Skeeter Pee

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Noz03 said:
So there is no problem with the acidity of the lemon? Also if I back sweeten don't I need to use fermentation stopper first?
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Not if you do the starter and have the nutrients. And yes you do need to use a stopper before back sweetening. Here's a great basic and easy video that will get your methods for this down quick. Skeeter Pee - How to make Lemon Wine: http://youtu.be/PiqOQ8EBIeU
 
Fuzzymittenbrewing said:
Not if you do the starter and have the nutrients. And yes you do need to use a stopper before back sweetening. Here's a great basic and easy video that will get your methods for this down quick. Skeeter Pee - How to make Lemon Wine: http://youtu.be/PiqOQ8EBIeU
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Hey Fuzzy, thanks but the problem is I have pretty much nothing but yeast, lemon and sugar available to me :/ Am trying to work out a way to make some super basic skeeter pee. If I make a starter with only sugar water would that be good enough to get it started? And am thinking if I can sweeten then stick it straight to a fridge to kill the yeast.
 
Noz03 said:
Hey Fuzzy, thanks but the problem is I have pretty much nothing but yeast, lemon and sugar available to me :/ Am trying to work out a way to make some super basic skeeter pee. If I make a starter with only sugar water would that be good enough to get it started? And am thinking if I can sweeten then stick it straight to a fridge to kill the yeast.
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Ahhh. Got ya. I have done it before (having run out of nutrients) Made the batch as usual and made a 1600ml starter (800ml must diluted w/800ml water) let the starter go two days then pitched. It took longer to finish out but worked. I also didn't add the third bottle of lemon till it was done fermenting. As for back sweetening w/o sorbate I have racked to a bottling bucket and just dispensed from there as I wanted. Of course its gonna keep going but it wasn't that big a deal. The fridge can work but not always foolproof. And definitely a bad idea if your fridge has glass shelves.
 
surf_medic said:
Can't say I've seen yeast before, I usually just rack the wine off and dump the rest. We have been having pretty good luck racking most of the wine off clear (I always get a bit of sediment on the first rack - probably helped!), I will definitely have to look more closely at the sediment left over and dig through it. As long as I can dump that entire thing in the pee I'll be happy!
If there a way to tell the difference between dead and live yeast? Other than a microscope or lab?

Thanks!
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Generally speaking, yeast will look a few shades brighter than sediment. Google should be pretty helpful there.
If you mean find out if it's viable before pitching, unfortunately I believe the answer is no. Unless you experienced some trouble with fermenting the donor batch I would think you wouldn't have any problems.
 
Cheesy_Goodness said:
Generally speaking, yeast will look a few shades brighter than sediment. Google should be pretty helpful there.
If you mean find out if it's viable before pitching, unfortunately I believe the answer is no. Unless you experienced some trouble with fermenting the donor batch I would think you wouldn't have any problems.
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Sounds great, thanks for all the help! First batch underway, pitching yeast slurry tomorrow.
 
Hello! 1st post here. Just wondering if I can store a slurry from Chardonnay for 2 weeks? Should it be refrigerated?
 
Yeah you should be alright
The best practice would be to follow the steps for washing yeast (which are pretty easy to find on the board), but I suspect 2 weeks in the fridge won't be enough time for it to go bad.
 
Mine is taking its sweet time to clear. I haven't stabilized it yet, but it has been finished for about a month. Might have to do the Sparkloid thing afterall.
 
rickswine said:
Washing yeast?What's that? How to do it and why?
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Its when you harvest yeast to use again. There are videos on youtube. It saves money and basically a big yeast starter so your next batch has plenty of yeast. For wine yeast i do not usually wash because its so cheap. For beer/ liquid yeast i usually do several generations to get my monies worth
 
DisturbdChemist said:
Its when you harvest yeast to use again. There are videos on youtube. It saves money and basically a big yeast starter so your next batch has plenty of yeast. For wine yeast i do not usually wash because its so cheap. For beer/ liquid yeast i usually do several generations to get my monies worth
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This.

It's not really worth it for wine yeast since it's so cheap to buy fresh, but since you have a slurry already, following yeast washing techniques would ensure it would keep better.

