Full Hard Lemonade recipe

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awilkes67 said:
Hi there. Thanks for answering my questions previously. This recipe is turning out well. Some key points I learned from the replies were to increase the corn sugar level by 10% and also to use 1 tbsp of baking soda to adjust the pH. I couldn't get fermentation after three days until I added the baking soda but then it kicked in nicely.

Its almost done, and I've decided to go all in with a kegerator and a Cornelius keg rather than deal with exploding bottles as I am only set up to bottle wine.

I want to force carbonate, but this will be my first time ever. Can anyone give me some hints on a proper carbonation level for this recipe? Also any tips on the force carbonation process in general?

Much appreciated!
Click to expand...

A few points I've ran into.

1) bottle bombs, I've had them with these, one reason I went to kegging. Cold crash these and you'll have no issues.

2) yeast apparently continue to eat away even in the keg I noticed. So after a few months it really dries out, another reason to cold crash.

3) I like less carbonation on these then beer. I pressurize to 35psi, roll the keg around for a few minutes then hook up the tap line after 6hrs or so, seems to work ok.
 
Ok, thank you once again for all the help. From doing a lot of reading and asking questions, here is my plan for finishing this, please critique it:

The batch is at around 0.998 today and it has been 14 days since it was first blended, about 11-12 days of fermentation.

Today: SG measurement then Rack #1.

Tomorrow: Assemble kegerator, convert for cornelius kegs.

Early next week: Receive twin tap regulator and install. Get CO2 filled.

Late next week: Rack #2, final SG measurement, complete back sweetening (with sorbate), cold crash in kegerator for 24 hours. (Not sure if I need to rack with cold crashing, I'm a wine guy...).

After Cold Crash: Force carbonate at 35 psi (room temp or cold?) with roll/shake, hook up tap line. (What about bubbling CO2 up through tap line & diptube?).

Fill 2 1 gallon growlers and some swing top bottles with leftover from 7 gallon batch.

Does this sound like the way to go?

Thanks a ton for all the support with this...
 
One thing I did that worked fairly well. I fermented for 2 weeks, then brought it up to room temp for a day to make sure it was good. I added just enough sugar to carbonate with before I bottled, and back sweetened with Xyletol at bottling. Worked really well
 
awilkes67 said:
Late next week: Rack #2, final SG measurement, complete back sweetening (with sorbate), cold crash in kegerator for 24 hours. (Not sure if I need to rack with cold crashing, I'm a wine guy...).

After Cold Crash: Force carbonate at 35 psi (room temp or cold?) with roll/shake, hook up tap line. (What about bubbling CO2 up through tap line & diptube?).
Click to expand...

Make sure you cold crash, then rack, then backsweeten/potassium sorbate. Idea is to remove as much inert yeast before adding sugars.

As far as carb levels. I never got overly scientific. I have 5ft of 5/16in lines and set regulator to 11psi for all 4 taps. Heavier stouts seem less carb then I like but Lemonaids seem more.
 
Has anyone had any luck filtering out the yeast when bottling? Planning on taking a batch to my local u-brew to force carb and just wondering what other people's success ' are with that.
 
I used chitosan and kiesol and it took tons of flavour away. I don't like taste of yeast but didn't care for
Cleared lemonade.
Find that if you keg would need to give it a shake to stir up the bits though or one pour has lots of lemon bits and later pours are almost clear. Found a stir/ swirl once a day gave a nice consistent pour. We don't bottle. Just drink until gone....
 
globell said:
I used chitosan and kiesol and it took tons of flavour away. I don't like taste of yeast but didn't care for
Cleared lemonade.
Find that if you keg would need to give it a shake to stir up the bits though or one pour has lots of lemon bits and later pours are almost clear. Found a stir/ swirl once a day gave a nice consistent pour. We don't bottle. Just drink until gone....
Click to expand...

Good to know. I was more interested in stabilizing for the yeast removal, but if it removes too much flavor then will simply use sorbate and metabisulphate. I don't expect this to last long anyways in the bottles. My gallon batch didn't last a week!
 
