mike_in_ak
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Big starter.
Skeeter Pee
- Thread starter klcramer
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
2 packs of ec1118 and an apple juice starter with the lemon must added as it starts to take off. Keep adding more and more must as the starter ages and then pitch it after you have about 2 or more liters
Just make a 1 gallon wine with a lowish SG. Simple recipe like 4 cans of Welch's juice concentrate (What ever flavor you like) 1 TBS of black tea (I like Earl Grey but use what you like) and yeast nutrient/energizer works real well. Most yeast choices ferment that out in 2 weeks then you stick it in the fridge. One week later siphon off the clear wine and then pitch the yeast cake. This way you can choose a nice yeast that is not as aggressive and neutral like ec-1118. Lalvin 71B makes a damn fine SP IMO or lalvin D47, Red star Cote de Blanc or several others may make a fine SP too.
If you like the flavor of the Welch's concentrate you choose then don't wait for the wine to clear. After a week just pitch that whole gallon into the SP must. On the SP web site there is mention of a guy making a 1 gallon white grape peach wine and doing just that.
If you like the flavor of the Welch's concentrate you choose then don't wait for the wine to clear. After a week just pitch that whole gallon into the SP must. On the SP web site there is mention of a guy making a 1 gallon white grape peach wine and doing just that.
Oak_Brook_Brewing_Company
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Would it be bad to just mix sugar, yeast nutrient/ energizer and water (along with the yeast) together as a starter?
Hmmm as long as we assume that the yeast nutrient and energizer will provide all the needed nutrients for strong cell development then I do not see why you can't do it.
I may just be being funny but I would think the yeasties would like some flavor to there food. Have you ever given a toddler a spoon full of medicine and then asked them to do something for you? They are not that cooperative. But medicine mixed in some apple juice or OJ and they are happy as can be.
I may just be being funny but I would think the yeasties would like some flavor to there food. Have you ever given a toddler a spoon full of medicine and then asked them to do something for you? They are not that cooperative. But medicine mixed in some apple juice or OJ and they are happy as can be.
LoneTreeFarms
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i've managed to make a batch or 5 without an existing yeast cake just mix up your batch a day early and aerate the bejesus out of it, then do the same thing tomorrow before you put your yeast in.
Oak_Brook_Brewing_Company
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I started the yeast on the sugar water yesterday to give them a head start. Tonight I am going to invert my sugar and add the two bottles of Lemon juice. A days rest and then the yeast will get the a solid dose of yeast LSD!
Oak_Brook_Brewing_Company said:
I did that to get my yeast started and i let it sit for a couple of hours then pitched onto my sp must and aerated it. My SG dropped down to 1.050 within a couple of days and last night just added the second dose of energizer and nutrient and third bottle of juice. This morning I checked it and the airlock was bubbling like crazy.
CreamyGoodness
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can I sub out something else for tannin?
Oak, tea, cinnamon sticks...?
CreamyGoodness
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Confession... Im not entirely sure what tannin tastes like. I know a tanic wine when I taste one, but what makes it tanic not so much. I'll probably use cinnamon as you suggest since I have so many of them.
andrewtouron
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I've made this a couple of times and actually racked my latest batch last night. I've never had to use a slurry from another wine or beer to get it started. Upon final racking, I split into 1 gallon batches, each with its own different flavoring added
It is bitter as sin...I mean really bitter. I believe it's grape skins in powder form.
The first time I ever bought it I took a little spoon of it and ate it...boy was it ever disgusting.
saramc
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Part of the reason invert sugar is made for this is to give the yeast a less stressful environment...harder for them to ferment sugar-water than an invert sugar-water. All has to do with 'invertase'.
Tannins can be derived from various plants, most commonly grape skins-seeds-stems, tea leaves, oak leaves, gallnuts, sumac(not poison sumac), etc.
The reason it is used is because it helps bind and precipitate proteins in the must AND adds mouthfeel. You can under use and overdo the tannins. Grape tannin, from LHBS, is most reliable but you can use a strongly brewed tea, 1 tablespoon per gallon of must. 'Strongly brewed' left open for interpretation.
Oak_Brook_Brewing_Company
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Just an update on the ale-like slurry I used since I have only dabbled in mead/wine making (jaom and a variation of the same). I inverted a 2 cups of table sugar in approximately two cups water heating it to a simmer and maintaining that temperature. Once the solution I added nutrient, energizer and enough water to bring the total volume to a gallon. A added the wine yeast and put it into a two gallon fermentor bucket for 48 hours.
I also started the skeeter pee recipe at the same time. Pitch the yeast after the 48 hour rest period, aerating both mixtures before combining them. Less than 24 hours after pitching I have a solid fermentation going on.
I also started the skeeter pee recipe at the same time. Pitch the yeast after the 48 hour rest period, aerating both mixtures before combining them. Less than 24 hours after pitching I have a solid fermentation going on.
Yeah shouldn't hurt.
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What are my options for backsweetening and carbing? I would prefer to backsweeten with some sugar and some type of fruit juice, as I prefer a slightly sweet drink. With all of the sugars in the bottle, how can I keep from creating bombs while still getting a decent carb with all of the fermentable sugars?
I do not have a CO2 system.
I do not have a CO2 system.
mike_in_ak
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Use non fermentable sweetener like Splenda or read the thread on pasteurizing.
Morning ladies and gents!
