Full Hard Lemonade recipe

pokeacow said:

When making one of these grape juice/lemonade/juice extract thingies should i expect a gnarly krausen much like a beer? Or can i make a 5 gallon batch of it in a 5 gallon carboy (just like i did with apfelwein) and not have it blow up out the top

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You'll want some head space!! Check page 21 of this thread for bigken's pictures. Definitely a gnarly krausen.

haha okay thanks, i got to page 18 of reading and then figured i'd ask, missed it by 3

I don't know if mine was typical for this type of brew or not, but I'm glad I used the 6 gallon carboy. My particular batch did not need a blow off tube, but it came close.

This was my first batch using a glass carboy as a primary. The show was awesome, I never knew there could be so much turbulence in a liquid caused by something microscopic like yeast.

As for the solids, I mashed the cherries up before I boiled and by the time it was time to rack to a secondary, they came out with no problem. Most was churned up to mash by the yeasties.

Good luck with your brew.

pokeacow said:

When making one of these grape juice/lemonade/juice extract thingies should i expect a gnarly krausen much like a beer? Or can i make a 5 gallon batch of it in a 5 gallon carboy (just like i did with apfelwein) and not have it blow up out the top

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No krausen or foaming issues at all with mine. It was just a nice slow fermentation, just like apfelwein.

Just made a batch of this. Smells really good.

I thought the concentrate and cold water would bring the temp down but it didn't. Its at 95 right now. I have it in my keezer to bring the temp down. The yeast has been rehydrating for about 2 hours. How long can they stay like that? It might take another hour or so to bring it down.

Just popped open my first bottle. Tastes so good. Definitely making more of this for a summer time btw and camping drink

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Made a batch with pink lemonade!
It's fermenting away as I type
SWMBO is gonna love it!!
Will post results and pics when it's done

Started a batch with pink lemonade yesterday as well. What does this stuff look like when its done? Currently its brown from the yeast cake, malt and pink lemonade concentrate. I'm hoping it gets a little more appealing looking once all the crap drops out.

I initially started to do a pink, but I figured the color of the LME would not go well with it. I opted for a cherry limeade, and while it taste awesome, I still wished I would have used a lemonade. Hope yours works out. Be sure to post some pictures when it gets done. For what it's worth, mine cleaned up awesome from the nasty stuff that it looked like while full fermentation was going on.

pokeacow said:

Started a batch with pink lemonade yesterday as well. What does this stuff look like when its done? Currently its brown from the yeast cake, malt and pink lemonade concentrate. I'm hoping it gets a little more appealing looking once all the crap drops out.

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It should clear up just fine. Mine have all been nearly see through. Here's a picture of my raspberry hard lemonade. I imagine the pink lemonade will turn out close to this.

MusicalBrewer said:

It should clear up just fine. Mine have all been nearly see through. Here's a picture of my raspberry hard lemonade. I imagine the pink lemonade will turn out close to this.

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Hey buddy, that's looking pretty awesome. I've been wanting to do raspberry since I made the first one. How many lbs of raspberrys did you use?

Hey Kenny, I actually don't use any raspberries. I cheat and use the raspberry lemonade concentrate. It tastes good, but there's definitely room for improvement. If you try fresh berries please post your results.

MusicalBrewer said:

Hey Kenny, I actually don't use any raspberries. I cheat and use the raspberry lemonade concentrate. It tastes good, but there's definitely room for improvement. If you try fresh berries please post your results.

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Sounds good, I hope to start one up first of spring sometime. Get that and some light brews ready for a shady break from mowing the yard.

I must try this!

Just an update

Had my sisters over and they each said it was the best thing they have had in a long time and puts mikes hard lemonade to shame

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New brewer here. Made some kit beers and wanted to try this recipe. I got all of the ingredients today. My local supermarket had minute made lemonade concentrate. I have a 6 gallon carboy and a ale pail 6.5 I believe at my disposal. Can I use the pail for this at 6 gallons or do I need a bigger primary, or should I use my carboy?

