cazzamatazz
New Member
PLEASE NOTE: This is a work in progress! I will add paragraphs when I have time to write them. Right now, my eyes hurt and I need a beer. I'll get back on it in a couple hours.
PLEASE NOTE 2:Have added a couple bits, still a work in progress.
Hi Everyone,
This is my first ever post on this website, despite having visiting it on a regular basis for a while now. I hope that it will contribute in a positive way.
These are the notes I made to myself on making skeeter-pee. Hopefully they can be used by others.
Introduction
). These steps will generate a yeast starter of a viably large yeast population. So you'll need to look out for that below.
Ingredients & Equipment
Must Preparation
Must Preparation
This is only required if you don't have a yeast slurry.
Fermentation
Mid fermentation you will need to add additional ingredients.
Sweetening & Bottling
Procedure
The procedure for this can be broken down into the following pattern:
"Must Preparation" -> "Yeast Starter" -> "Fermentation" -> "First Rack" -> "Second Rack"
Each one of these stages has several steps involved. A general methodology is given below.
Making the Invert Sugar
Add 2L of water and 1/3 of a cup of lemon juice to the large pot. Heat this to just below boiling. Slowly add 3.5kg of sugar cup by cup, whilst you stir. Once the all the sugar is added maintain the sub-boiling temperature until the solution is clearish (or after 30mins). Take off the heat and allow to cool. Hey presto! The invert sugar is done.
Building the Must
Add the invert sugar and the 2L of lemon juice to the fermenter. Use the whisk to whip air into this for 30 seconds. Now top up the fermenter to 22L with water (note that does not mean add 22L!).
Add 3/4Tsp of tannin, 3Tsp of yeast nutrient and 1Tsp of yeast energizer. Stir it in thoroughly.
Checking Progress
Now we need to ensure that our progress so far is bang on the money. We do this by checking to see if the specific gravity (SG) is where we want it. So where do we want it? Well, our specific gravity should be around 1.070, this will leave a ABV of around 10%. Depending on how much alcohol you want, you can add sugar to increase this. Just note that it is reported to taste odd when the ABV is higher than around 12%.
If adding more sugar, it may be worth inverting it to ensure that it dissolves in the must properly. I've found I needed closer to 4kg. Either way, don't worry about the amount of sugar, worry about the SG. RECORD YOUR STARTING SG... OR ELSE!
Must Maintenance
Now you thought you were done? But no, building the must is not everything. It needs a mild amount of baby sitting for it to develop. The reason for this is the chlorine in tap water, and the SO2 (sulphur dioxide) in the lemon juice. Given the other constraining factors on the fermentation environment (pH & nutrient deprivation), we want to do what we can make happy yeast. Happy Yeast = Happy You.
To achieve this, we need to "air out" the SO2 and chlorine. We do this by leaving the fermenter open to gaseous exchange (don't put the lid on). However, we want to minimise our risk of contamination, so secure a clean tea towel to the top of the fermenter. Let this sit for a day.
After a day, whisk it again to introduce more oxygen. Put the tea towel securely back. We are now ready to progress to the yeast starter!
Start by dissolving 2Tbs of sugar in 2 cups of warm water. Add a pinch of yeast nutrient, energizer and tannin to the solution. Put this in the bottle. Now add the yeast to the bottle. Shake it to dissolve it. Leave the bottle with no lid or air lock. After 30~45 mins the yeast should be active, which will be displayed by frothing.
Once the yeast is active, add 1~2 cups of must (from the fermenter) to the bottle. Add the airlock to the bottle. Once it has started bubbling through the airlock for 45min~1hr, add an additional 1~2 cups of must (put the airlock on after!). Keep adding 1~2 cups of must each hour until the bottle is nearly full. Once nearly full, let it bubble away over night. The next day you should have a large amount of yeast, ready to add to the must! We're ready to start fermenting, woo!
Starting Fermentation
Take the tea towel off the fermenter and give it a bloody good thrashing/whisking. Now add the yeast starter/slurry to the fermenter and seal it up with an airlock. Nice!
Maintaining Fermentation
The must wants to be maintained between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius. 25 has worked well for me.
Whilst fermentation is moving along, you want to whip in air. However, this comes with some concerns. Whip too much and you risk "acetone" aromas (ethyl acetate) but whisk too little and you risk "rotten egg" aromas (H2S). Go with your nose, and whisk as appropriate.
