Hard Strawberry Lemonade finally took off...

After a few tense days of 'did I make and condition the starter right for high acid content?', here was my answer....

Wow! That looks great. What ABV are you going for?

very nice, that looks delicious. Mind sharing the recipe?

FishinDave07 said:

Wow! That looks great. What ABV are you going for?

Click to expand...

Honestly, I didn't really have one in mind... Just kinda took the idea from this thread...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12104

Here was the recipe I used...

9 cans lemonade concentrate
4.5 gallons water
.5 gallons organic strawberry lemonade
1.5 pounds dextrose
1 pound light DME

Made a starter of Munton's Gold dry yeast w/ 2 cups light DME... Let that settle out (24 hours), added 1/4 cup of the mixed lemonade, let that stand 24 hours and pitched to the pail....

OG was somewhere around 1.060... Currently sitting in the 'brew closet' @ around 70*

Keep us posted on how it comes out...

Fo sho....

SMWBO is all excited about it... I have to admit, I kinda am too...

Between that and the new batch of Apfelwein I started yesterday during my brew day of disaster, I am a little excited about having three primaries gurgling away at the moment... Now if my darned vanilla porter kit goes well this time...

Was the rest of DME used in the primary or just the starter?
Any boil involved?
Any other yeast recommended?
What is the length of aging for a hard lemonade?
Any enzmyes, energizers or starters?

dudasaj said:

Was the rest of DME used in the primary or just the starter?

Click to expand...

Right into the primary...

dudasaj said:

Any boil involved?

Click to expand...

Nope...

dudasaj said:

Any other yeast recommended?

Click to expand...

No idea, this is my first my batch...

dudasaj said:

What is the length of aging for a hard lemonade?

Click to expand...

Again, I have no idea... Just kinda pilfered the recipe here and said 'What the hell?"...

dudasaj said:

Any enzmyes, energizers or starters?

Click to expand...

Did use half of a yeast nutrient capsule I got with a previous kit... Like I said, I was just worried about the acidity shocking the yeast like I had read up on...

Duckfoot said:

Honestly, I didn't really have one in mind... Just kinda took the idea from this thread...
hard lemonade problem - Home Brew Forums

Here was the recipe I used...

9 cans lemonade concentrate
4.5 gallons water
.5 gallons organic strawberry lemonade
1.5 pounds dextrose
1 pound light DME

Made a starter of Munton's Gold dry yeast w/ 2 cups light DME... Let that settle out (24 hours), added 1/4 cup of the mixed lemonade, let that stand 24 hours and pitched to the pail....

OG was somewhere around 1.060... Currently sitting in the 'brew closet' @ around 70*

Click to expand...

.5 gallons of strawberry lemonade or concentrate? if it is .5 gallons of strawberry lemonade then I woudn't think it would have much strawberry flavor but I'm not sure.

It was two 32oz bottles of Organic Strawberry Lemonade... Not from concentrate... Since SWMBO doesn't drink beer but doesn't mind those fruit flavored malt beverages, I figured this can't hurt... And I will add more of the juice or maybe a pound or two of strawberries...

Took a hydro sample last night (down to 1.020) and gave it a taste... Definitely lost the strawberry goodness... Will prolly stop by the grocery store and grab a bag of frozen strawberries to add this weekend...

After 2 more pounds of strawberries and a few more days in the fermemter, all went reasonably well...

I racked off to a keg after a cold crash in the fridge and added some Splenda for a back sweetening... (just picked up some poly sorbate for the next batch)...

According to SWMBO, I will probably add more strawberries next go around and maybe kill off the yeast a little earlier, the back sweeten with some sugar...

All I know is that after a few glasses while working on my new brew cabinet (ferm chiller and storage rack in one) I am feeling pretty darned good....

Wow, sounds intersting- how many more pounds of strawberries do you think you'd go with- another 2-3#?

What's your thought's on killing off the yeast? What about some type of Bacardi daquari strawberry concentrate that has some sort of sorbate- would that kill the yeast while also back sweeten? Or would that just screw the whole think up?

At this point, probably another 1-2lbs of strawberries added to the mix.... I got picked up some polysorbate the other day at the LBSH... Maybe add it before the yeasties are totally done and back sweeten with some turbinado or splenda for taste from there...

As far as the Barcadi mix, I have absolutely no idea... This is the first batch... SWMBO is happy with it for now (except for more strawberry taste)...

In regards to yeast, i used a Red Star Montrachet and it took off fairly well with a good starter. Talking to my local brew shop they say any kind of standard dry wine yeast should work fine.


Quote:
Originally Posted by dudasaj View Post
Any other yeast recommended?
No idea, this is my first my batch...