Skeeter Pead

I started my version of Skeeter Pee today, but I'm going to back sweeten with honey, so I'm going to call it Skeeter Pead. Here's what I've got so far.

Day 1
OG 1.074
2tsp DAP
1tsp yeast energizer
1tsp K-Bicarbonate
3/4tsp tannin powder
7lbs sugar (inverted) with 1/3rd cup of lemon juice (minuite maid)
4 gallons spring water
10g of K1V-1116

Additionally
97.5oz of lemon juice (minus the 1/3rd of a cup to invert the sugar) to be added every 24 hours 2 cups at a time.
1tsp pectic enzyme (in the lemon juice, which cleared considerably.)
3tsp DAP split in 2 doses
1.5tsp yeast energizer also split into 2 doses
Orange blossom honey to sweeten to taste in secondary

I planned on letting the "sugar water" go for 48 hours before starting to put the lemon juice in, but I might not have that long, lol. Not that I'm super experienced, but I've never seen fermentation take off like this. It almost looks like it is boiling, but little foam. I've degassed several times, and I'm getting about two bubbles a SECOND out of the airlock. I'll take a hydrometer reading at 24h to see how far it dropped. I wanted to wait to add the lemon juice because I didn't have a slurry to start it and have read several horror stories about wasted, non-starting batches. Anyone have advise or see something I've missed?

I'll keep this updated.

Sounds like it is going well. I am interested to see how this turns out.

@20 hours it was at 1.050 from 1.074. That seems like a significant drop considering it is less than a full day from the pitch.

I went full speed ahead and threw a batch together not realizing that I could stress the yeast by throwing lemon juice in all at once.

I rehydrated my yeast and it was very active going in and now 24 hours later.. nothing happening.

What are my options?

I know, I'm a bonehead.

Make a big starter!

Actually to start off it would be better to see if your yeast is still kicking and just need some help. How long has it been stalled? Have you taken multiple gravity readings with no change in gravity? Skeeter pee or even this skeeter pead can take a while for yeast to really acclimate. Most of my lemon wine/meads may take 30-48 hours to really get going. Also these recipes love to be degassed and aerated. A wine whip or even an oddly bent coat hanger on a drill does wonders. If it has not been long then whip this must 2-3 times a day for the next 24 - 72 hours. If no action at all and gravity does not change from now till after all this whipping then a big starter is needed.

With a starter you are looking to slowly introduce this must into the starter over a 10 hour period or longer. For instance make up a 1 liter batch of sugar water with a low gravity like 1.03 and add 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrients and I like to add some raisins into my starters. Pitch yeast and aerate well. When yeast looks active add a 1/2 cup of wine must. Wait an hour or two and if the yeast still look to be rolling then add another half cup. Repeat the process till you are satisfied but at least double your volume in the starter.

Good luck with the brew.

First of all thank you for the reply! I've only been brewing for a few months (and only ciders) so I'm new to many terms.

My batch has only been pitched for roughly 30 hours now, but I rehydrated the yeast (with a bit of sugar to get it rolling quickly) before pitching and now I see zero activity still in the fermenter. I haven't checked gravity but I will do that to see if it's changed at all.

What do you mean "degass"? I assume you mean to give it a shake to aerate/degass all in one?

What exactly is "must"? Also haven't brewed any wine so I don't have wine "must" anywhere.

UPDATE: Took some gravity readings and I realized that I made a slightly larger batch than one gallon (my intended size) but not all of it would fit in the fermenter. Never got a reading at time of pitching (bonehead move). Reading was at 1.060 after 30 hours, but with 3 cups of sugar in this beast it should be around 70 or so (judging by my cider making).

Added some sugar and now it's right around 70. Made a makeshift whip with a coat hanger (nice idea!) and whipped the hell out of it.

Shook the bottle up a bunch and dropped in a few small pieces of strawberry and a bit more yeast nutrient. Hopefully this thing gets rockin' soon!

Here are my notes so far:
Day 2 (20h) strong visible signs of fermentation
1.054
2 tsp DAP
1.5 tsp yeast energizer

Day 3 (44h) very strong visible signs of fermentation
1.033
PH 3.4
1.5 cups lemon juice
PH dropped to 3.2
1.031

Day 4 very strong visible signs of fermentation.
1.020
PH 3.1
4 cups of lemon juice (12h apart)
PH dropped to 2.8(ish)

TLDR: it's going great so far. I broke my hydrometer today though, so I might not get to take a gravity reading for a couple of days. However, if it keeps dropping at 10 points a day It'll probably be done soon.

rakibird said:

First of all thank you for the reply! I've only been brewing for a few months (and only ciders) so I'm new to many terms.

My batch has only been pitched for roughly 30 hours now, but I rehydrated the yeast (with a bit of sugar to get it rolling quickly) before pitching and now I see zero activity still in the fermenter. I haven't checked gravity but I will do that to see if it's changed at all.

What do you mean "degass"? I assume you mean to give it a shake to aerate/degass all in one?

What exactly is "must"? Also haven't brewed any wine so I don't have wine "must" anywhere.

Click to expand...

Degassing is just what you do to remove dissolved CO2 in the wine. There are actually two different tools you can purchase one for degassing which is a strait rod with a slight curve at the end and it does not agitate the wine much and does not introduce O2 into the wine. The other has paddles or is mire bent and it does agitate the wine more and introduces O2 while degassing. I have always used a coat hanger and just bent is at the bottom of the hanger and a couple places closer to the top.