Once the SG has reached 1.050~1.055 we need to keep the yeast happy by adding nutrient. Do this by stirring in 3Tsp of yeast nutrient and 1Tsp of yeast energizer. Put the lid and airlock back on, and by tomorrow you should really see it get going.
Finishing Fermentation
Allow the fermentation to finish dry. This should leave us with a SG of around 0.998~0.995. As always, the SG shouldn't have changed for 2 days before we can infer that fermentation has stopped. If this is true, RECORD THE FINAL GRAVITY.
If you're lazy like me you can use the following formula for calculating the %ABV by using your OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity).
%ABV= (OG-FG)[100.3(OG-FG) + 125.65]
First Rack & Clarification
Ensure that the second fermenter (well, a container the same size, hopefully no fermentation will be going on!) is clean and sterile. Rack the must from the first fermenter into the second one, taking care to leave as much sediment behind as possible. Once in the second fermenter, swirl whisk and stir to release as much CO2 as you can.
Add 2.5Tsp of Potassium Sorbate, 1/2Tsp Potassium Metabisulfate and your clarification agent to the just racked must. It may take upto 2 weeks, but once it is clear, we can move onto the second racking.
Second Rack
We rack into another clean and sterile container/fermenter(i just use the initial one), and try to leave all the accumulated sediment behind. This should leave us with a nice clear wine. We do this so that when we sweeten we don't stir the sediment up again.
Sweetening
Sweeten to taste. A good starting point is 6 cups of sugar (1.3kg). Work hard to dissolve it all in! Now let the product rest in the sealed container for 2 weeks to ensure that no fermentation starts up again. If not, move onto bottling.
Bottling/Kegging
This one is all you :rockin:
Trouble Shooting
In no particular order, here are some common issues I've looked into when making this. No doubt this will be added to in the future.
Considerations
There are several things that can be considered when it comes to this recipe. Topics will generally be put here if I haven't done anything about the topic myself. Regardless, it should be a good starting point for your own research.
About
This section will look at the specifics in the some of the topics relating to this recipe
SO2
Oxidation
PLEASE NOTE 2:Have added a couple bits, still a work in progress.
Hi Everyone,
This is my first ever post on this website, despite having visiting it on a regular basis for a while now. I hope that it will contribute in a positive way.
These are the notes I made to myself on making skeeter-pee. Hopefully they can be used by others.
Introduction
The Original Recipe
My original exposure to this recipe comes from happening across Lon DePoppe's recipie (available here). It is a sweet beverage, similar to an "old fashioned" lemonade, except it has the love of fermentation and come in at around 10%abv. It is perfect for a hot summers day when served ice cold and can be dressed up and down depending on the occasion.Getting Started
So assuming that you're ready to get into this you need to make a decision before you even get going! This relates to the original recipe calling for a "Yeast Slurry". If you have one of these, then great! If not, then we're going to have to take on some additional steps (very easy though ). These steps will generate a yeast starter of a viably large yeast population. So you'll need to look out for that below.Ingredients & Equipment
Equipment
No doubt, you'll be pretty sorted in this area, but like all good resources, here is a list of what will be required. The headings in this section are broken out for the different procedural steps. So that when you come to a certain step in the procedure, you know what you'll need.
Must Preparation
- Large Pot
- Clean Tea Towel
- Whisk
- Stirrer
- Hydrometer
- Cleaning & Sanitizing Equipment
- 30L Fermenter, with airlock & temperature gauge
- 3L bottle, with an airlock
- Second fermenter, same size as first
- Bottling/Kegging Equipment (I'll leave that to you)
Ingredients
First of all, please note that the quantities given here are for a 23L batch. Also note that the same ingredients are broken out into different stages, ie you will need 3.084L of lemon juice if you add it all up form the different parts of the recipe. Later on, I will put in an appendix of the total required ingredients.
Must Preparation
Invert Sugar
Must Additions- 3.5~4.5kg Sugar
- 2~4L Water
- 1/3 Cup (84mL) Lemon Juice
- 2L Lemon Juice
- 17~19L Water
- 3/4 Tsp Tannin
- 3 Tsp Yeast Nutrient (Diammonium Phosphate [aka DAP])
- 3 Tsp Yeast Energizer/Activator (Vitamin B1 + ...)
This is only required if you don't have a yeast slurry.
- Yeast (see below for details on yeast selection)
- 2 Tbs Sugar
- Pinch Yeast Nutrient
- Pinch Yeast Energizer
- Pinch Tannin
- 2 Cups Water (warm)
- 2L Must (previously made)
Fermentation
Mid fermentation you will need to add additional ingredients.
