife's expired bakers yeast for nutrient if I was short or waiting for a shipment without problem. Add a small amount of water, boil, then dump yeast in. IIRC I read somewhere that gradual heating to boil to kill can create off flavors. Also the yeast with vitamin C seems to work great (almost energizer-ish) but in this case I'm not sure it would matter since lemon has a bunch already I believe..

Thanks btw dinner, turned out either dead yeast (montracet) or they just couldn't handle it. Threw in 1/2 pack of 1118 and it took off no complaints or off odors. I used the preservative free stuff out of the freezer section at WM tho.

I concur with the above poster about Midwest. Usually cheapest and some of the nicest people you could hope to deal with in my personal experience and they ship fast (as opposed to one nameless one it took like 3 weeks for). Them Minnesota folks seem to be eerily nice... They've won most of my business since I first used them.

Has anyone tried Sodium Benzoate instead of Potassium Sorbate for this? I'm not sure of I have enough of the K Sorbate left but I've got plenty Sodium Benzoate. Don't think I've ever used it in fact. As a sidenote I and noone drinking are diabetic and the dosage is drastically smaller comparatively... The Sorbate is 0.5 tsp per gallon and the Benzoate is 0.25 tsp per 6 gallons. Might have to get the old scale out to get the right dose though.

Thanks guys. I actually bought my equipment and my first two kits from MW and they have been super helpful/nice, so I am more than happy about giving them some more of my business.

I still have a couple of weeks till my apfelwein comes off it's cake, so I've still got plenty of time in that regard. I might take the above suggestion and not use all of the finning (unless it would severely negatively affect the product), as a strong yellow color appeals to me for lemonade.

So my pee has just finished 1 month in the fermenter. The SG is down to 0.994. As per my previous posts I used Wy 1056 yeast. Several people on this post have mentioned the sulfur "fart" smell that this can develop...well I have had that since the second week. I expected it to dissipate during the last 2 weeks but it has not. Any suggestions on how to eliminate that smell? Wasn't that a Lynyrd Skynyrd song?..."That Smell?" Oh yeah, I smell that smell.

BTW, congrats to the Lon (the inventor of skeeter pee) I saw your "Liquid Lunch Box" in the most recent release of BYO Magazine.

bjl110 said:

I read about 20 pages and did a "search thread" but didn't come up with exactly my question:

I don't have any yeast energizer/nutrient/finings, and my "L"HBS is a three hour round trip (and is only open three days a week!). Would this work without that stuff? Or maybe there is a substitute that I might have or can get at a grocery store (think walmart, not whole foods, as that is a three hour trip as well)? Thanks!

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Energizer: per dinnerstick several posts above yours he has done several batches w/no energizer np. My recent was energizer-less and I have no off smells but haven't sampled yet.

Nutrient: dead yeast works as nutrient in a pinch. I boil mine in water (wife buys 2lbs bakers yeast at a time for $4.50 at sams) and add. But I always boil tap water here cause of very small% of amoeba in water report so is easy. The bakers yeast with ascorbic acid added actually does better than proper nutrient but I did end up with off flavors once. Doubt it matters with vitamin c content of sp tho.

Finings: I got nothing for this but tbh I'm not a fining fan. I always feel like I can taste it. Lon said they were optional on his website tho iirc if you don't mind cloudy sp. I've made several batches and all were fine without fining although my current I left sit extra and it has cleared quite a bit on it's own. Used no energizer tho.

Started my first batch of this yesterday...roughly $10 for 5 gallons ain't bad.

Ok so I'll ask... I made a batch of this and it finished SUPER dry and sour. like it was essentially lemon juice, alcohol and water. Is that what was SUPPOSED to happen? I followed the recipe but was hoping for something sweeter. Just add more sugar next time?

add more sugar this time!

The recipe calls for back sweetening. Did you miss that part? I use wine conditioner and it works great.

Unless you want 16%abv, don't just add sugar at the beginning. You would have to add sugar until the yeast can't make any more alcohol and then more until it is sweet.

drinking some right now. i didn't add anything to it. lemon juice, sugar, water and a yeast cake (also i boiled some bread yeast for nutrient, i think i can smell it though )
cold crashed, then back sweetened in the keg. its been in the keg for a good while now, maybe a month (its super strong, i can't drink that much) but its clear as hell. the yeast haven't done anywork on the additional sugar as far as i can tell (with it being under 40 degrees and all). i'm not a huge fan, probably because of the bread yeast taste, but its definately good for a buzz on a hot day

You could also back-sweeten with sugar if you pasteurize it. I did that with my last batch because I had a couple fruit flies slip into it (bad lid). It still makes me a little nervous but it won't age long enough to matter anyway.

I searched as much as I could and didn't come up with the answer to this...hopefully someone can shed some light for me.

I followed this recipe to the letter, but my starting gravity was only around 1.04. Everything was stirred and shaken numerous times, I took several gravity readings, some immediately after stirring while the piss was still spinning. So...how is it possible that 7lb of sugar in 5 gallons of water has such a low gravity?

