Full Hard Lemonade recipe

[CBelli]

Bottling day:

Take hydrometer reading. You should be right around .998 – 1.002 specific gravity.

In a large sauce pan, add 8 cups cane sugar (or to taste), 2 cans Lemonade concentrate, and 3 cups water and, stirring continuously, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and disolve 3.5 tsp potassium sorbate.

8 cups of sugar? will this not make the bottles explode !!!
When I bottle beer 3/4 of a cup is enough.

I would worry that you will get secondary fermentation?

how about using non fermentable sugar?

 

[bknifefight]

The 8 cups of sugar are not to prime the bottles, it's to back sweeten the lemonade. Read the ENTIRE bottling day instructions.

Bottling day:

Take hydrometer reading. You should be right around .998 – 1.002 specific gravity.

In a large sauce pan, add 8 cups cane sugar (or to taste), 2 cans Lemonade concentrate, and 3 cups water and, stirring continuously, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and disolve 3.5 tsp potassium sorbate. Add lemon/sugar/sorbate solution to a 7 gal bottling bucket. Rack fermented lemonade from carboy into bottling bucket with the sorbate solution, stirring thoroughly.

You can bottle in beer or wine bottles, or you can keg. Even with the sorbate, you will probably get a little bit of carbonation as it sits, but it is usually not enough to pop a cork. I usually keg, and force carbonate.

It is ready to drink on bottling day.

 

[dmbshen41]

does the potassium sorbate immedietly stop fermentation? or does that take time? should you let the mixture sit a couple days in bottling bucket before bottling just to make sure you dont get bottle bombs?

 

[Inner10]

does the potassium sorbate immedietly stop fermentation? or does that take time? should you let the mixture sit a couple days in bottling bucket before bottling just to make sure you dont get bottle bombs?

After sorbating and sweetening you are always suppose to wait a week or two to make sure fermentation doesn't kick back up.

 

[Nike_Eayrs]

So having stopped fermentation, will the bottles carb up? I've only ever brewed beer, so this is kind of new to me. The lady would totally dig this! Cheers.

 

[Inner10]

So having stopped fermentation, will the bottles carb up? I've only ever brewed beer, so this is kind of new to me. The lady would totally dig this! Cheers.

No, you will probably have a slightly bubbly mouth feel from the co2 still in solution but it won't be carbonated like beer unless you force carb it.

 

[jbushee]

This is a really easy and good recipe for hard lemonade. It is a lot stronger than Mike's.

Ingredients (makes 6-7 gallons):

- 12 cans preservative-free Lemonade concentrate (I use Nature's best
brand from Aldi's cause it is cheap, Minute Maid is another option)
- 1 lb Extra light or Pilsen Light Dry Malt Extract
- 2.5 lbs corn sugar
- Yeast nutrient
- Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne Yeast (THIS YEAST IS VERY IMPORTANT, OTHER CHAMPAGNE YEASTS HAVE A HARD TIME WITH THE ACIDITY OF THE LEMONADE, BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE YEAST PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS BELOW AS WELL)
- Potassium Sorbate
- Appx 8 cups regular cane sugar

Rehydrate yeast:

Rehydrate yeast by combining 1 cup warm water with 1 tbsp of lemonade concentrate and just a couple yeast nutrient pellets with Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast, Allow to sit for at least a half hour. You should see vigorous action in the yeast when ready.

Brewing the wort:

In a 2.5+ gal brew pot, combine 1 lb Pilsen Light Dry Malt Extract (DME) with 3 lbs corn sugar to appx 2 gal boiling water. This will give you appx 9% abv when finished. To increase alcohol, increase sugar and/or DME, use less sugar to lower ABV). Stir until completely disolved Remove from heat, and 7 tsp yeast nutrient.

Combine wort in large plastic fermentor bucket with 10 cans lemonade concentrate, and enough cold water to fill bucket to bring total volume to 6 gal. Make sure temp is between 65 - 75 degrees, and take initial hydrometer reading. Pitch in your yeast starter. Put lid and airlock on fermentor and allow to ferment at room temp.

Fermentation:

You should see steady fermentation within 2 -3 days, that will last 1-2 weeks. Allow to ferment completely out before attempting to bottle.