- 3 Tsp Yeast Nutrient
- 1 Tsp Yeast Energizer
- 1L Lemon Juice
- 2.5 Tsp Botassium Sorbate
- 1/2 Tsp Potassium Metabisulfate
- Clarification Agent (see below)
- The Must
Sweetening & Bottling
- 6 cups (~1.3kg) sugar
Procedure
The procedure for this can be broken down into the following pattern:
"Must Preparation" -> "Yeast Starter" -> "Fermentation" -> "First Rack" -> "Second Rack"
Each one of these stages has several steps involved. A general methodology is given below.
Must Preparation
Pretty self explanatory, this section deals with how to get the right ingredients into the must
Making the Invert Sugar
Add 2L of water and 1/3 of a cup of lemon juice to the large pot. Heat this to just below boiling. Slowly add 3.5kg of sugar cup by cup, whilst you stir. Once the all the sugar is added maintain the sub-boiling temperature until the solution is clearish (or after 30mins). Take off the heat and allow to cool. Hey presto! The invert sugar is done.
Building the Must
Add the invert sugar and the 2L of lemon juice to the fermenter. Use the whisk to whip air into this for 30 seconds. Now top up the fermenter to 22L with water (note that does not mean add 22L!).
Add 3/4Tsp of tannin, 3Tsp of yeast nutrient and 1Tsp of yeast energizer. Stir it in thoroughly.
Checking Progress
Now we need to ensure that our progress so far is bang on the money. We do this by checking to see if the specific gravity (SG) is where we want it. So where do we want it? Well, our specific gravity should be around 1.070, this will leave a ABV of around 10%. Depending on how much alcohol you want, you can add sugar to increase this. Just note that it is reported to taste odd when the ABV is higher than around 12%.
If adding more sugar, it may be worth inverting it to ensure that it dissolves in the must properly. I've found I needed closer to 4kg. Either way, don't worry about the amount of sugar, worry about the SG.
RECORD YOUR STARTING SG... OR ELSE!Must Maintenance
Now you thought you were done? But no, building the must is not everything. It needs a mild amount of baby sitting for it to develop. The reason for this is the chlorine in tap water, and the SO2 (sulphur dioxide) in the lemon juice. Given the other constraining factors on the fermentation environment (pH & nutrient deprivation), we want to do what we can make happy yeast. Happy Yeast = Happy You.
To achieve this, we need to "air out" the SO2 and chlorine. We do this by leaving the fermenter open to gaseous exchange (don't put the lid on). However, we want to minimise our risk of contamination, so secure a clean tea towel to the top of the fermenter. Let this sit for a day.
After a day, whisk it again to introduce more oxygen. Put the tea towel securely back. We are now ready to progress to the yeast starter!
Yeast Starter
This section is for those that doesn't have a "Yeast Slurry" with which to kick start their fermentation. The aim of this is to build a strong yeast base that will be able to deal with the tough fermentation conditions experienced. I found this resource invaluable. If you have the time, read through the entire thread.
Start by dissolving 2Tbs of sugar in 2 cups of warm water. Add a pinch of yeast nutrient, energizer and tannin to the solution. Put this in the bottle. Now add the yeast to the bottle. Shake it to dissolve it. Leave the bottle with no lid or air lock. After 30~45 mins the yeast should be active, which will be displayed by frothing.
Once the yeast is active, add 1~2 cups of must (from the fermenter) to the bottle. Add the airlock to the bottle. Once it has started bubbling through the airlock for 45min~1hr, add an additional 1~2 cups of must (put the airlock on after!). Keep adding 1~2 cups of must each hour until the bottle is nearly full. Once nearly full, let it bubble away over night. The next day you should have a large amount of yeast, ready to add to the must! We're ready to start fermenting, woo!
Fermentation
This ranges from getting the fermentation to start, through to keeping the yeast alive to ferment the lemon wine dry (no leftover fermentable sugar).
Starting Fermentation
Take the tea towel off the fermenter and give it a bloody good thrashing/whisking. Now add the yeast starter/slurry to the fermenter and seal it up with an airlock. Nice!
Maintaining Fermentation
The must wants to be maintained between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius. 25 has worked well for me.
Whilst fermentation is moving along, you want to whip in air. However, this comes with some concerns. Whip too much and you risk "acetone" aromas (ethyl acetate) but whisk too little and you risk "rotten egg" aromas (H2S). Go with your nose, and whisk as appropriate.
