Hard Seltzer... current wisdom?

[Nathan Graen]

I stumbled upon this video the other day. Comparing three seltzer recipes. I might try the winning one "Lutra", with table sugar and see how it turns out.

 

[DVCNick]

I have made BruClaw about 6 times and have learned a few things. Cheap vodka give you a definite alcohol taste that never gets covered up with flavoring. Use good vodka if you can. I use Brewers Best flavorings and had the best luck with blueberry and lemon. Now my dificulity came in serving. My 1st few kegs were great. Carb was teriffic. I dont know what changed but the carb is way off now. After filling my keg with everything I roll the keg on 30psi of CO2 for 10-15 min then let it sit overnight on gas. Im using a 10' beverage tube because thats what works for beer. I am constantly fiddling with serving pressure but the carbonation seems to fall out of suspention as it exits the tap. I bought a carb stone and was planning on adding it to a floating dip tube...that might help? But as for the recipe its great and way easier than brewing seltzer.

Given that 10' is basically the absolute minimum that might work for beer, my guess is that it would be totally insufficient for anything like a seltzer at higher pressure, but I still have not done one of these... thanks for the info.

 

[NewJersey]

Given that 10' is basically the absolute minimum that might work for beer, my guess is that it would be totally insufficient for anything like a seltzer at higher pressure, but I still have not done one of these... thanks for the info.

10' is not the absolute minimum.
I use 5.5' on all three kegs and get flawless pours.
4mm ID EVA barrier

 

[DVCNick]

That is a little smaller ID than my line, but still, your beer must be different than mine...

 

[NewJersey]

That is a little smaller ID than my line, but still, your beer must be different than mine...

It's not. A 5.4% pilsner, 7.5% saison, and 9.2 IPA. 43⁰ kegerator. 11lbs serving pressure.
You're just wrong is all.

 

[DVCNick]

Ok... Didn't realize I was imagining those half foam beers with 10ft line, but good to know.

 

[crane]

10 feet is the minimum of vinyl tubing. Eva barrier and other newer tubing have shorter minimum length. So there isn't just one answer.

 

[bwible]

Here’s a source for flavors that are made specifically for the alcohol industry for flavoring alcoholic products. They have a large variety of interesting flavors. Many of these were specifically developed for seltzer:

Apex Flavors
https://www.apexflavors.com/Beverage-Industry
No affiliation

 

[Lurker]

olive nation makes great extract too. I just looked and actually have 20' of line on my seltzer tap. seltzer line on left and beer on right. I do realize that union is probably creating an issue too....just havent had time to explore. I'm planning on switching everything to 4mm ID

 

[Nathan Graen]

olive nation makes great extract too.

I was looking and they have "extracts", "super extracts", "fountain flavors", and "emulsions". Which do you use? How much do you use?

 

[NewJersey]

Headed downstairs to make this now. How much fermaid and when do I add?

 

[Nathan Graen]

Anyone consider fermenting a pile of Jolly Ranchers into a seltzer? They would provide both sugar and flavor. Not sure how much it would cost though...

 

[NewJersey]

So, since hard seltzers are 100% simple sugar and start at a relatively low gravity where do these usually finish for everybody?
.998?
Lower?

 

[NewJersey]

It's currently at 1006. This is the slowest fermentation I have ever experienced. I have added fermaid a few times. It's still going slow and steady but jfc this is slow.
Mine was dextrose and US05.
Next time I'm gonna use lutra kveik as suggested in that video.
Also gonna use table sugar as its way cheaper and will help offset the cost of the lutra.

 

[Nathan Graen]

I'm currently on attempt #2. The first was a Northern Brewer kit with EC118. Now I'm trying the Omega Yeast Lab recipe that came with the pack of Lutra with the Propper Seltzer Yeast Nutrient.

The Northern Brewer kit took 6 weeks and eventually stalled, it had a wine taste to it also.

I pitched the Lutra 7 hours ago and it's down 3 points. You can watch the Tilt log here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...BBEqdQDI-OaX8iPfwNbm2658pLA/edit?usp=drivesdk
I'd like to get away from the from Corn Sugar and Propper Seltzer Nutrient. It would really make it more affordable.

 

[NewJersey]

I'm currently on attempt #2. The first was a Northern Brewer kit with EC118. Now I'm trying the Omega Yeast Lab recipe that came with the pack of Lutra with the Propper Seltzer Yeast Nutrient.

The Northern Brewer kit took 6 weeks and eventually stalled, it had a wine taste to it also.

I pitched the Lutra 7 hours ago and it's down 3 points. You can watch the Tilt log here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...BBEqdQDI-OaX8iPfwNbm2658pLA/edit?usp=drivesdk
I'd like to get away from the from Corn Sugar and Propper Seltzer Nutrient. It would really make it more affordable.

Same boat. I'm gonna roll with regular table sugar, lutra, and some regular fermaid as I already have a bunch.
I don't mind spending some money to make a beer, but I feel weird spending more than a few bucks on fermented sugar water and part of the appeal is making for next to nothing.

 

[NewJersey]

I'm currently on attempt #2. The first was a Northern Brewer kit with EC118. Now I'm trying the Omega Yeast Lab recipe that came with the pack of Lutra with the Propper Seltzer Yeast Nutrient.

The Northern Brewer kit took 6 weeks and eventually stalled, it had a wine taste to it also.

