Skeeter Pee

Holy volcano nobody told me skeeter pee is also a science experiment for a volcano added my second batch of nutrient and energizer and erupted all over my kitchen lost about a good half gallon if not more . Any explanations?


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trainman66 said:

Holy volcano nobody told me skeeter pee is also a science experiment for a volcano added my second batch of nutrient and energizer and erupted all over my kitchen lost about a good half gallon if not more . Any explanations?


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It's kinda like taking a cup of boiling liquid out of the microwave. If you put sugar, or anything else really, in it too soon it'll boil over. The particles create a place for bubbles to form (nucleation).

In the case of skeeterpee, it's happening not from steam (obviously), but from suspended CO2.

To avoid it, dissolve the nutrient in the add'l lemon juice, or some water, before ya add it.

Thanks I'll have to remember that for next time.


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trainman66 said:

Does pee have to be kept in a dark cool place like beer?


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I keep mine on my bar at room temp in a spare bottling bucket/handy dispenser

Fuzzymittenbrewing said:

I did this 50/50 with my hard tea recipe this past summer and fyi its called a John Daly

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you 50/50'd skeeter pee with the hard tea? interesting! I havn't done hard tea yet. I figure if I make ice tea using the "no heat" teas bags made for Iced tea and make it per directions, but replace the water with skeeter pee, it should be pretty darn delicious!

T_Baggins said:

you 50/50'd skeeter pee with the hard tea? interesting! I havn't done hard tea yet. I figure if I make ice tea using the "no heat" teas bags made for Iced tea and make it per directions, but replace the water with skeeter pee, it should be pretty darn delicious!

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That would be a intersting approach. Id love to hear your results!

I have this fermenting away but maybe i was to lazy to weigh out 7lbs of sugar and just dumped in the full 10lb bag...

poptarts said:

I have this fermenting away but maybe i was to lazy to weigh out 7lbs of sugar and just dumped in the full 10lb bag...

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No biggie, may take a bit longer to ferment out just make sure you dpnt skip the energizer and nutrient. My last batch hit 15%abv

Nice, Its on a massive cake from my last mead so it should be fine yeast wise. Added recommended nutrients and energizer. The past few days its been bubbling about once a second so I think its doing okay haha. Im excited to try it out.

Texconsinite said:

To go from 1.00 to .996 in a few days is normal. My SP batches all have gotten down to .996-.988 FG. I'd give it a few more days as it might get EVEN lower, then transfer and stabilize/sparkalloid per recipe.

The secret I've found with SP is dont rush the clarifying step. It can be 1 week or 5 before sediment drops out.
Before backsweetening the flavor of SP can be very tart and underwhelming, its amazing what a little sugar does to bring those subtle, non-lemon fruit flavors back to the forefront.

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Just racked to the tertiary and added 1/2 tsp k meta and 2 1/2 tsp sorbate but think I forgot to get the sparkaloid! Suppose it will just take longer clear. Should I go get some tomorrow and add it especially since I was hoping to drink it next Friday for our wedding rehearsal dinner. Don't really care if it's clear really as long as it's delicious.

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Go ahead and get the sparkloid. That will make sure you don't have any yeasty taste to the SP.

Arpolis said:

Go ahead and get the sparkloid. That will make sure you don't have any yeasty taste to the SP.

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Ok thanks.

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I just degassed and added the kmeta and sorbate to my Skeeter Pee. I didn't add Sparkolloid because I didn't have any. How long do you think it'd take for the pee to clear on its own?

Edit: I also just saw someone on the previous page also didn't add Sparkolloid. I can't get it until Friday (it's Sunday now), will that be too late?

My very first batch had no finnings and I think it took something close to an additional 3-4 weeks before it hit that crystal clear level.

If finings are not used, would a good filtering remove any yeasty left overs?

I ordered all the stuff you can't get from the grocery store from Midwest Supplies....so hopefully I can get this into a carboy this weekend. I hope it turns out as I did not have good luck with Apfelwein, Grandmas Liquid Apple Pie and JOAM, even though one guy liked the JOAM.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

I ordered all the stuff you can't get from the grocery store from Midwest Supplies....so hopefully I can get this into a carboy this weekend. I hope it turns out as I did not have good luck with Apfelwein, Grandmas Liquid Apple Pie and JOAM, even though one guy liked the JOAM.

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Good luck with your efforts! I hope you spent well over $100 on merch with Midwest, to offset their ridiculous shipping costs!

oh I spent $71.00 which included a Super Agata Bench Capper and other stuff, shipped for 7.99.

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

I ordered all the stuff you can't get from the grocery store from Midwest Supplies....so hopefully I can get this into a carboy this weekend. I hope it turns out as I did not have good luck with Apfelwein, Grandmas Liquid Apple Pie and JOAM, even though one guy liked the JOAM.

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I hear you. I keep tasting my JAOM after 9 months, waiting for the hot taste to settle down. Not yet
My ciders have been just ok sofar as well.
However, the SP Ive made looks and tastes great, has been a big hit with friends and SWMBO. Great first wine, dangerously good!!