Well I finished this recipe last night. Wound up with a full corny keg and two gallon growlers.

Drank a few of them last night and thoroughly enjoying my hangover this morning!!!

A couple notes that helped me with this recipe.

1) A tablespoon of baking soda helped to get the fermentation going

2) Don't even think about finishing until 3 weeks have passed. There is still a slight 'yeasty' character to the taste, not bad but noticeable.

3) I did a rack when finished, then a cold crash at 38F, then another rack into the final sugar solution. DO NOT be afraid to throw out a large portion of the last part with the sediment, I think that's where some of the yeastiness comes from.

4) 6 cups is plenty sweet. Would suggest altering the main recipe, IMHO.

5) Force carb makes it so much better, but definitely use the slow method, hitting it at the fill 30 psi overnight with a 20 minute roll/shake overdid it and made me burp a lot.

Awesome Awesome recipe thank you so much. Can't wait to make more!

IMG_3886.jpg
 
I'm in the process of bottling my batch this morning.

After adding the extra water with the backsweeteners and potassium sorbate, it came close to overflowing a 6.5 gallon bottling bucket. All I could think was, "This better be good, because that is a LOT of hard lemonade."

I hit a final gravity of almost exactly 1.000 before I backsweetened.

For what it's worth, and others have already noted, there is a discrepancy in the recipe. The ingredient list calls for 2.5 cups of corn sugar, but the directions say to add three cups. I used three.

I also used just six cups of cane sugar to backsweeten, instead of eight. I thought I'd start there and add more if needed, and I'm glad I did. Six cups is just about perfect.

Meanwhile, it's almost 9:30 AM, and I may have already had too many "samples."

'Tis good stuff.
 
Dee said:
I'm in the process of bottling my batch this morning.

After adding the extra water with the backsweeteners and potassium sorbate, it came close to overflowing a 6.5 gallon bottling bucket. All I could think was, "This better be good, because that is a LOT of hard lemonade."

I hit a final gravity of almost exactly 1.000 before I backsweetened.

For what it's worth, and others have already noted, there is a discrepancy in the recipe. The ingredient list calls for 2.5 cups of corn sugar, but the directions say to add three cups. I used three.

I also used just six cups of cane sugar to backsweeten, instead of eight. I thought I'd start there and add more if needed, and I'm glad I did. Six cups is just about perfect.

Meanwhile, it's almost 9:30 AM, and I may have already had too many "samples."

'Tis good stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah, back sweeten to taste for sure. I do about 2.5-3cups for a 6gallon batch along with 3 cans of lemonaid and try to use as little water as possible, maybe 1 pint just to dissolve the sugar. But totally agree, Hard Lemonaid for breakfast is always a welcomed treat! :)
 
I did 8 cups of sugar to backsweeten, but will probably do 6 next time. Plus the 2 cans of lemonade concentrate. Carbonation made a huge difference, so will be doing that for next batch again. I came out with 42 500 ml bottles, so will need to do the next batch soon I think!
 
My batch is currently at 1.000 after 8 days, will prob give it another week before cold crashing and back sweetening in the keg. Sounds like 3 cans and 5 cups of cane sugar is the right amount of sweetness for 6 gallons?
 
isomerization said:
My batch is currently at 1.000 after 8 days, will prob give it another week before cold crashing and back sweetening in the keg. Sounds like 3 cans and 5 cups of cane sugar is the right amount of sweetness for 6 gallons?
Click to expand...

That's a lot of sugar imho. Start with 2 or 2.5 cups. I go no more then 3 in any batch.
 
The original recipe called for 8 cups, I didn't read every post but I thought people had backed off to 5-6 cups?
 
isomerization said:
The original recipe called for 8 cups, I didn't read every post but I thought people had backed off to 5-6 cups?
Click to expand...

It's a matter of personal preference. Two or three cups would be pretty tart, in my opinion, but some people like it that way.

I like it a bit on the sweet side. I went with six cups.

The beauty of making it yourself is making it just the way you like it. Start low and sample it. It's easy enough to stir more dissolved sugar into the bottling bucket if you're not happy with it.
 