I pitched the Lutra 7 hours ago and it's down 3 points. You can watch the Tilt log here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...BBEqdQDI-OaX8iPfwNbm2658pLA/edit?usp=drivesdk
I'd like to get away from the from Corn Sugar and Propper Seltzer Nutrient. It would really make it more affordable.

Where did yours stall btw?

 

[Nathan Graen]

Where did yours stall btw?

I don't remember, and I didn't take good notes on that one. It got pretty low like 1.005, but not the 0.998 other people were getting.

You'll have to let me know how clean the table sugar and Fermaid turns out.

I also stumbled upon this the other day, it covers carbonation volumes and ph correction. Some things I hadn't seen before.
https://firstkey.com/hard-seltzer-production-methods/

 

[Whiskeymovie]

I have now made two batches of hard seltzer. The first one I used a kit and whatever slats and stuff came with it. I ultimately ended up using 3 packets of US-05 because after 2 weeks, it was only at 1.015. And that was after already using two packets. So, I added another packet and some more yeast nutrient. It got down to .994 in a few days. I kegged it, fined it, and let it sit for a few weeks at near freezing. It did have a sulfur taste and it was yellowish. I am guessing the dap. Even with fining, it took a good few weeks for the seltzer to clear, so I am assuming it has to be treated like a Pilsner or Lager and age it to get that crystal clear appearance. The sulfur taste dissipated as well.

The second batch, I used a packet I got from Brewchatter. It worked well and fast. It got down to .996 in less than a week. Also, no yellow color, which was nice. So, I CO2 scrubbed it for 5 minutes, kegged, cold crashed and fined. It has been over a week and it smells VERY sulfury and while it's not yellowish, it's far from clear.

I am going to try another batch, but use the Proper Seltzer Salts with some Lutra and see how that works out.

I'm not a huge fan of the seltzers per se, but sometimes it's nice to take a break from my heavy IPA's and such. Also, when friends come over, they like having it on tap.

And for flavoring, I bought a bunch of different extracts from Olive Nation and messed around until I found flavors and amounts I like, including mixing some flavors. The Watermelon Blood Orange came out awesome.

The one on the left is the new one, recently kegged, cold crashed, and added the gelatin 4 days ago. I poured off two throw away pints, but was still left this murky mess. However, I think more time aging will clear it.
The older one, the one on the right, is now crystal clear, but has the yellowish hue to it from the DAP, I believe.

I guess like most things with brewing, patience and time are the keys to making great brews...or seltzers.

 

[bwible]

I haven’t gone this route, but if I did I would try wine yeast instead of ale yeast. One of the ones people use for mead, like Lalvin D47.

I’ve made one batch of seltzer and it was just vodka mixed with bottled water and flavor added. I remember trying the fermented sugar route back in the early 00s when alcopops were all the rage. I didn’t have luck with it then, ran into the same things you are describing. Sulfur flavor, off color. The big commercial guys have great filtration options that we homebrewers don’t and I think that also accounts for some of it.

 

[bwible]

Ukeg was doing a kickstarter for their hard seltzer maker back in March. Exceeded their fundraising goal by a whole lot a long time ago:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/growlerwerks/the-ukeg-twist-hard-seltzer-maker
It looks really cool, just going to be the expense of the consumable co2 cylinders for each use. Looks like they are still not available for sale yet but can be pre-ordered on their site.

https://www.growlerwerks.com/

 

[bwible]

i think it was the “original” hard seltzer

 

[16'er]

Interesting thread, no interest in replicating a hard seltzer myself but a couple of thoughts. If I were I’d substitute some of the invert sugar for fermentables with some nutritional values for the yeast. A gallon of apple juice or white grape juice would not affect color much and the residual flavor will blend in to the added flavor in the end. Cost goes up, but not prohibitive.

Personally, I’d also add a pound of LME or wheat extract. I guess if your target is to be grain free, this doesn’t work. Again, color changes will be minimal, but cost will go up. On the flip side, the yeast will be much happier.

I might also try infusing some kind of fruity herbal tea into the batch. Something like lemon zinger? That can help yeast with some electrolyte/minerals as well.

 

[bwible]

I might also try infusing some kind of fruity herbal tea into the batch. Something like lemon zinger? That can help yeast with some electrolyte/minerals as well.

I tried this with one batch of mead that I made awhile back. I thought I was being smart by using Tazo flavored tea bags. I used orange tea bags, added a whole box to the heated water and steeped before adding the honey. What you have to remember is tea has tannin. The resulting mead was very acidic and not very enjoyable. I had to blend it with other mead or add some Sprite to it just to make it drinkable. Take note.

 

[Melicious]

I tried this with one batch of mead that I made awhile back. I thought I was being smart by using Tazo flavored tea bags. I used orange tea bags, added a whole box to the heated water and steeped before adding the honey. What you have to remember is tea has tannin. The resulting mead was very acidic and not very enjoyable. I had to blend it with other mead or add some Sprite to it just to make it drinkable. Take note.

Herbal tea does not necessarily have tannin--it only would if there were some ingredient that is tannin specific; herbals contain no actual tea plant--lemon zinger does in fact contain some tannins in the rosehips and hibiscus. ;-) Of course, this is a fine example of the limitations of language and the ways we typically use terms like "tea!" Or if you go to TX..."I'll have a coke." "What kind of coke?" "A Sprite."

https://www.verywellhealth.com/can-herbal-tea-interfere-with-iron-absorption-89168