"Must" is just a generic term for wine or mead liquid before the yeast is active. Technically once the yeast is active the liquid should be called wine or mead. I think the term works for cider as well but don't quote me on that.

Just keep on whipping this up at least a couple times a day and in another two days check the gravity and see if it has dropped any.

Thanks for the replies Vikings & Arpolis.

So in the future I need to add the lemon juice in increments to get this fermenting quicker? That's what I'm gathering.

I will whip the must tonight once again and get a reading -- stay tuned.

rakibird said:

Thanks for the replies Vikings & Arpolis.

So in the future I need to add the lemon juice in increments to get this fermenting quicker?

Click to expand...

This is an experiment of mine, and I can't say how it will turn out yet. I didn't want to make a slurry, and read that a lot of people had trouble starting this in the normal fashion of just rehydrating and pitching the yeast. I will say that I've had a very healthy fermentation so far, but can't say what the finished product will be like. For more detailed reading, there is a 100+ page Skeeter Pee thread! There is a lot of good info there, but I admit to not having made it through all 100 pages yet.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/skeeter-pee-195681/

I've noticed an extremely slow and small amount of activity in my airlock. Didn't have time for a reading but hopefully tonight.

If things don't pick up in the next few days I'm thinking of pitching a yeast cake from an active cider I'm working on. Is this a good idea or no?

I figured it can't hurt to get things going.

If there is active yeast in the wine then u would not want to pitch a different strain of yeast. Even if it is slight and slow be paitient! Pitching two different active strains causes some issues. Yeasts don't like other yeasts. Some will secret different enzymes or such to kill off the other strain. I would prefer to not have that in my wine.

After roughly 6 days, airlock activity has dropped dramatically and the gravity is at 0.999. I'm guessing it'll dry out a little more, but I'm almost home. I tried a taste, and obviously it is dry, but also rather bitter in addition to the expected sour and yeasty. I'm hoping that back sweetening and the yeast dropping out will fix this.

After nearly 4 days I'm seeing airlock activity! I went to smell the top and it's got a slight sulfur smell. Busted out the whip and degassed it and HOLY CRAP it was foaming all over the place! I'm assuming that's the trapped gas?

Yup yup that is the effect of disturbing carbonic acid (CO2) at this stage every time you shake it up it is like shaking up a pop bottle. It is the very same principle. The sulfer smell is common with lemon wines and meads. Keeping the nutrient additions larger than normal and whipping up the wine often helps to reduce that sulfer smell.

Day 5: Full and healthy fermentation! No stink, just a delightful citrus odor.

Has anyone bottled this stuff? If so, do you even need to do anything for it to carbonate? Seems so insanely carbonated even at this early stage!

Most wines have that same level of carbonation with a healthy fermentation active. I had a batch that was bulk aging for about 6 months and then tried to use some primjng sugar with the amount based off a beer calculater and back sweetened with Splenda but it did not seem to get any carbonation at all. I think the yeast were too old and stressed in the high acid environment to self carbonate. I did the same thing with a braggot and that worked. So the method was sound but still a no go. Perhaps once your stuff is clear if you quickly bottle it with some priming honey perhaps and some non-ferment able sugar you can get it to carbonate. I am not sure though. On the skeeter pee thread most seem to keg the stuff and carbonate that way.


Oh yea I meant to mention this a while back here and didn't. My current batch of skeeter mead had a lot if issue clearing. When you back sweeten with honey there is a protean haze that seems impossible to completely clear without finnings. It gets pretty clear and in a glass you can see through it well but in the carboy I could only make out the silhouette of my hand. Now I just used some well mixed hot bentonite mixed in my blender and that brought it to a brilliant crystal clear. Just a note for when you go to use honey Vikings.

The Skeeter Pead has been sitting at 0.998 for several days now and is nearly clear with about 1 3/4in of lees on the bottom. There is a visible line about an inch below the surface that is crystal clear above and slightly cloudy below all the way to the bottom of the carboy. It will be awesome if that is how clear the entire batch is! It still tastes very sour and a little bitter, but has great lemon flavor. I'm hoping that back sweetening will balance the bitter edge. If it does, this is going to taste spectacular! Once it has finished clearing I will put up pics.

Oh, and thank you for the info, Arpolis.

I am going to call this little project a success! After sticking at 0.998 for several days and the yeast dropping out, I racked and stabilized. I then back sweetened with 4lbs of a dark wildflower honey (local.) I gave that a couple of days to settle in, then hit it with Super-Kleer and cold crashed. I am going to give it about a week in the fridge then bottle. It tastes great. Not too sweet despite 4lbs of honey. The honey definitely gives more flavor than straight sugar. I tried both in samples, and prefer the honey. The yeastyness is gone and the bitterness is greatly reduced. I'm going to bottle in 3 1 gallon glass jugs (for parties, which was my primary intent) and split the rest into wine bottles.

Overall this was an easy fermentation. While I haven't tried any other Skeeter Pee, I couldn't imagine it being better. Personally, I'm going to go with the invert sugar for 48hrs to start every batch.

Gratz!

It is bottled and delicious! This is my first ever bottle of home brew.

Here's the full batch. The flip tops went into the fridge, the bottles will probably be gifts.

Holy Smokes, Start to bottle in < 20 days! Very nice! I have a batch of the Skeeter Mead going now but I think I am going to try this to and compare the too. I am guessing I will have to put up a few bottles of this as I am not expecting the SM to be done anytime soon!

Thanks for the great recipe and sharing!

Also I have a question. Do I need to invert the sugar? If I do, how should I go about doing this as I have never had to?

Thanks!