I've done some research and need some advice to refine my plan. I plan on making 2 gallons of possibly the worst homebrew ever (water, granulated sugar, and brewer's yeast). I have the amounts of everything calculated and the plan is to concentrate the brew after it is done fermenting using a freezer to freeze the water out (and kill the remaining yeast) to about 30% abv. I plan to ferment to about 15% abv and was wondering if there is any way to (cheaply) prevent off flavors. And it will be back-sweetened by a ton of kool-aid powder. Thanks!
Edit: forgot to mention I will be using DAP nutrient. Ideally, I'd like to kinda set it and forget it until its done fermenting
I'm the author of the Foot Stench post, which was 10 litres/2.64 gallons sugar water, 1 cup of Yuzu (citrus flavour) Iced Tea, 3 grams of DAP, 3 grams of Wine Nutrient (DAP based) and 3 grams of Philly Sour yeast. It tastes okay, it just stinks. I've managed to drink 5 litres of it by adding Lemon Juice and Lemon Essence, but I still have another 10 litres of it to check out. Same recipe, but Nottingham yeast, so I don't know if that'll stink too. I think I needed to add much more nutrient to make the yeast happy. Stressed yeast is what usually causes off gasses and flavours. I was only aiming for around 5%, 1.040 (actually 5.25%), more sugar would possibly cause more stress.
What I was very happy with was much the same recipe made in 3 litre batches. 300g white sugar, 125ml Lemon Juice, 1/2 tsp DAP, 1/2 tsp Wine Nutrient, 2 grams Philly Sour. It was 1.045 SG, so 5.91% potential alcohol. After 2 weeks it was excellent Hard Lemonade, although I was more expecting a Seltzer with a twist of lemon. The first 3 litre bottle read 1.010, either stalled or not finished, but it was just like a Pub Squash we get here in Australia. I sucked that down on a Friday night, drank the other 3 litres Saturday night and immediately made up some more! That had reached 1.000, so I added 29 grams of sugar per litre to bring the sweetness up to that of the first. It's the first brew I've made where the whole family gave it the thumbs up and I'd be very happy bringing out for guests to drink. A success after months of barely drinkable Ciders has really inspired and motivated me, so if you like Hard Lemonade, or even just a traditional lemonade, give this a go!
Without some sort of juice and aiming for 10% I think you're really going to have to use a lot of nutrient, "a TOSNA schedule similar to fermenting mead." would be a good idea. I'm no expert, but I think the Foot Stench has taught me something at least.
I'm using a Sodastream to carbonate my Ciders and other brews btw, I highly recommend getting one. You just have to have the brew very cold and be patient when gassing it up. That way you can add your flavours and have a decent test run before bottling, or just store it flat, add your flavours and sugar, gas it up and drink it immediately. That way you don't have to worry about the sugars in your additives fermenting, you can add whatever makes it taste good as you go. Sweet and carbonated looks a bit tricky otherwise.
As one beginner to another, give yourself a win by trying the Hard Lemonade recipe, I can't guarantee it, but it worked amazingly well for me. It's got me thinking that perhaps it might work with Apple Juice and be better than Cider, and the Orange Juice idea had already occurred to me too.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/hard-lemonade.737592/#post-10493857
Happy Fermenting, keep us updated!
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