Carbonating hard lemonade advice!

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ErinRae

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Hi Everyone,

I need some advice for carbonating my Hard Cranberry Lemonade. I've been fermenting it since Sept..very slow ferment. Last week the gravity was down to 1.01 so I figured time to move it to secondary and off the nasties. I'd like to make it sparkling and have picked up the dextrose. I also have grabbed the bottles that can hold the carbonation.

How much sugar should I add to get a decent carbonation? I'm using a 23 litre/5 gallon carboy. Also is it okay to do this now even though it hasn't dried out yet completely? The yeast I used originally was either 1116 or 1118 (forgot to write it down at the time)

Thanks!

Erin
 
ErinRae said:
Hi Everyone,

I need some advice for carbonating my Hard Cranberry Lemonade. I've been fermenting it since Sept..very slow ferment. Last week the gravity was down to 1.01 so I figured time to move it to secondary and off the nasties. I'd like to make it sparkling and have picked up the dextrose. I also have grabbed the bottles that can hold the carbonation.

How much sugar should I add to get a decent carbonation? I'm using a 23 litre/5 gallon carboy. Also is it okay to do this now even though it hasn't dried out yet completely? The yeast I used originally was either 1116 or 1118 (forgot to write it down at the time)

Thanks!

Erin
Click to expand...

The lemonade isn't done fermenting- it will often end up at .990. If you bottle it at 1.010, you will have bottle bombs sooner or later.
 
Erin,
You mention you have to rack, but is the wine clear at this point? I would think if this is your first racking, and since SG is 1.01_ this will continue to drop sediment as the SG continues to decrease.

You do realize that this will be a dry sparkling hard lemonade unless you opt to backsweeten with an unfermentable sugar also? From the cane sugar perspective, to potentially carbonate to 2 atmospheres you add 5.34 oz cane sugar per five gallons dissolved in some of the wine that has been warmed up.
 
I was planning on back sweetening with xylitol...which is unfermentable I believe. The hard lemonade is just taking forever to dry out...which makes me think that it will also take forever to carb up.

I was thinking I could just add a bit of sweetener and bottle carb when it reaches 1.000 and just use less sugar...to take into account that not all the original sugar has been eaten up??! What do u guys think?! In all reality this drink will prob be gone within few months anyways...I don't think it's meant for aging really.

Checked today and the gravity is 1.007...so it's dropped .003 in 7 days not too bad
 

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