Once the SG has reached 1.050~1.055 we need to keep the yeast happy by adding nutrient. Do this by stirring in 3Tsp of yeast nutrient and 1Tsp of yeast energizer. Put the lid and airlock back on, and by tomorrow you should really see it get going.
Finishing Fermentation
Allow the fermentation to finish dry. This should leave us with a SG of around 0.998~0.995. As always, the SG shouldn't have changed for 2 days before we can infer that fermentation has stopped. If this is true, RECORD THE FINAL GRAVITY.
If you're lazy like me you can use the following formula for calculating the %ABV by using your OG (original gravity) and FG (final gravity).
%ABV= (OG-FG)[100.3(OG-FG) + 125.65]
First Rack
Fermentation is now complete and we have a cloudy, non-sweet and lemony alcoholic solution. While the lemony alcoholic solution part is good, something needs to be done about the cloudy and non sweet properties.First Rack & Clarification
Ensure that the second fermenter (well, a container the same size, hopefully no fermentation will be going on!) is clean and sterile. Rack the must from the first fermenter into the second one, taking care to leave as much sediment behind as possible. Once in the second fermenter, swirl whisk and stir to release as much CO2 as you can.
Add 2.5Tsp of Potassium Sorbate, 1/2Tsp Potassium Metabisulfate and your clarification agent to the just racked must. It may take upto 2 weeks, but once it is clear, we can move onto the second racking.
Second Rack
We've taken care of the cloudy, now to sweeten and provide a method of administering it.Second Rack
We rack into another clean and sterile container/fermenter(i just use the initial one), and try to leave all the accumulated sediment behind. This should leave us with a nice clear wine. We do this so that when we sweeten we don't stir the sediment up again.
Sweetening
Sweeten to taste. A good starting point is 6 cups of sugar (1.3kg). Work hard to dissolve it all in! Now let the product rest in the sealed container for 2 weeks to ensure that no fermentation starts up again. If not, move onto bottling.
Bottling/Kegging
This one is all you :rockin:
In no particular order, here are some common issues I've looked into when making this. No doubt this will be added to in the future.
Yeast Strain
So you don't have a yeast slurry, and need to make a yeast starter. Here we'll look at some strains that are known to have worked, but if for whatever reason you are unable to source one of these, then I've listed some properties that you want to look for in a yeast suitable for this recipe.Recommended Strains
Here are three yeasts that are known to work in fermenting skeeter-pee.
Desirable Characteristics
So if you can't get the above yeasts, what makes them desirable? Below are some characteristics that allow them to ferment given the difficult conditions of the must. Try and tick off as many as possible when buying yeast
- Saccharomyces Bayanus. - They are not your typical S. Ceravisiae. They are hardier.
- High SO2 (Sulphur Dioxide) tolerance. This is especially important if you're using non-fresh lemon juice.
- High Ethanol tolerance. - Yeasts that will suffer ethanol toxicity at 8% will not get you to 10% (duh!)
- pH tolerance. - Can deal with the low pH of the lemon must.
- Ferments dry. -Strain renowned for fermenting wine dry (no residual fermentable sugar)
- Neutral flavour impact. - This is personal preference really, but is something worth considering.
Clarification Agents
There are many different types of clarification agents out there. Listed here are some considerations on ones you can use.
Sparkolloid
This is the original clarification agent as per Lon's recipe. Tried and true, it is renowned for not stripping flavour from wine. If another method of clarification is not working for you, this can be right on the money.
Isenglass
Derived from the bladders of fish isinglass is a very common fining agent. However, it's efficacy isn't as good as bentonite or sparkolloid when it comes to wine. That said, I have used it to some degree of success, but there is certainly some degree of haziness left in the final product. I think it's kinda cool though.
Bentonite
This is basically a clay. The most commonly used clarification agent in the wine industry.
Non-Additive (Resting)
Also known to be a successful way of clarifying the wine. You basically let the wine sit for a month until the solids precipitate out of solution. Certainly an option if you're not into your additives and chemicals. As with everything, be wary of spoilage and oxidation.
Fermentation
Won't Start
This is likely one of the most common issues with this recipe. There are many reasons that this can happen.
Non-Resilient yeast strain. If you didn't use one of the recommended yeast strains, this could pose a problem. The must conditions are acidic, nutrient deprived and likely high in SO2 (sulphur dioxide). If you didn't use Lalvin EC-1118 or Red Star Premier Cuvee or Vintner's Harvest CL23. Go and buy one of them to get started.