Bottling day:

Take hydrometer reading. You should be right around .998 – 1.002 specific gravity.

In a large sauce pan, add 8 cups cane sugar (or to taste), 2 cans Lemonade concentrate, and 3 cups water and, stirring continuously, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and disolve 3.5 tsp potassium sorbate. Add lemon/sugar/sorbate solution to a 7 gal bottling bucket. Rack fermented lemonade from carboy into bottling bucket with the sorbate solution, stirring thoroughly.

You can bottle in beer or wine bottles, or you can keg. Even with the sorbate, you will probably get a little bit of carbonation as it sits, but it is usually not enough to pop a cork. I usually keg, and force carbonate.

It is ready to drink on bottling day.

I'm two weeks into this recipe. Fermentation took about a week, then I sweetened and it's been sitting and clearing for another week. Tastes a bit yeasty. Is it just too soon, or did I mess it up somehow?

Only deviation from the recipe was I replaced the 2.5 lb corn sugar with 2 lb cane sugar.

Thoughts?

 

[bknifefight]

I have never had it with a yeasty character, but then again I give everything AT LEAST 3 weeks in the primary. Give it time, it is still very young at two weeks.

 

[nappyvalley]

I just started a batch of hard leomonade I used more sugar and distillers yeast. The fernentation started immediately after putting in the yeast.

 

[smartin73]

Anyone have an OG for this? My hydrometer broke and wasn't able to record it. Thanks in advance.

 

[dawalkertiger]

Anyone do this with red star pastuer champagne yeast?

 

[bknifefight]

Anyone do this with red star pastuer champagne yeast?

Read the original post. The yeast selection is VERY IMPORTANT. Many yeast doesn't work with the acidity of the lemonade.

 

[brazedowl]

And.... started this one. Only change was I had to use some pink lemonade concentrate in place of regular (they only had 6 regular concentrates). The only ingredient difference was "grape skin color".

 

[brazedowl]

And like a champ I dumped my started yeast in with the temperature of 111 degrees. What a noob mistake. Guess I buy more yeast tomorrow if it's not going.

 

[brazedowl]

Ok. So since it isnt going at all now I'm getting another pack of yeast today. Can I just use a cup of what's in the bucket now to make the starter?

 

[bknifefight]

That should be fine. Just sanitize whatever you scoop it out with.

 

[brazedowl]

It worked. She's going now. But what I have noticed is that some of the yeast is sticking to the pulp and it's all rising to the surface to make a yeasty, pulpy cap. Should I beat that down like I would with fruit, or just fix the lid and let it go?

 

[bknifefight]

Leave it be, it's fine.

 

[John53189]

I added 4 lime and 6 lemon to this, tastes great! I will carb up 3/4 then leave some still for comparison.

 

[brazedowl]

I added 4 lime and 6 lemon to this, tastes great! I will carb up 3/4 then leave some still for comparison.

If it ferments dry, how are you going to carb it up and have it still be sweet without the bottles blowing their tops?

 

[John53189]

I followed the recipie, and filled 2 tap a draft kegs and I will force carb. Then I bottled 36 for the still version.

 

[brazedowl]

awesome. How did it turn out for you?

 

[stef57]

Hey guys

i want to try a batch of lemonade and one with iced tea concentrate. should i be using a different yeast for the tea or is EC-1118 ok?

 

[brazedowl]

EC-1118 is pretty robust and should take off pretty well. It was in this recipe because it could handle the acidity. You could use another dry wine yeast if you're going to do tea.

 

[bknifefight]

Try it with whatever frozen juice (or tea) concentrates you want. The EC-118 is good with the acidity but will work fine for other non acidic concentrates.

 

[HBngNOK]

If it ferments dry, how are you going to carb it up and have it still be sweet without the bottles blowing their tops?

Pasteurize the bottles per the sticky in the Cider forum after the carb level is where you like.

 

[brazedowl]

quite acceptable plan. Believe I may do this as well. Forgot about that sticky

 

[John53189]

awesome. How did it turn out for you?

Awesome!

 

[brewsterbud]

Do you need to use malt?

 

[brazedowl]

The malt really rounds out the flavor. If you're drinking it you wouldn't probably be able to identify it and say "hey they used some malt in this!" but it melds in nicely.