I did good with this measuring bottle carb like I do beer, and using Xylitol to back sweeten. One poor girl had to leave shortly after the party started cause it hit her a bit hard
 
About to try a strawberry version of this. I was thinking following the exact same recipe, expect adding a strainer bag filled with 5-8 pounds of fresh strawberries to the primary. Any thoughts or concerns I should watch out for?
 
Strawberry tends to lose its flavour in primary. Secondary might be better. Even sweetening with frozen strawberry concentrate. It's good that way. I've tried it.
 
Hey guys, didn't know where to post my recipe and this seemed best. Any advice appreciated. I have an aversion to make my alcoholic creations as natural as possible, so I really want to just make my lemonade from just real lemons, water, and various sugars.

Here's the idea for my 15 gal batch (split into 3 - a raspberry, a ginger, and a blackberry black tea):

Heat 12 gal to about 160F, use a BIAB method and add 1.5 oz of fresh lemon zest and about 15 pounds of lemons (~75 lemons sliced about 1/4 inch thick). I'll steep it for about 20 min covered, and then pull out the bag and squeeze the bajesus out of it to get all that last juicy goodness.

I'll then add/dissolve:
8# Pilsner LME
2# Maltodextrine
2# Honey
10# Cane Sugar
3 tsp Pectic enzyme
6 tsp Yeast nutrient

OG (est): 1.059
ABV (est): ~7%

Cool to about 70F and pitch EC-1118 in the ginger and raspberry, and then Lalvin D-47 in the blackberry black tea.

Let em ferment for about 2 weeks, then add potassium metabisulfate and wait 2 days. Rack to secondary on top of the fruits and teas. Let sit 1 week. Rack to bottling bucket, and backsweeten with fresh lemon juice and cane sugar, and wine stabilizer (invert sugar, citric + ascorbic acid, and K-sorbate).

Will make vodka tinctures each out of blackberries, raspberries, and ginger in order to add at bottling to bump up the flavor if needed. Thoughts?
 
Maltodextrin? What does it add? I do add it to beer but never tried it with lemonade.
 
Maltodextrine is a unfermentable sugar for yeast, maybe besides Brettanomyces. It will add body to finished product because of this. My only worry is that I'll have too much body as the yeast could selectively choose to eat the more simple sugars before munching on the malt sugars.

But do you guys think this way to use the lemons would work? I'm not opposed to using the lemonade concentrate at bottling, if more flavor is needed. I love my stuff to be all "natural" but I just truly care if to tastes good. :mug:
 
Hi.
new guy used to brew beer about 20 yrs ago and back at it.

I made the hard lemonade recipe with some DME and cane sugar from no preservative lemonade.

it fermented from 1.054 to 1.000 and i'm going to rack to a secondary today.
Is it supposed to taste like the pizz of a syphilitic horse with just a tiny bit of lemon flavor? LOL!

It is only a week old so i assume it will change dramatically after it's in the secondary for a week or two like my hard cider did.

I suspect i'll have to add some lemon juice to it before i keg it to make it more lemony..
 
Made my "all natural" lemonade yesterday and couldn't be more happy with how it turned out. Before fermentation, it tasted like the greatest Arnie Palmer I've ever had, or ever will have. Added an extra 2 lbs and of table sugar to bump up the OG, which BeerSmith underestimated to be 1.067.

---RECIPE---
Actual OG 1.074

- 24 lbs fresh lemons (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
*** freeze 1/2 of lemon slices in baggies.
- 1.5 oz fresh lemon zest
- 9 lbs Pilsner LME
- 12# table sugar
- 2# Maltodextrin
- 2# Wildflower honey

I zested about 9 lemons to get 45g of lemon zest (yellow only - no pith). My brewing asst (my SWMBO) sliced about 1/2 of the 25 lbs of lemons a 1/4 inch thick and froze them in gallon freezer baggies overnight before brew day. This helped to release the essential oils and break down the cells walls of the lemon. The rest we sliced fresh on brew day.

