Hard Lemonade

So a friend of mine wants to get into brewing. He said he wantes to make something like Mike Hard Lemonade.

To me thats like saying, I want to get into doodling, I'm going to make a Picaso.


Eigther way, does anyone have any recommendations for what I should to to help this guy make his first failure not as harsh as mine have been

i dont understand your analogy...are you suggesting picaso is the ***** brew of the art world?

Hard lemonade is actually the toughest brew I made. It takes a long time to get started (because of the acidity I'm assuming) and a long time to ferment and clear. Then, it's pretty dry so you have to sorbate, sulfite, and back sweeten. I really had to baby the yeast in a starter, making it more and more acidic so the yeast would cooperate. It's really not something I think a beginner would enjoy especially if they don't fully understand the brewing process- better to just put some lemonade in a frosted mug and had a shot of vodka or two.

I can try to dig up the recipe and my notes and post them if you want, though. Just let me know.

Lorena

digdan said:

To me thats like saying, I want to get into doodling, I'm going to make a Picaso.

Click to expand...

A closer analogy is:

"I just bought a tent, I want to live out Brokeback Mountain"

Have him try one of the Vinoka hard lemonade kits.

digdan said:

To me thats like saying, I want to get into doodling, I'm going to make a Picaso.

Click to expand...

More like:
I want to be a famous artist. Where are my crayons?

My first brew was a hard lemonade, I got the recipe on the net, bought the ingredients and put it all together, after fermentation it went down the drain. My second brew was a modification, and it was passable with perhaps to much pucker power, after that I made some beer, then another batch of hard lemonade. My latest batch is better but not good, I'm thinking with light DME instead of sugar, and Ale yeast it would be better. Anyway here is the reciped for one gallon.

juice from six lemons
water, to one gallon
two cups sugar (here is where I would suggest DME, or other fermentable)
yeast (I used dry bakers yeast)

just set it in a gallong jug and let it sit for two weeks, I put a plastic bag with a rubberband instead of an air lock. in spite of the poor but available ingredients, it came out OK. But to be honest, regular lemonade with a shot of bourbon would be better. I still have hope for more improvements, not to mention I'm stubborn.
Good Luck.