Full Hard Lemonade recipe

[MusicalBrewer]

So I made it. It smells really wierd/badish but tastes pretty good. I never made wine or anything with champagne yeast so I don't know if this is how it is supposed to be

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Not sure what to say on this one. I've only had one batch that had an infection and it smelled and tasted bad--there was no question it was infected. So if it tastes good I think you're OK.

What sort of smell are you getting--sulfur/rotten eggs or something else.

 

[h22lude]

So I made it. It smells really wierd/badish but tastes pretty good. I never made wine or anything with champagne yeast so I don't know if this is how it is supposed to be

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Mine doesn't smell like I would have thought. Doest smell bad. Kind of like young beer which I assume is from the little DME used. I'm betting it goes away after a week or two.

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[paulster2626]

Really it should just smell like lemonade - just really citrusy. It should taste like very tart hard lemonade before you put the sugar in - like lemon-wine if that makes sense.

After it's been sweetened, it'll taste pretty much like Mike's Hard, but.... better. Just very tasty and refreshing, and you should want more!

 

[BigZern]

It has almost a banana flavor and smell

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[jlivin28]

Has anyone modified this recipe to work with fresh lemons? I recently came into about 50 lemons and would like to try this recipe but I don't really know what the proportion of lemons to concentrate would need to be or if I would need to add some extra sugar to balance things out. Any ideas?

 

[sfrisby]

Maybe look up home made lemonade recipes and just ferment that?

 

[kingogames]

I've made this three times now and every time it turns out great. I just used the same recipe tonight, but instead of lemonade, I used apple juice for a cider. Other ciders I've done with just apple juice and sugar and yeast taste OK, but kind of hoochy. Taking inspiration from Brandon O's Graff recipe, I also added .25 oz Galaxy hops to try a hopped cider, boiled the hops for 20 min with the DME. I'm excited for this one. Looks great in the fermenter!

 

[buzz1670]

Does anyone have this recipe in a 5 gallon batch?thanks Buzz

 

[h22lude]

Does anyone have this recipe in a 5 gallon batch?thanks Buzz

I bet you can take each ingredient divide by 6 then multiply by 5. Why not make the 6 gallon version?

 

[bigken462]

I didn't take notes very well when I did mine and have about 10 varying recipes made from this forum and Youtube. But this will get you close.

Here is the recipe and instructions:
1. Add: 2lbs Golden LME or Light DME
Add: 2lbs of corn sugar
Add: 2lbs of honey ( just used 2 more lbs of corn sugar and omitted the honey)
Add: 2-3lbs of cherries or other desired berries
2. Steep for 20 minutes at 160*
3. Add: 5 cans frozen Lemonade/Limeade concentrate
Add: 1 Gallon apple juice
Top off to 5 gallons water.
4. Reduce wort temperature to 80*
5. Add ¾ tsp of Pectic Enzyme
Add 5 tsp of Yeast Nurtient
Add: 1 ½ tsp of Yeast Energizer
6. Add: 2 packs of Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast
7. Primary 7-10 days
8. Secondary 7 days or until clear
9. One day prior to bottling add 2 ½ tsp of Potassium Sorbate
10. Bottling day: Heat water to dislove 4-8 cups of cane sugar or to taste, add three cans of Lemonade/Limeade concentrate
11. Transfer to bottling bucket, add sugar/concentrate from above – mix well and bottle.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

I bet you can take each ingredient divide by 6 then multiply by 5. Why not make the 6 gallon version?

I have scaled this recipe down and this method does work.

 

[buzz1670]

started this today.2/3 lemonade concentrate 1/3 apple juice concentrate.what i had at home.

 

[shezza88]

Really keen on making this but lemonade concentrate doesn't exist here in the UK.

I have two alternatives, could someone tell me which would be best?

I could buy lemonade power, the sort of stuff you get in the US. I don't know if that would turn out anything like lemonade concentrate when mixed with wort, and how you'd work out the ratios either.

My other option is sodastream lemonade concentrate. I think this is more of a syrup though and it does have a preservative in it amongst a few other flavourings.

Would either of these work?

 

[BigZern]

If it has preservatives in it it wont work. Same with powder because at least the ones I have seen here have them. An alternative would be using actual lemons or some kind of organic lemonade without preservatives in it

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[PRE66_6TART]

You could make your own lemonade concentrate. I've seen recipes online. You'd probably have to juice like a hundred lemons though.

 

[shezza88]

I can get organic still lemonade with no preservatives, flavourings or colours etc, its just got water, rice syrup power and 12% lemon juice. Would that get the job done?