Used a BIAB method to hold the lemons in the kettle. Helped to keep out a majority of the pulp and seeds.
Added lemons once water reached 160F and then added heat for awhile to raise back to 160F to sterilize. Once at 160F again, hold for 30 min with heat off. Total steep time is about an hour. Lemons should be pretty broken down and limp by end of steep.

Remove bag of lemons and twist/squeeze the juice and thick yellow pectin/oil "sludge" out. I had to hold the bag over the kettle while two of my SWMBO pressed the bag from opposite sides. Place in separate pot. Let collect in a pot after pressing the bag again and add to kettle.

Once the bag of lemons was removed, I added all of the malt and sugars listed above. Turn on heat to maintain 160F and let steep 20 min together to sterilize and fully incorporate all ingredients and flavors.

Force chilled to 74F and pitched EC1118, and D-47 (see below).

Split up between 3 carboys (5 gal each) for different batches - raspberry, ginger, and blackberry & black tea.

Added 1lb raspberry purée to primary fermenter. The other two I left unaltered until I choose to added the fruit or ginger.

RASPBERRY--
Lalvin D-47
Added 1 lb purée to primary
Will add ~3 lbs purée to secondary along with pectic enzyme


BLACKBERRY BLACK TEA
EC1118
Will add blackberry purée with sorbate or potassium metabisulfite, and pectic enzyme to secondary. Want more fruit flavor so I don't want the yeasties munching on the fruit too much. Will also infuse about ~1 oz black tea (with bergamot?)

GINGER
EC1118
Made a tincture with 3 oz Titos vodka with about 10g. Fresh shaved ginger. Will let sit 2-3 weeks before adding at bottling.
Will add about 14g fresh ginger shavings to primary once yeast settles (trying to avoid secondary).

Can't wait for this to turn out. No fermentation signs after 12 hours but will shake if necessary to rouse yeast.

Tell me what you think or if you have any suggestions/tips. Love to share. Peace.
 
NitrogenWidget said:
Hi.
new guy used to brew beer about 20 yrs ago and back at it.

I made the hard lemonade recipe with some DME and cane sugar from no preservative lemonade.

it fermented from 1.054 to 1.000 and i'm going to rack to a secondary today.
Is it supposed to taste like the pizz of a syphilitic horse with just a tiny bit of lemon flavor? LOL!

It is only a week old so i assume it will change dramatically after it's in the secondary for a week or two like my hard cider did.

I suspect i'll have to add some lemon juice to it before i keg it to make it more lemony..
Click to expand...

I always back sweeten mine. Kill the yeast, add sugar and lemonade to taste. Drinking without back-sweetening probably won't be very spectacular.
 
ShareBrewing said:
Made my "all natural" lemonade yesterday and couldn't be more happy with how it turned out. Before fermentation, it tasted like the greatest Arnie Palmer I've ever had, or ever will have. Added an extra 2 lbs and of table sugar to bump up the OG, which BeerSmith underestimated to be 1.067.

---RECIPE---
Actual OG 1.074

- 24 lbs fresh lemons (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
*** freeze 1/2 of lemon slices in baggies.
- 1.5 oz fresh lemon zest
- 9 lbs Pilsner LME
- 12# table sugar
- 2# Maltodextrin
- 2# Wildflower honey

I zested about 9 lemons to get 45g of lemon zest (yellow only - no pith). My brewing asst (my SWMBO) sliced about 1/2 of the 25 lbs of lemons a 1/4 inch thick and froze them in gallon freezer baggies overnight before brew day. This helped to release the essential oils and break down the cells walls of the lemon. The rest we sliced fresh on brew day.

Used a BIAB method to hold the lemons in the kettle. Helped to keep out a majority of the pulp and seeds.
Added lemons once water reached 160F and then added heat for awhile to raise back to 160F to sterilize. Once at 160F again, hold for 30 min with heat off. Total steep time is about an hour. Lemons should be pretty broken down and limp by end of steep.

Remove bag of lemons and twist/squeeze the juice and thick yellow pectin/oil "sludge" out. I had to hold the bag over the kettle while two of my SWMBO pressed the bag from opposite sides. Place in separate pot. Let collect in a pot after pressing the bag again and add to kettle.

