Good Hard lemonade

[CAlexander]

Thanks for the advice. My LHBS is closed today so I'll give it some good shakes (it's in a carboy) and leave it open, covered with a towel. I'll also add a little bit more yeast nutrient.

Tomorrow I'll pick up another package of yeast and do the rest. Thanks again.

 

[CAlexander]

After shaking the carboy, adding nutrient and leaving it covered with a towel, 24 hours later it is now frothing merrily! Thanks a ton!

 

[Yooper]

Glad to hear it!

 

[kouphax]

Hi,

I am looking for a place to get my hands on Lemonade Concentrate in the UK (or Ireland). Anyone any ideas where to get this? Or what I can substitute it with?

James.

 

[FatMonsters]

Hi,

I am looking for a place to get my hands on Lemonade Concentrate in the UK (or Ireland). Anyone any ideas where to get this? Or what I can substitute it with?

James.

You can use fresh lemons and corn sugar. I used 16 lemons and 6 .lbs of corn sugar as the base, although this did end up low on the lemon taste scale, I had to add concentrate to the secondary. Anyway, the recipe I adapted from called for 4-5 .lbs of corn sugar and 12-24 lemons. I'd up the lemon count to 24 if I did it this way again.

As an update, I grabbed a sample last night from my lemonade, its been three weeks in secondary. The SG is still a little high, higher than I want it. I'm going wait a couple of days and see where its at. I let wifey try the sample and she...well...it wasn't constructive criticism. Kept saying it was gross, needed to be sweetened and tasted like a bad lemon. I have never eaten a bad lemon before, I'm not sure of the taste! I thought it tasted fine. Anyway, the non-beer drinkers that I made this for will probably want it sweeter...hate when she's right. Anyway, I am going to bottle it so I need the yeast to be active. I have read the threads on Splenda, any thoughts? Its a five gallon batch and I don't want it to be pure sugary tasting!! I think if it was sweeter wifey would enjoy...

 

[kouphax]

Brilliant thanks. I'll bear that in mind.

 

[jtvinny]

Is this a regular on tap for anyone? I would be interested in trying this and the hard tea (recipe?)

 

[bignick]

I have a few questions because this is only my second time brewing anything.

First, can u use carbonation drops for priming the bottles?

Also, is one packet of redstar champagne yeast enough?

Lastly, do you think that 2 lbs of sugar and one lb of dme will be too much if I am going to ferment it completely out?

My target % would be between 6% and 8%

Also I live in an isolated area, so is it possible to make a yeast starter without yeast nutrients? I live over an hour from my lhbs and i really would not want to make that trip again.

 

[Tusch]

Yes you can use carbonation drops, but many people claim that one is not enough and use two for this type of recipe (ciders and what not) So you may need to experiment to find your recipe.

! packet should be enough yeast for 5-6 gallons

To know how much sugar to add, you really need to use a hydrometer. This way you can adjust the OG to something that will lead to 6-8% alcohol.

 

[Donasay]

Tastes great, especially on hot days.

I mix it with the Hard tea I make to get a hard Arnold Palmer. Nothing is better on a hot day than a sweaty Hard Arnold Palmer

Any other questions just ask

The mixture of hard lemonade and hard tea is known as a Tom Arnold, and I don't think a hard sweaty Tom Arnold is good on a hot day.

 

[Donasay]

You can always add Glycerine to sweeten up the lemonade, it will get thicker as well.

 

[Tusch]

Edit: Misread your post.

 

[Moonshae]

Has anyone tried using limeade and adding mint to make a mojito-style beverage?

 

[jyrenth]

I'm a huge newb to all this and this is a really general question that this thread has brought up for me.

I just started looking into homebrewing a few days ago, and as I understand it, if you don't put an air valve on wine to keep air from getting in, the alcohol will react and make vinegar. Here it is recommended to let oxygen in, so I'm confused.

When should you aerate, and when should you prevent air from getting in?

 

[Nurmey]

I'm a huge newb to all this and this is a really general question that this thread has brought up for me.

I just started looking into homebrewing a few days ago, and as I understand it, if you don't put an air valve on wine to keep air from getting in, the alcohol will react and make vinegar. Here it is recommended to let oxygen in, so I'm confused.

When should you aerate, and when should you prevent air from getting in?

Aerate before you pitch the yeast, it needs oxygen to stay healthy and reproduce. Oxygen before fermentation is good, after fermentation it can cause oxidation (off flavors).

Air locks are to keep things from falling in your brew. It is a bacteria that causes vinegar. It can get in if you got it floating around your house but it's commonly carried by fruit flies and the air lock keeps them out. Air locks also allows the CO2 to escape so you don't have any explosion.

Welcome to HBT!

 

[jyrenth]

Thanks a lot for the reply, that helps my understanding of what is going on a lot.

I have one more question: I it was recommended to just use a dish towel over the top to prevent things from dropping in, but let the CO2 out. Wouldn't that not prevent air (and nasty bacteria from getting in, or is it not that big of a problem?

 

[Nurmey]

Thanks a lot for the reply, that helps my understanding of what is going on a lot.