I've looked at the recipes for homemade lemonade concentrate and as you say I'd probably need a stupid amount of lemons which I wouldn't be against doing but I don't want to spend too much on a recipe.

Thanks guys.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

I can get organic still lemonade with no preservatives, flavourings or colours etc, its just got water, rice syrup power and 12% lemon juice. Would that get the job done?

I've looked at the recipes for homemade lemonade concentrate and as you say I'd probably need a stupid amount of lemons which I wouldn't be against doing but I don't want to spend too much on a recipe.

Thanks guys.

I think this would totally work. When I make this I put the concentrate in then add water...that's essentially making lemonade. I don't see why pre made lemonade wouldn't do the trick.
You can always scale the recipe back to a smaller batch to make sure it works. I make 3 gallon batches regularly. Just divide the recipe in half for 3 gallons, or divide by 6 for a one gallon batch. Then you're not out a lot of money if it doesn't work out.
Keep us posted on how it turns out.

 

[shezza88]

I think this would totally work. When I make this I put the concentrate in then add water...that's essentially making lemonade. I don't see why pre made lemonade wouldn't do the trick.
You can always scale the recipe back to a smaller batch to make sure it works. I make 3 gallon batches regularly. Just divide the recipe in half for 3 gallons, or divide by 6 for a one gallon batch. Then you're not out a lot of money if it doesn't work out.
Keep us posted on how it turns out.

Cheers, yeah I think I'll give it a go. Fingers crossed it works!

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Assuming one can of concentrate equals 48 oz of lemonade, then you should need 480 oz of lemonade, or just under 4 gallons, which looks like almost the exact amount of top-off water you would need, so it should work. The only problem would be the two cans it calls for on bottling day, but you should just be able to add the equivalent amount of lemon juice and sugar instead.

 

[shezza88]

Assuming one can of concentrate equals 48 oz of lemonade, then you should need 480 oz of lemonade, or just under 4 gallons, which looks like almost the exact amount of top-off water you would need, so it should work. The only problem would be the two cans it calls for on bottling day, but you should just be able to add the equivalent amount of lemon juice and sugar instead.

Wait, I think I've greatly underestimated the amount of lemonade I need. I thought the cans would be 12oz each like most cans, meaning 120oz plus two further cans later on? Can anyone thats brewed this tell me if each can should contain 48oz or 12oz?

 

[RegarRenill]

Generally, a 12oz can of concentrate makes 48oz of lemonade, after adding water, iirc...so using 10 cans plus the water to hydrate/mix them would equal the usual lemon juice and the water addition.


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[PRE66_6TART]

Yeah you mix one can of concentrate with three cans of water to make lemonade, so if you're using lemonade instead of concentrate you have to use four times as much.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

Wait, I think I've greatly underestimated the amount of lemonade I need. I thought the cans would be 12oz each like most cans, meaning 120oz plus two further cans later on? Can anyone thats brewed this tell me if each can should contain 48oz or 12oz?

The can of frozen concentrate is 12oz. The directions on most cans say to add 3 additional cans of water to make a total of 48oz of lemonade (12oz concentrate + 36oz water).

Sounds like you need to use 48oz of lemonade in place of every can of concentrate.

 

[shezza88]

Yeah you mix one can of concentrate with three cans of water to make lemonade, so if you're using lemonade instead of concentrate you have to use four times as much.

That's a pain, already ordered my lemonade though so I'll make 1/4 of the recipe and see what its like.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[smileyak87]

Did a variation on the hard lemonade

Strawberry lemonade 9.8% abv

 

[smileyak87]

Forgot the pic

 

[skitter]

If I wanted to do a mini mash instead of using lme/dme, how would that work out? How much grain would I have to use for a 1g batch to leave the taste on par...

 

[wtaylor3]

I really want to make this in a one gallon batch as that's all I'm setup for at the moment....ive done two beer kits...however I've never had still beer and carbing makes me nervous because of the percentage of bottle bombs I've read about over the last 30 pages....don't really want one of these to blow up in my face...

 

[wtaylor3]

Forgot to sub.

 

[MusicalBrewer]

I really want to make this in a one gallon batch as that's all I'm setup for at the moment....ive done two beer kits...however I've never had still beer and carbing makes me nervous because of the percentage of bottle bombs I've read about over the last 30 pages....don't really want one of these to blow up in my face...

If you use the original recipe then the yeast will be killed when you add the potassium sorbate. The lemonade won't carb up and you don't have to worry about bottle bombs.

Some of us choose not to use the potassium sorbate to get some carbonation--then we bottle pasteurize in order to avoid bottle bombs.

If you don't want to worry about bottle bombs then simply make sure you add the potassium sorbate like the recipe calls for.