Again though, probably not necessary since you're not going to store it long, but it is best practice.
 
z-bob said:
Mine is taking its sweet time to clear. I haven't stabilized it yet, but it has been finished for about a month. Might have to do the Sparkloid thing afterall.
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I use superKleer on mine, seems to work much, much better.
Especially since there is less "fluffy goop" at the bottom, therefor you keep more.
 
I used Sparkolloid for my first batch. Followed the directions on the E.C. Kraus website. After about 48 hours there was significant clearing, and its still improving. Other than having to cook the stuff for 30 mins, it was pretty easy. I'm actually surprised how well its working.
Just make sure you keep stirring or you run the risk of burning the mix.
No issues with the clumping either

I'm at work now, don't have my notebook handy with all the quantities
 
Just moved three batches to secondary. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418132154.168413.jpg
Left to right:
Raspberry
Strawberry
Regular

This was before sparkaloid. They are super clear now and are just making sure they are completely degassed before bottling.

They fermented out super dry. .990 was final reading on all three.

10.5% ish here we come!
 
Just bottled 5 gallons yesterday. I sweetened with a homemade mint simple syrup. With 4 bottles, I added a small amount of cherry pie filling, and 3 bottles with blueberry pie filling. Those definitely will be cloudy but it was just to test out using pie filling for flavoring.
 
I just bottled my 3 gallons that I started a few months ago. It tasted nasty when it was done fermenting but still cloudy (even when I added a little sugar.) I gave the yeast another week or two to clean up, then dropped it out with Sparkloid. It tastes really good now.
 
Mixed up a batch per original recipe Fri....waited 24hr...pitched 2packs of hydrated EC1118 .... 12 hours later I have steady air lock activity. Stressed for days about not having a wine yeast cake....should RDWHAHB :tank:
 
Moose_MI said:
Mixed up a batch per original recipe Fri....waited 24hr...pitched 2packs of hydrated EC1118 .... 12 hours later I have steady air lock activity. Stressed for days about not having a wine yeast cake....should RDWHAHB :tank:
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You should relax. I had the saem questions when I made my first batch, but I have rarely used a yeast cake and never had any problems. Here's what I do (for dry yeast or harvested). Make a starter 2-4 days before you mix up the invert sugar and lemon. Wine starter is easy:
Take any 1/2 gallon jug of 100% juice from the store (no preservatives) and add 1 cup of sugar, and a pinch of nutrients. Pitch 1 packet of EC1118, and shake like crazy, then affix a balloon or airlock to the top of the jug. I usually try to use a juice that is similar or complimentary to the flavor I'm making, but apple or white grape should work fine, and it'll be less than the cost of a second packet of yeast.

Then, by day 4-6, the yeast is going strong and the trace amounts of preservatives in the Lemon juice arent going to slow them down when you pitch. Yeast loves invert sugar, just shake the starter up, pour into fermenter and it will be bubbling away in no time.

EC1118 is a beast, you should not need more than 1 packet for even 6 gallons. It takes a little time a few days in advance to prep the starter, but well worth it IMO, and gives you seomthing to watch in subsequent days while you are RDWHAHB :mug:
 
I think I used Premier Cuvee yeast instead of EC-1118, but I just rehydrated it and pitched it and it worked just fine.

I saved all the sediment from the primary and put it in the fridge. That was 2 months ago. I think I might wash it and try making a starter to try out my new stirplate and Erlenmeyer flask. What do you think about using 1.040 sugar-water with a little Yeast Energizer added for the culture medium? (instead of wort or fruit juice)

Even if it doesn't work, it will be good practice. Hopefully I will know that it didn't work before it's time to pitch.
 
z-bob said:
I think I used Premier Cuvee yeast instead of EC-1118, but I just rehydrated it and pitched it and it worked just fine.

I saved all the sediment from the primary and put it in the fridge. That was 2 months ago. I think I might wash it and try making a starter to try out my new stirplate and Erlenmeyer flask. What do you think about using 1.040 sugar-water with a little Yeast Energizer added for the culture medium? (instead of wort or fruit juice)

Even if it doesn't work, it will be good practice. Hopefully I will know that it didn't work before it's time to pitch.
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Do it! 2 months My last two Skeeter Pee batches have been fermented with primary sediment I harvested from blackberry and pomegranate wines 6 months ago, and they worked fine with a good starter. I don't even have a stirplate or flask either, so yours should go great!