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I just used a 3 gallon carboy and split the batch in half and it needed a blowout tube cause it got pretty violent in there lol. I think you would be fine with a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon carboy

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I would ask some of the experienced brewers before I would make this in a plastic pale. I'm not sure which flavors if any would transfer to or from the plastic. If you can use that 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy that would be better. Make a pit stop at Lowes and grab a few feet of tubing just in case you need it. I didn't, but it was close.

Tonight, I had two more co-workers give me their review and they loved it and made me promise not to change a thing. I really don't know who to give credit to for making the original recipe, but man I wish I could buy them supper. Awesome stuff and the ladies love it!

bigken462 said:

I would ask some of the experienced brewers before I would make this in a plastic pale. I'm not sure which flavors if any would transfer to or from the plastic. If you can use that 6 or 6.5 gallon carboy that would be better. !

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This is one of those topics that could open a can of worms...LOL

It sounded like BigZern was concerned about space more than anything...so to answer that question...I have used an ale pale to ferment a full batch. A little more head space would have been better, but it will work. You might need a blow off tube like BigKen mentioned.

As far as off flavors from using a bucket...Personally I use buckets exclusively (That's why I was curious to see your fermentation pictures, Kenny---I've never got to witness it first hand). I haven't found any off flavor issues. But that's just my opinion. There are many other opinions on the subject (and many threads on this subject). If you're worried about it just do some research and find what works for you.

If you're a good brewer you'll make good beer (or wine or lemonade)--the tools just help you along the way.

Yes....I was worried more about space than anything. I usually have my fermentors in my closet and didnt want a bunch of stuff all over the place when it started to ferment.


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I use strictly buckets and plastic carboys and never get off flavors from them.

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Ok did exact recipe. Place in my big carboy so I can watch it. Its starting to ferment slowly. I get a bubble a minute I would say. I've never used champagne yeast before. The problem I think I might be having is the temperature in the room. Unfortunately cause of the winter in NJ the caboy is only around 62° will this work slowly or do I have to buy a heater for the room. Or is it to late. Looking forward to this stuff. Sorry picture is wrong direction

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Picture is right direction. Lol. Its day 3.5

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Maybe some of the experienced brewers can chime in, but if you're using the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, I just looked at the data page and it shows the optimal temp is from 15C-25C. I think that works out to be 59-77F.

" Wide range of temperatures for
fermentation including low
temperatures (Optimal between 15°C
to 25°C) "

I wish I could say relax have a home brew, but i'm stressing over a few cold batches myself.

Do you have a heating pad to use or anything? Maybe one of the others will chime in with what to do.

I personally ferment most of my beer and hard lemonade at cooler temps. I push the low end of the temperature range because I think it gives a cleaner taste. Lalvin says you can go as low as 59, so 62 should be just fine. The important thing is to try and keep your temperature fairly consistent.

Kegged today after 2 weeks of fermenting. I completely forgot to take a OG reading. I screwed up a little on the temp so I was more worried about getting that down to pitching temp and taking a reading slipped my mind. I got down to 1.005 which I'm ok with. My hydrometer may be off a point or 2.

A few things I noticed while kegging...

1) use a big pot to make the sugar/lemonade mix. 8 cups of sugar adds a lot of volume and boiled over simple sugar solution onto a hot stove makes candy stove tops lol I think when I added the pot sorb it boiled over so watch out for that. I was able to salvage it. Probably lost a little pot sorb and some sugar but it tasted great after kegging so I'm cool with it.

2) 6 gallons plus the sugar solution is a lot and will not fit in a keg. I probably have 3/4 of a gallon left over. Makes sense since it is a 5 gallon keg lol wasn't really thinking. Next time I am bottling.

A few screw ups but it is kegged and tastes great. May be a tad too sweet but I since the recipe was for 6 gallons and I probably only racked 5 or so gallons onto the sugar solution. Adding the sugar to a bottling bucket and racking on top of that and then into a keg or bottles would have been smarted.