Non-Resilient yeast strain. If you didn't use one of the recommended yeast strains, this could pose a problem. The must conditions are acidic, nutrient deprived and likely high in SO2 (sulphur dioxide). If you didn't use Lalvin EC-1118 or Red Star Premier Cuvee or Vintner's Harvest CL23. Go and buy one of them to get started.
Is Slow
Also a fairly common complaint. Can be due to a variety of factors. Although if it is proceeding slowly, it isn't that difficult to speed it up!
Take out the SO2. Whip in some air to try and reduce the potential effect of SO2 on stalling your yeast.
Make a bigger starter. Repitchin in additional yeast. Works well in conjunction with additional must whipping.
Increase fermentation temperature. Fermentation in this recipie thrives at 23~26 degrees Celsius, colder and its slower, hotter and you risk nasty aromas and flavours.
Give the yeast steroids/nutrients... This recipes must is very nutrient deprived. Give it a dose of yeast nutrient (ammonium phosphate). The recipe already calls for this mid ferment (when the SG drops to 1.05ish). This really gets it going!
Take out the SO2. Whip in some air to try and reduce the potential effect of SO2 on stalling your yeast.
Make a bigger starter. Repitchin in additional yeast. Works well in conjunction with additional must whipping.
Increase fermentation temperature. Fermentation in this recipie thrives at 23~26 degrees Celsius, colder and its slower, hotter and you risk nasty aromas and flavours.
Give the yeast steroids/nutrients... This recipes must is very nutrient deprived. Give it a dose of yeast nutrient (ammonium phosphate). The recipe already calls for this mid ferment (when the SG drops to 1.05ish). This really gets it going!
Has Stopped Prematurely
Uh-oh! a couple of things you may want to think about here!
Did you add extra nutrient?
Did the temperature get too hot or cold? As in above 28 degrees Celcius or below 19.
Did you accidentally add the potassium sorbate or metabisulfate?
Did you use the proper yeast? Ethanol toxicity may be an issue.
Did you add extra nutrient?
Did the temperature get too hot or cold? As in above 28 degrees Celcius or below 19.
Did you accidentally add the potassium sorbate or metabisulfate?
Did you use the proper yeast? Ethanol toxicity may be an issue.
Has Restarted
So the Potassium sorbate and metabisulfate didn't work? That sugar you were so depending on for making it sweet is being gobbled up by the yeast. Here are some ideas on what you can look into. Be quick about it though, before all your sugar is gone
Crash cool. Not the easiest thing to do. Crash cooling doesn't get rid of all the yeast, but it stops them from working and makes them flocculate (form flocs as they come out of solution). It also helps bring out some of the proteins, and will thus clarify your wine a little. You need specialized equipment to do this. I'm fond of this design, it's an immersion chiller for cooling a wort, but if you get some seriously cold water running through it, it'll work nicely.
Add more chemicals. Certainly will work, but ewww, chemicals.
Crash cool. Not the easiest thing to do. Crash cooling doesn't get rid of all the yeast, but it stops them from working and makes them flocculate (form flocs as they come out of solution). It also helps bring out some of the proteins, and will thus clarify your wine a little. You need specialized equipment to do this. I'm fond of this design, it's an immersion chiller for cooling a wort, but if you get some seriously cold water running through it, it'll work nicely.
Add more chemicals. Certainly will work, but ewww, chemicals
.
Lemon Wine Flaws
A good place to start with is the wikipedia page on wine faults. It lists a set of common flaws with regular wine, and does relate back to fermenting lemon.
"Acetone" Aroma
"Rotten Egg" Aroma
Considerations
There are several things that can be considered when it comes to this recipe. Topics will generally be put here if I haven't done anything about the topic myself. Regardless, it should be a good starting point for your own research.
Carbonation
There are several different ways to carbonate this beverage. The difficulty in carbonating it comes from the large amount of residual fermentable sugar that is required to sweeten the beverage. Before thinking about carbonation, are you sure you want to carbonate it? It taste fantastic as a still wine.
Force-Carbonate
You don't "need a keg" to force carbonate. You can carbonate in PET bottles with a few simple bits of equipment, oh and a CO2 tank.
Bottle-Carbonate & Pasteurize
Basically you bottle carbonate as you would normal home-brew, but you take the time to pasteurise (kill the yeast) so that you are left with sugar to sweeten the beverage, and most importantly, you prevent the bottles from over-carbonating and exploding (cf bottlebombs)
About
This section will look at the specifics in the some of the topics relating to this recipe
SO2
Oxidation