1.040 sugar-water sounds good. I would put some nutrient in there as well as energizer. I like using fruit juice so the yeast has nutrients as well as sugar, but if u add nutrients then sugar water should be fine.

I like doing a 1/2 gallon starter several days in advance so I can make sure it takes off before I pitch it. That's why i use the method i described, because it easy to tell when its ready because the balloon is inflated and I can see the yeast cake forming on the bottom of the juice container.
 
klcramer said:
So I started my cranberry skeeter pee and it is bubbling along nicely. My question is the recipe says to add more nutrient when the gravity reaches 1.05. Any idea how long this should take? I don't want to check this daily and risk something funky getting in if I don't need to.
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I'm probably a little to late on this, But I'm brewing up some right now, and it took me around 24 hours and mine was around 1.044 when I took mine, So probably around 20 Ours give or take.
 
akthor said:
Ok for the Skeeter Pee my LHBS didn't have either yeast Energizer, or Sparkolloid.

So what can I do to replce the yeast energizer?

They did have isinglass and another kind of clarifying agent which is what I think Sparkolloid is. Is it ok to replace the Sparkolloid with either of them?
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Yes, any Fining Agent will work fine. or you don't have to use any at all, it's pretty much a Preference, you will just have to wait longer for it to clerify.

As far as enegizer, I couln't tell you, my LHBS Has everything I need. You may Search on Amazon.com or some other online brew Shop and see if you can get it there.
 
akthor said:
Can you use the yeast slurry from a batch of skeeter pee to make another batch of skeeter pee?
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Yes you can. You would have to Create a Yeast Slurry (Starter) from the Yeast when it's done.

You'll have to Renew the yeast by adding some stuff to it. Look on Youtube on how to harvest yeast, I just watched one last night, shows how you can harvest the yeast from the carboy.

Then you'll have to feed it when you are ready to use it to get it active again. But yes, it can be done, it will store in the Fridge up to 3 to 6 months I think i twas, Liquid yeast don't last as long as Dry.
 
Verio said:
ok, so I just bottled my Apfelwein and I want to make this Skeeter Pee next. Can I just rack on top of my yeast cake? How long is the Yeast Cake viable?

No clue how to do this here...
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You should be able to do that. The yeast will be on the bottom of course, Dormant cause of all the Alcohol, Once revitilized it can get back to work. But you would have to wait to drop it in until you wait 2 days like the recipe says.

Then drop it in, but you would have to clean it up a little and make a Slurry from the yeast at the bottom of the Fermentation bucket. Basically harvesting the Yeast from that then Dropping it into the Skeeter Pee, so while you got the skeeter pee sitting, clean up the yeast and drop it in after it's had it's 2 day rest.
 
59f100292 said:
Well I started to try my first batch of skeeter pee last night, and to make a long story short, I F'd up,-- I F'd up bad. Now Ive got my own theory on where it went wrong, but I'm going to tell you exactly what I did and u tell me where I went wrong.

I was going to use the yeast left from the 1 gallon of Clementine wine I have in the primary right now. So I adopted the 5 gal recipe off SP's website, and devided all the steps by 5.

instead of 8 Cups of water, I put 1.6 cups of water in my stainless steel pot. Unfortunately, the only stainless pot i Have is a 4 gal, so it only filled up maybe a half inch or so. Instead of 16 cups of sugar, I put in 3.2 Cups of sugar. And Instead of 14 Tsps of lemon juice, I used 2.8 tsps in. I heatedd the water and juice and mixed the sugar as I went to help it dissolve fully.

While that was heating for the prescribed 30 minutes,

I added the other lemon juice, (2x32oz bottles = 64oz / 5= 12.8 oz, or just over 1.5Cups) straight in the empty primary.

Now i started to figure I had screwed up somewhere along the way, but kept going anyways. The heated sugar water was turning Brown. I was making caramel/ribbon candy in the pot.

By the time I went to add it to the Primary, i KNEW i had screwed up but at this point said F it and kept going. It was cooling and hardening faster than I could pour it in.

Topped it to 1+ gallons with water.

My end result? A 1 gal carboy with an inch of solid, brown rock hard caramel at the bottom with water and 1.5cups of lemon juice on top.