Great recipe! Will definitely make again without the screw ups lol

Live and learn, huh? Lol. It's all good!

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Mine isn't brewed but in a quart mason jar; 3 shots limoncello, 3 shots vodka, fill with country time. I prefer the tartness. I like to put jar on ice to keep cold and then serve in the red solo cup with ice. It is about 3 glasses that way and have been told I should bottle it.

BroknArrw said:

Mine isn't brewed but in a quart mason jar; 3 shots limoncello, 3 shots vodka, fill with country time. I prefer the tartness. I like to put jar on ice to keep cold and then serve in the red solo cup with ice. It is about 3 glasses that way and have been told I should bottle it.

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So... You have made a mixed drink?

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So I made it. It smells really wierd/badish but tastes pretty good. I never made wine or anything with champagne yeast so I don't know if this is how it is supposed to be

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BigZern said:

So I made it. It smells really wierd/badish but tastes pretty good. I never made wine or anything with champagne yeast so I don't know if this is how it is supposed to be

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Not sure what to say on this one. I've only had one batch that had an infection and it smelled and tasted bad--there was no question it was infected. So if it tastes good I think you're OK.

What sort of smell are you getting--sulfur/rotten eggs or something else.

BigZern said:

So I made it. It smells really wierd/badish but tastes pretty good. I never made wine or anything with champagne yeast so I don't know if this is how it is supposed to be

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Mine doesn't smell like I would have thought. Doest smell bad. Kind of like young beer which I assume is from the little DME used. I'm betting it goes away after a week or two.

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Really it should just smell like lemonade - just really citrusy. It should taste like very tart hard lemonade before you put the sugar in - like lemon-wine if that makes sense.

After it's been sweetened, it'll taste pretty much like Mike's Hard, but.... better. Just very tasty and refreshing, and you should want more!

It has almost a banana flavor and smell

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Has anyone modified this recipe to work with fresh lemons? I recently came into about 50 lemons and would like to try this recipe but I don't really know what the proportion of lemons to concentrate would need to be or if I would need to add some extra sugar to balance things out. Any ideas?

Maybe look up home made lemonade recipes and just ferment that?

I've made this three times now and every time it turns out great. I just used the same recipe tonight, but instead of lemonade, I used apple juice for a cider. Other ciders I've done with just apple juice and sugar and yeast taste OK, but kind of hoochy. Taking inspiration from Brandon O's Graff recipe, I also added .25 oz Galaxy hops to try a hopped cider, boiled the hops for 20 min with the DME. I'm excited for this one. Looks great in the fermenter!

Does anyone have this recipe in a 5 gallon batch?thanks Buzz

buzz1670 said:

Does anyone have this recipe in a 5 gallon batch?thanks Buzz

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I bet you can take each ingredient divide by 6 then multiply by 5. Why not make the 6 gallon version?

I didn't take notes very well when I did mine and have about 10 varying recipes made from this forum and Youtube. But this will get you close.

Here is the recipe and instructions:
1. Add: 2lbs Golden LME or Light DME
Add: 2lbs of corn sugar
Add: 2lbs of honey ( just used 2 more lbs of corn sugar and omitted the honey)
Add: 2-3lbs of cherries or other desired berries
2. Steep for 20 minutes at 160*
3. Add: 5 cans frozen Lemonade/Limeade concentrate
Add: 1 Gallon apple juice
Top off to 5 gallons water.
4. Reduce wort temperature to 80*
5. Add ¾ tsp of Pectic Enzyme
Add 5 tsp of Yeast Nurtient
Add: 1 ½ tsp of Yeast Energizer
6. Add: 2 packs of Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast
7. Primary 7-10 days
8. Secondary 7 days or until clear
9. One day prior to bottling add 2 ½ tsp of Potassium Sorbate
10. Bottling day: Heat water to dislove 4-8 cups of cane sugar or to taste, add three cans of Lemonade/Limeade concentrate
11. Transfer to bottling bucket, add sugar/concentrate from above – mix well and bottle.