My apfelwine is to be racked today so the SP is going on the yeast cake. I have and have been using Fermaid-K instead of nutrient/energizer for my meads. I do not have regular nutrient and energizer. Is this a "damnit I need to go to the LHBS (which is not close) again" issue?
My apfelwine is to be racked today so the SP is going on the yeast cake. I have and have been using Fermaid-K instead of nutrient/energizer for my meads. I do not have regular nutrient and energizer. Is this a "damnit I need to go to the LHBS (which is not close) again" issue?
I really don't know but I thought ferment K was just a blend of nutrient and energizer? Heck I'd just use it...
I think it's more a nutrient than energizer ... not sure. Manufacturer says:
I think you Fermaid K will be fine. The original recipe has 4 tsp at mixing/yeast pitch and 4 tsp at the 1.050 gravity mark. (3 part nutrient & 1 part energizer). I would just add in the 4 tsp at the beginning and again at the 1.05 and should be fine. Worst case scenario your ferment looks sluggish well into when it should be rolling and you add in another TSP and aerate; however, I think it will work out.
Thanks Arpolis. Seems like a lot but I guess that's because there's no nutrients at all in this?
That sounds like a blend, when I think nutrient I think diammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfate. Energizer is a blend of yeast hulls, magnesium sulfate and vitamin b.
The former is significantly cheaper than the latter. I've never bought the blended versions as it is cheaper to get them separately, I think it was under 10 bucks for a kilo of nutrient.
It's not that there is no nutrient..it's that lemon juice is so difficult to ferment that we are trying to do everything in our power to keep the yeast happy and healthy and prevent the production of sulfur dioxide, stalled fermentation etc.
Hence aeration, yeast starter or cake, lots of nutrient, staggered lemon and nutrient feeding, invert sugar.
Got it, thanks gents.
I went to the LHBS anyway today since a new carboy would make shifting things around easier. No carboys but I got the energizer and nutrient so I'm golden there.
So I have a batch on the yeast I intend to use now, and it's in the fermenter I was going to use ... I missed the part about it sitting 24-48 hours with a towel over the top to gas off sulfites. I *think* I'll rack the wine to a secondary, put the yeast cake in a bottle, and store it that way. Question is, do I store it in the fridge or at room temp under an airlock?
This is a Montrachet cake - the other option is to use two fresh packets of Premier Cuvee. Using the Montrachet seems better I thinks.
I went to the LHBS anyway today since a new carboy would make shifting things around easier. No carboys but I got the energizer and nutrient so I'm golden there.
So I have a batch on the yeast I intend to use now, and it's in the fermenter I was going to use ... I missed the part about it sitting 24-48 hours with a towel over the top to gas off sulfites. I *think* I'll rack the wine to a secondary, put the yeast cake in a bottle, and store it that way. Question is, do I store it in the fridge or at room temp under an airlock?
This is a Montrachet cake - the other option is to use two fresh packets of Premier Cuvee. Using the Montrachet seems better I thinks.
I'd probably go fridge...but I made one batch where I just left the yeast cake in a gallon jug at room temp and it was fine. The other batch I skipped the letting the must sit to reduce preservatives and just dumped the goods on top of a yeast cake...both worked fine.
Sounds like my kind of recipe ... forgiving!
Your avatar just caught my eye, is that from Archer? Love that show!
Your avatar just caught my eye, is that from Archer? Love that show!
Sure is, the wee baby Seamus.
If you like Archer Adam Reed and Matt Thompson's other shows are equally as genius. (Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo)
I'll have to check those out. "Irreverent" is overused but I don't know how else to describe that show!
Apfelwine in secondary, completely dried out so I added some finings and I'll keg when it clears. The yeast cake is in a milk jug in the fridge and I'm headed downstairs to mix up some Skeeter Pee.
Apfelwine in secondary, completely dried out so I added some finings and I'll keg when it clears. The yeast cake is in a milk jug in the fridge and I'm headed downstairs to mix up some Skeeter Pee.
We'll see how forgiving it is...I just started a 10 gallon batch using a left over yeast cake from a 10 gallon batch of cabernet sauvignon using EC-1118. I didn't de-sulphite the reallemon I just dumped it right in there...and I didn't use dextrose I just poured cane sugar in. Now we play the waiting game...worst case I just wasted less than 20 bucks in ingredients so who cares. 
Pitched mine last night ... this morning when I went to whisk it, it was literally BOILING it was fermenting so hard. Should I still whisk this every day or let it go?
I whisk a couple times a day for the first 3 days, yeast likes oxygen when they get it on.
Sadly my attempt is as dead as a doornail even after sitting all night on the heated floor...
ThatGeekGuy
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Getting ready to make a batch of SP, what's the possibility of making a slurry from a mead that's been in the primary since early January? Made with Wyeast 4184.
That yeast slurry is good but the wyeast sweet mead yeast can often be a pita and be hard to ferment. If that is the only slurry you have then go for it. Just make sure to not skimp on the yeast nutrient.
Uhhh...I'd make a starter out of ec1118 instead...4184 is the Dane Cook of yeasts.
mike_in_ak
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Because it's a reference to the show! Like his avatar! Things funny people wrote and/or said!
Pitched this stuff on Sunday evening Just checked it, roughly 36 hours in, and it was near 1.040! Added the second dose of energizer and nutrient, and the last dose of juice and gave it a good whisk.
I think my yeast was hungry!
I think my yeast was hungry!