So lets hear it, did I not follow directions or miss something? make a mistake going from 5 gal recipe to 1 gal recipe? I should have known better than try to make a drink that involved cooking.
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Ok, first. The recipe was ment for a 5 Gallon Batch. Not 1 Gallon. it would've been just simple to Follow the instructions to make a 5 Gallon Batch then Seperate if you need to into 5 1 gallon batches.

And Second, the Sugar, water and lemon juice, you were supposed to Simmer for 30 Minutes just BELOW Boiling Point so right around 190* to 200*, Boiling Point is 212* This is probably what made it turn into rock Candy at the bottom.

It's cheap enough that a 5 Gallon Batch isn't going to Break the Bank.

Next time you give it a go, Do a 5 Gallon Batch and Simmer below boiling point, it will turn into a Nice Syrup thickness, then it will be diluted and thinned out with the 5 gallons of water you add to it.
 
Bill_in_VA said:
I'm totally new to this hobby so forgive me.

It looks like the Kmeta and the sorbate are to kill the yeast and it is bottled as a still beverage, is that right?
Is that necessary? Could I back sweeten with splenda and prime and bottle as a sparkling version?

Thanks
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I'm assuming it is possible. You can leave out the Kmeta and Sorbate, but you will have to Watch how much you use to Back Sweeten it, if you do that, you won't be able to prime it cause it will be "Extra" Sugar for the yeast to eat, it could cause bottle bombs.

So you would have to check how much sugar or priming sugar you need to use to Create the Carbon Dixoide.

In Beer Brewing, the standard I seen was 4 oz per 5 gallon batches. So I wouldn't go past that.

What you could do, is before pack sweeting, rack off say 1 gallon, back sweeten that with little sugar, bottle in a 2lt bottle and check the tightness of the bottle for carbonation and give it a trial and error.

It's more of a Trial and Error kinda thing, but be safe when doing it.
 
BoundForBeer said:
Thanks this makes alot more sense then stirring it (oxygenation). If I try this again will make sure to do this so I don't get 3 quarts of skeeter pee on my basement floor.
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I have been reading on Degassing. Many ways of doing this. One of them I found to work pretty good and watched on youtube, was a Food Saver if you have one.

By attaching the Tube to the Food Saver, then attach the tube by Holding it on to the Bung then Turning on the Food Saver (That is if you have one) Will create a vac that will pull the Gasses out of the Skeeter pee and Degassing it, Or as a fellow poster said, you can use a Break Bleeder Pump to create a Vac and do the same.

I've seen home made versions of Degassing Tools Such as a Plastic Coat Hanger heated, Straightened then bent a Hook on the bottom, then attach to a drill with a Bung on it then Stired with the Drill to Degass.

So many things can be done, or you can purchase a Degassing Stir Tool from any online Brew Shops. like Midwest Brewing, MoreBeer, Amazon, or eBay.
 
I made a 3 gallon batch. It took a long time to make, and it disappeared fast once it was ready. I would not bother with a 1 gallon batch (and I do 1 gallons of cider and other stuff)

I was planning to sweeten with Splenda and carbonate it, but decided to just follow the recipe the first time. It's good as a still beverage. Also, it tasted terrible when I sampled it when it was finished fermenting but still cloudy, and sweetening didn't help. Glad I followed thru on it with the sorbate and clarifier.
 
DoctorWho said:
Update on Cherry Pee...

Just racked to secondary and I have a few photos to share. This is what it looked like after a week of fermenting:

IMG_3719.jpg


This one shows the lovely blood red color that I was hoping for:

IMG_3725.jpg


I pulled a sample and when it was appropriately sweetened it was dangerously delicious. No medicinal flavors at all, just a bit of yeast taste which is normal as there is still a lot of yeast in suspension.

I am very excited about the final producto!
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That looks VERY Tasty
 
graffij1 said:
ok, so i screwed up big time on the i added 2.5 tablespoons of kmeta and 2.5 tablespoons of sorbate, clearly it was too late in the night to be messing around with this stuff...i don't know ANYTHING about wine making...what is this going to do to my 5 gallon batch will it be safe to drink, will it be drinkable, should i just throw this out?
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The Sorbate and Kmeta are to Pretty much kill the yeast so it will NO Longer Ferment. You do this so you can Back Sweeten it so it won't be so Dry.

If you add the stuff now while it's fermenting, then it will kill the yeast and no longer ferment.
 

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