I have one more question: I it was recommended to just use a dish towel over the top to prevent things from dropping in, but let the CO2 out. Wouldn't that not prevent air (and nasty bacteria from getting in, or is it not that big of a problem?

Wine is a little different that fermenting beers and other beverages. The towel is common with wine but it really hasn't been used for beer since the olden days. Technically, yes it can be used but since air locks cost about seventy cents, why would you not use the proper tool for the job. I don't want to take the chance of infection for the lack of a tool that costs so little.

 

[MikeInCtown]

Just saw this thread after it was bumped up. Sounds like a sweet recipe but wondering if anyone has carbed yet in a corny? Also wondering how everyone's batch turned out. I saw lots of questions and people saying they were starting, but only one person why tried something different and said it was nasty.

Heading to the LHBS in a little while and wouldn't mind picking up some items to get this going.

 

[RadicalEd]

Hmmmm, I might just throw together a 1 gallon batch...If I can find a jug around here . Would only cost a few bucks if you use lemons and sugar.

 

[MikeInCtown]

Putting together a 1 gallon batch tomorrow to try out. With the DME, do you guys boil some of the water and mix it in, or do you just mix it in with the room temp water?

 

[bignick]

I used 1lb of mutons light dme, 2lbs of dominos cane sugar, 1 packet of red star champagne yeast, 12 cans of flavorite lemonade concentrate( no preservatives), and enough water(tap) to fill my fermenter to 25 liters.

First I boiled water, and slowly added the dme and cane sugar, and made sure it was completely dissolved.

Second I dumped the frozen lemonade concentrate, along with 2 gallons of water or so into the fermenter and mixed it up.

Then I slowly poured the sugar and dme mix into the fermenter and stirred.

Then I topped it off to 25 liters with warm water.

Mixed everything thoroughly.

Then I took a glass and poured 2 cups of water into it, a little yeast, and 3 tablespoons of sugar, and stirred it.

After a layer of foam formed on the surface of the glass i added about 3 ounces of the lemonade mixture.

I slowly added more and more lemonade for about a half hour.

when there was yet again a layer of foam I poured it into the fermenter and mixed it around a few times. ( temp was 26 deg Celsius)

Then I covered the fermenter with a dish towel.

My OG was roughly 1.073(I'm still a little confused on the hydrometer)

How does this sound? did I do anything wrong?

 

[bignick]

the yeast nutrient is absolutely essential, i made a batch that never even began to ferment without the nutrient. after like 2 weeks it started to smell funny, so i dumped it and started a new batch with nutrients. it started fermenting immediately.

 

[bignick]

I tried a little bit of this after letting it completely ferment out. it was so sour, it just tasted like strait lemon juice with alcohol in it. so I sweetened it with splenda to try and combat the taste. now it tastes alright, but i would definitely rather have a mikes. i bottled and carbed it anyway to see what happens to the taste.

 

[jdoyle83]

Nothing is better on a hot day than a sweaty Hard Arnold Palmer ;

Any other questions just ask

Yeah, that definitely brought up a few questions...

 

[danpemby]

I am now on my third batch. Original batch i used all Minute Maid. It was a hit. Second batch i used 5 cans of MM and 15 Large Lemons. Both of these I used Red Star Pemiere Curvee (sp?) I found that the bubbles created make it hard to get the keg pressure right when tapping.

Last batch I am trying a different yeast, Red Star white wine yeast. I will let you know how it comes out.

As for batches not starting, i find it is critical to rehydrate, then add 1/2 cup of the lemon must to the yeast, wait 30 minutes or until the yeast is working again, then add another 1/2 cup of must. after 30 minutes, pitch it. All 3 batches have started with no trouble using this method.

Oh and I added 2 cups of sugar dissolved in 2 1/2 cups of water after the Potassium Sorbate.

OG 1.070
FG 1.010
8%ABV

Last but not Least, Go Bulls!

 

[ZacMac]

Has anyone gotten their hands on the Hard Tea Recipe?
I have been trying for like 6 months to track one down.

 

[mrfocus]

How long does this take to ferment?

 

[danpemby]

MrFocus
I stopped mine after about 3 weeks, It would have gone longer but i want the ABV in the 7-8% range.
My brew room stays a pretty constant 63F so it may finish faster in a warmer environment.

 

[danpemby]

Ok tried something a little different this time:
Add 2 bottles of McCormick Raspberry extract at bottling time. The girls love it, as it takes some of the tartness off.

 

[bignick]

I am trying a 1 gallon batch of this tomorrow. My mom used to make fresh squeezed lemonade when i was younger, so i got that recipe from her. it is simple. just 8 lemons, and 2 cups of sugar per gallon.

-1 gallon of fresh squeezed lemonade
-enough corn sugar to reach my desired ABV(7%)
-a few table spoons of lemon zest
-redstar champagne yeast
-1 tablespoon on Superferment (yeast nutrient/energizer.)

I am going to let this ferment with just a dish towel over it, then when the process is completed, I will seal it up and let it age for a month or so.

So in about 2 months I'll let you guys know how it turns out.