If you give it time to clear, and backsweeten till you get it juuuuust right, you'll like the results of yours too.

Got sparkaloid and added it last night. Don't think it will be ready to drink by our rehearsal dinner Friday night now though as it's not clear. Suppose I can still backsweeten and give it a go, but everyone seems to be cautioning to be patient and let it clear before drinking.

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You could always try cold crashing it and bottling Friday morning.

Yea you could siphon off a gallon and put that in the fridge. That may drop most of the sediment by mid day tomorrow.

Good idea! One gallon should be enough to get the wedding party quite bamboozled.


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How do you all recommend to backsweeten then? Only backsweetened a cider or two before. Also, do you have to worry about oxidation or having too much headroom if I pull a gallon or two off leaving the carboy only 2/3 full?

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The high amounts of citric acid helps against oxidation so any detriment may not be too bad as long as you only go another 2 to 3 weeks to let it fully clear.

Backsweetening this is different from a cider, because in this case you stopped fermentation so probably don't have to worry about the yeast eating any new sugars you add.
This opens up a world of possibilities for back sweetening.

I use 2-4 cans of frozen 100% juice concentrate, and sugar to taste to back sweeten my skeeter pee. You can give it any flavor you want this way, some ppl even split in 2 and flavor each part differently however they want.


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I think for the purpose of clarity and time it may be better to only back sweeten with sugar. Adding juices may add a haze and sediment to drop out in the bottle. But then again if you sweeten late tomorrow night and use the next day then there may not be enough time for sediment to be an issue and clarity might not be too bad if you are not worried about the wine not being 100% crystal clear.

As long as you have added the sorbate/Camden to the pee then sweetening can go any way you like.

Backsweetening this is different from a cider, because in this case you stopped fermentation so probably don't have to worry about the yeast eating any new sugars you add.
This opens up a world of possibilities for back sweetening.

I use 2-4 cans of frozen 100% juice concentrate, and sugar to taste to back sweeten my skeeter pee. You can give it any flavor you want this way, some ppl even split in 2 and flavor each part differently however they want.


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If you added sorbate you will not have to worry about refermentation. I recommend using 6 cups invert sugar. Fructose is much more sweeter than sucrose/table sugar. It covers up the alcohol dangerously good

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Any suggestions what fruit juice I should mix with for my next batch?

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A citrus or tropical flavor like orange, mango or pineapple might blend w lemon tartness well


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I found cranberry juice almost as tart as the lemon juice. Mix lemon and cranberry to make Pink Lemonade.
It will be a while until I make another batch, but I am going to add more cranberry next time. Make sure you get straight cranberry and not a blend. I tested both and imo straight cranberry juice worked best.

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Some family is coming into town in June. I will be making some SP for sure! And probably some hard iced tea too. I want to do five separate gallon batches this time. Strawberry, black berry, cranberry, regular and a raspberry again.

Do you guys like using whole fruit, I did this with frozen raspberries last batch, or frozen concentrate?

Also hoping to boost abv this round too and hope the family members enjoy that at least.

I like to use a lb or two frozen fruit in primary, and back sweeten with a few cans of concentrate. Not too expensive, and very effective

Blackberry sounds good, let us know how the different flavored turn out!


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I'll be adding EC-1118(2 paks) to my batch. What is the process? When do I? after 24-48 hours? And SP is to be fermented for 4weeks @ 70-78 degrees?

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

I'll be adding EC-1118(2 paks) to my batch. What is the process? When do I? after 24-48 hours? And SP is to be fermented for 4weeks @ 70-78 degrees?

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C'mon man, did you read the first post, and follow the link in it?

fwiw, I make a starter with 1/2 gallon of white grape juice and 1 pack of 1118 while the lemon juice/invert sugar mixture sets for a couple of days.

Make a starter like HB said, also just 1 pack of EC 1118 is plenty, no need to double up, this stuff it potent and will eat EVERYTHING just fine w 1 pack. My 6 Batches of SP following this method, and every one fermented down below 1.00

call me stupid, ******* or whatever but I see no instruction on how to make a starter. I make beer, not wine and this is going to be my first attempt

PackerfaninSanDiego said:

call me stupid, ******* or whatever but I see no instruction on how to make a starter. I make beer, not wine and this is going to be my first attempt

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LOL! Ok, making a starter for skeeter pee is just as easy as I previously posted.

First, make up the skeeter pee must per the directions - invert sugar and lemon juice, yeast energizer and, etc. Then make the starter, half-gallon of white grape juice, pack of EC1118 in a container with some head-room. Loosely cover the container and swirl/shake when you walk by.

While the starter is growing, aerate the must when you think about it.

After a day ~ day and a half the starter will be going like crazy. Pitch it into the must, and within 24 ~ 36 hours you should see the magic happening!

I just rehydrated 2 1/2 packets of e-1118 and pitched them directly into my must! I had a rolling fermentation within a few hours! Came out great! nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar:nestar: