How to brew a Smirnoff ice/mikes hard type beverage.

How could I make a Smirnoff ice or mikes hard type beverage for the swmbo? Anyone know where to start? I brew extract beers now with steeping grains and I keg if that helps.


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check in the wine forum, there's a current thread there about making Hard Lemonade, based on this recipe if you're looking for something like that.

Vodka, soda water and flavoring of your choice.

I remember a post with a similar question, I think they were wanting to "brew" zima, not too long ago and from what I remember it is quite an extensive process.

Ok while not a malt beverage I would send a beginning brewer to this site/recipe: http://skeeterpee.com/

I have had good success with this recipe and plan to brew up a big batch for the summer.

I've never had either of them, but if I wanted to make a "hard" lemonade, I would add vodka to lemonade, but if I wanted to brew a "hard" lemonade I would get 5 gallons of diet lemonade and add 5 lbs of sugar and add yeast. I'm not sure what Smirnoff Ice tastes like, but I would start with Gator aide and use the same as I did for the lemonade

What about if I brew up a 4 gallon batch of 7% all LME beer with no hops then add 1 gallon of sweetened lemonade an keg it? It's final abv would be +/- 5%?


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It's not Smirnoff Ice or Mike's Hard Lemonade but if your wife likes those drinks there is a decent chance she will like the Lounge Lemon Lime Margarita kit if you can find it anywhere. It is a wine kit that mimics the lemon lime margarita cocktail. Every woman I know that tried it liked it (I did too, to be honest) and said it tasted pretty close to the real cocktail. This finishes up at about 10% ABV. Tastes great on a hot day in a glass with lots of ice.

There are Lounge kits that mimc other cocktails (pina colada, mojito...) but I haven't tried them and can't offer an opinion. I believe Winexpert makes a similar line of kits called Twisted Mist but I've never tried any of them.

Another option for your long haired niner would be mist wine kits like Orchard Breezin' and Island Mist kits. These are sweet wine kits that make something like Arbor Mist. These are best served cold (maybe even on ice) and usually come out at 6-7%ABV (unless you dump a kilo of sugar into the primary, then its about 9-10%).

These are all wine kits and include steps for stabilizing so you won't be able to naturally carbonate in the bottle and I have not seen reference to people artificially carbonating (kegging for instance) so that's something to keep in mind (they are pretty good "still"). The option of mixing with soda water or sprite is always there but that would be up to the taste of the drinker.

Not exactly what you were asking for but some alternatives to consider.

You can also try Twisted Mist kits from Winexpert if you want.