Once the bag of lemons was removed, I added all of the malt and sugars listed above. Turn on heat to maintain 160F and let steep 20 min together to sterilize and fully incorporate all ingredients and flavors.

Force chilled to 74F and pitched EC1118, and D-47 (see below).

Split up between 3 carboys (5 gal each) for different batches - raspberry, ginger, and blackberry & black tea.

Added 1lb raspberry purée to primary fermenter. The other two I left unaltered until I choose to added the fruit or ginger.

RASPBERRY--
Lalvin D-47
Added 1 lb purée to primary
Will add ~3 lbs purée to secondary along with pectic enzyme


BLACKBERRY BLACK TEA
EC1118
Will add blackberry purée with sorbate or potassium metabisulfite, and pectic enzyme to secondary. Want more fruit flavor so I don't want the yeasties munching on the fruit too much. Will also infuse about ~1 oz black tea (with bergamot?)

GINGER
EC1118
Made a tincture with 3 oz Titos vodka with about 10g. Fresh shaved ginger. Will let sit 2-3 weeks before adding at bottling.
Will add about 14g fresh ginger shavings to primary once yeast settles (trying to avoid secondary).

Can't wait for this to turn out. No fermentation signs after 12 hours but will shake if necessary to rouse yeast.

Tell me what you think or if you have any suggestions/tips. Love to share. Peace.
Click to expand...

It's your deal, but none of that sounds good to me with hard lemonaid. I hate raspberry puree and use frozen raspberry for color and Brewers Best extract for a flavor punch. The others, you'll have to report back.
 
MusicalBrewer said:
I always back sweeten mine. Kill the yeast, add sugar and lemonade to taste. Drinking without back-sweetening probably won't be very spectacular.
Click to expand...

haha.
good to know. a friend who used to brew told me that today also.
I bought some lemon juice to add to the keg after i kill the yeast for this batch.
I also have some sugar to add.
 
All 3 carboys are really going now after 36 hours. Ill add K-meta @ 10-11 days rack off into secondary 2 days later let it sit on the fruit and other stuff for about a week. At bottling, I'll backsweeten by using the same method I brewed with to make a small batch of fresh lemonade. After the stew lemons are strained out, I'll add 3-4 cups of table sugar per 5 gal. Might add some wine conditioner as well.

Here are just some pics of all the lemons and zest I used.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1497973254.401162.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1497973270.606700.jpg

Will update with results.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's a lot of lemons.
I went the way of the plebes and bought big bottle of lemon juice.
I added some to a sample along with a tiny bit of sugar and it was not bad at all.

It's cold crashing now.
ABV% came out to 7%.
would of liked it a little lower for when i'm doing yard work.
guess i'll have to wait until i'm done with the hedge trimmers before i re-hydrate.
 
HI! I have made one batch of this and needless to say I loved it and it went fast. On my second lot now and its went pretty smoothly, even getting the fermentation started was no problem. 1 tsp of baking soda to raise pH a bit does the trick.

This time around, I have been in primary for just shy of 2 weeks. I am going to rack on top of 8# of frozen strawberries to create a strawberry lemonade and see how it goes. Any thoughts?/suggestions? I will keep the group posted as it goes.
 
I'd love to try it but for me in Canada I'm looking at 250.00 for this recipe.
The DME alone is 100.00. Any good online sources?
 
globell said:
I'd love to try it but for me in Canada I'm looking at 250.00 for this recipe.
The DME alone is 100.00. Any good online sources?
Click to expand...

The DME should be about $6 - I'm Canadian too.

I use http://brewerspantry.com/light-dry-malt-extract-3-lbshttp://brewerspantry.com/ingredients/malt/extracts/light-dry-malt-extract-3-lbs

These guys also ship: torontobrewing.ca

Not sure where you are, but I am also considering using liquid malt extract as it is readily available at my local U-Brew
 
It's 10.00 here. I don't use much of it so generally not a huge problem. Thanks for the note!
 
Just finished up putting the lemonade concentrate, wort, and water in the carboy. Letting it cool in the fridge and will then pitch the yeast! Looking forward to trying this.
 

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