My other question is, should I add another 4lb or so of sugar to this when I add the last bottle of lemon juice, or just hope that there's somehow some undissolved sugar that will eventually join the mix? I guess in the end I'd rather have 12-15%abv then 5-6%

Personally I err on the side of caution and let it go then later additions if necessary.

My first batch is done in primary, pulled a sample last night S.G. .093 yay will rack tonight for stabilization and clearing. When "disposing" of the sample I noticed one thing I did not expect..... HOT.... geez was not expecting rocket fuel from this one. Once the feeling came back in my mouth I was pleased with the flavor nice lemon tartness, I can taste the underlying goodness already and belive that sweetening it up will only make it better, plan on using a mix of honey and sugar so that should mellow the burn a bit and ageing will take care of the rest. Thanks for the heads up on this one.

I'm having the hardest time with this piss...First my OG was waay low, now I've gone through 8 days with no fermentation either in the airlock and in hydro-readings. I used an apfelwein slurry the first time, yesterday I made a starter with sugar water and K1V-1116 so hopefully that'll get her going.

In the future I'm gonna do the backwards method I read about: don't add any lemon juice until at least 2 days into active fermentation, then just add it a little at a time over 2 weeks.

The slury I used was K1v-1116, pretty tough stuff sould work.

@Turtle, I'm having the same issue. Although, I only boiled the sugar for around 5min cause I was in a rush, and didn't let it sit covered with a towel overnight. I've pitched yeast twice, and made a starter last night yet nothing so far. I aerate it twice a day as well. My guess is maybe my temp is too low. I have it around 68-70. *crosses fingers*

edit:
oh I also used Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast, maybe I should get some EC-1118 and make another starter :/

Still no fermentation. I'm waiting on the EC-1118 to get here Wed. Hopefully it won't be too late to save the batch!

OK I'm on my fourth batch of pee (its a huge hit). I have a question. How long can you let the must sit before adding the slurry? The website says 24-48 hours. I'm on 48 hours right now but the slurry I'm supposed to use isn't down to the gravity suggested in the directions. What would should I do rack my original to the secondary early (gravity is supposed to be 1.04 its at 1.062) or wait the additional 24-48 hours allowing my Skeeter pee must to sit covered for 72+ hours?

I'm interested in making this. But could someone explain what it tastes like? Can it be compared to anything?

Hmmm... I would have to say as an oversimplified answer... it's like a glass homemade lemonade with just enough Bacardi rum (or vodka) to flavor and know it's alcoholic without overpowering the lemonade. This is about a ~$15 recipe if you already have the additives (ie. enzyme, nutrient, sparkloid, Campden) I whip up these recipes with dry yeast in about 1-2 hours depending on how much attention I give it. It really is an easy 'brew'.

It's what "Mike's Hard Lemonade" should BE and TASTE like to have that name rather than be a lemon flavored tasteless beer.

How long can I save a yeast slurry?

chevs, I saved a red wine "must" for about 2 months prior to using. Actually, it was a big hit. It was from a red wine (Amarone) and pink (rose) colored. My second batch is from a white wine and looks more like pee. I'll probably taste it soon. Cheers, Pete

This might of already been asked but how or what is inverted sugar? And, can I use EC 1118 yeast instead of a slurry? Can I just pitch the packet when it calls for adding the slurry? Thx.

tellish33 said:

This might of already been asked but how or what is inverted sugar? And, can I use EC 1118 yeast instead of a slurry? Can I just pitch the packet when it calls for adding the slurry? Thx.

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Invert sugar is table sugar (sucrose, a long chain sugar) that has been broken into its two component sugars (fructose and glucose, shorter chain sugars). You see, yeast is unable to consume sucrose. It must first use enzymes it has to break the sugar into edible sugars. If you invert the sugar first, you make it much easier for the yeast to do their job and you'll often get a quicker ferment. The original recipe [at skeeterpee.com] explains how to make invert sugar and the FAQ page will answer questions like this one.

Many people make it by pitching EC 1118. Your batch will likely be a little slower to start than a batch made with a slurry, and you'll want to pay close attention to your temperatures. Invert sugar will also help things get underway. You might even want to start the batch with only one bottle of lemon juice and then when you see that the batch is fermenting well, add the second bottle. Add the third bottle following the recipe.

Good luck with your batch, I hope you enjoy it.... again... and again. Cheers!

Thx!

Quite a few of us have been experimenting with using dry yeast consistently.

Not sure where my write up is... but it's really easy... Follow the directions on the main page. Up to the point where you have your Invert made. Then prepare your fermenter (I like using a large carboy) and add all the initial ingredients. You won't have the yeast slurry. Instead I take 1 cup of the prepared must, and cut it with equal water in a large sanitized jar. Add 2 packs of properly rehydrated dry yeast. Once you start seeing activity. I slowly add more must (full strength) until I fill my jar, which slowly brings the starter to full strength. After the ~24-48 hour wait as per directions, I dump in my starter... and you're off! From there on out it's all the same.

tellish33 said:

This might of already been asked but how or what is inverted sugar? And, can I use EC 1118 yeast instead of a slurry? Can I just pitch the packet when it calls for adding the slurry? Thx.

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Have a look at the first few pages of this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/skeeter-pee-starting-dry-yeast-212915/

This method has worked well for me.