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Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
When both our batches are ready for tasting, we need to hook up...
Just don't try mine on an empty stomach... 
Making hard lemonade
- Thread starter Golddiggie
- Start date
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When both our batches are ready for tasting, we need to hook up...
Just don't try mine on an empty stomach... 
As per previus post I made 2 batches of hard lemmonade 1 with added fruit and 1 draught up they were in my shed in a box wile I was waiting for them to clear sum more and mature a bit had them in 1 gal demijohns with solid hung in them.
I went out to check them today and the 1 with added fruit the bung blew out so its goin down the sink now what a waste
Note to self don't do that again
I went out to check them today and the 1 with added fruit the bung blew out so its goin down the sink now what a waste
Note to self don't do that again
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Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
That deserves more than just a face-palm... Should be a head-smack with a 2x4...
BTW, newbee17, always have an airlock attached whenever you add anything that contains sugars to something that has yeast in it... You never know when you'll get more fermentation going. Unless you've killed the yeast, and KNOW they're dead and gone... Even then, it doesn't hurt to have an airlock installed...
I bottled my batch up over a week ago now... I might take a bottle, or two, up to family on Easter... Not sure if it will be 100% ready for drinking by then, but we'll find out... :rockin:
Oh, and my lemonade is soooo haaaaaard it will love you long time.. :rockin:
bovineblitz
Well-Known Member
I just did a taste testing of my lemonade today, will be bottling tomorrow. I figured about 1.75 teaspoons tasted right in 3/4 of a cup so I'm scaling it up to the whole batch. Also, the lemon flavor was a bit weak so I added the just from about 1/3 of a lemon and it tasted a lot brighter and better so I'll be picking up 25 lemons to add at bottling... that won't add much sugar, right? I'm going to make it sparkling so I'll be adding 3.5g cane sugar.
The main idea behind this batch is that in the summer I'll brew up fresh iced tea and blend the two, making palmers. I tried it with some tea today and it was pretty tasty once I got my other flavors figured out, though I think it's about a 2/3 tea to 1/3 lemonade ratio that works well.
Also, I drank probably 1/4 cup of this stuff total but man I can feel it! This lemonade is powerful!
The main idea behind this batch is that in the summer I'll brew up fresh iced tea and blend the two, making palmers. I tried it with some tea today and it was pretty tasty once I got my other flavors figured out, though I think it's about a 2/3 tea to 1/3 lemonade ratio that works well.
Also, I drank probably 1/4 cup of this stuff total but man I can feel it! This lemonade is powerful!
LooyvilleLarry
Well-Known Member
Goldiggie, you mentioned using Potassium Carbonate to raise the pH, but unless I missed it, didn't see what you raised it to. I'd imagine around 5.2-5.4 or so?
Why the potassium carbonate over slaked lime or baking soda ?
Why the potassium carbonate over slaked lime or baking soda ?
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Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
5.2-5.4??? F no... Trying to lift it that high would not work... You only want to use Pot. Bicarb. to lift the PH a bit... I went from about 2.8-3.0 to 3.2... 3.2 is a safe enough range for the wine yeast to function well.
I've never used slaked lime, so I wouldn't know where to start, or what it would do to the brew. Using baking soda would also [probably] have a negative impact on the must.
This is a hard lemonade, so you want some bite to it (from the acid of the lemonade) but have it a high enough PH for the yeast to be happy.
Besides, getting the must up to/slightly above 3.2 is what's done by the good folks on the Got Mead? site with their hard lemonade. IMO, that's good enough for me.
newbee17 said:
Added 2 large lemons juiced last week to the surviving batch I have left and 2day I racked again in2 a clean demijohn it smells fairly close to petrol but the lemon juice I added make a nice flavour.
Have a small amount in the fridge now so I can try this when its cold
Gona leave the rest age for a month or so and hopfully the alcohol will calm down a little
I've started another hard lemonade I like the sound of (stevo's rock shandy) or hard rock shandy
Very simple I used:
12 large oranges juiced(1200ml)
8 medium lemmons juiced
3kg honey
Topped up to just under 10ltres with water.
Youngs cider yeast
2tsps of nutriant
I'm thinkin now I should of used zest for extra flavour any toughts?
I started this on 9/5/11
Very simple I used:
12 large oranges juiced(1200ml)
8 medium lemmons juiced
3kg honey
Topped up to just under 10ltres with water.
Youngs cider yeast
2tsps of nutriant
I'm thinkin now I should of used zest for extra flavour any toughts?
I started this on 9/5/11
I am wondering how using honey differs from using DME as I have always used the latter. I do not have to back sweeten with DME . I used Yoopers recipe as a template.
Hard Lemonade (Batch #4) Original thread located at:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hard-lemonade-problem-12104/
OG 1.100
Present OG as of 06/09/11: 1.035
Ingredients:
10 cans of Minute Maid lemonade concentrate or enough to get 5gal.
Sugar to an SG of 1.100 (1.5 pounds per gallon, more or less- see below) ( I did #5 Cane Sugar)
#1.5-2 Light DME
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp yeast energizer
3 crushed Campden tablets or 1/2 tsp K-meta
Wine yeast
Procedure:
1. Rehydrate one sachet of Cotes de Blanc wine yeast in ¼ c water and a tsp of yeast energizer and nutrient. I used an Erlenmeyer flask on a stir plate so I did not have to mix it up manually.
2. Heat water to 170F, mix #5 of sugar and #2 of light DME. Stir and hold for 15-20 min to allow sugar and DME to dissolve.
3. Add enough Lemonade concentrate to yield 1.5g in the sugar/DME must. I used 3 cans.
4. Remove some of the must and store so that you can periodically add it to the starter. (I filled up two pint sized sanitized mason jars)
5. Once the yeast is looking and smelling “yeasty”. It has that cream color to it. I start adding some of the removed must. I did about 1/3 at a time and built up the starter over 18-24 hrs. You want to do this slowly so the yeast can get acclimated to being in a very acidic environment.
6. The next day I made the rest of the lemonade (3.5gal), and a tsp or so of yeast energizer and added it to the must in the fermenting bucket for a total of 5gal. OG is 1.100.
7. I did not do an open fermentation the first time but I did do a semi open fermentation for batch 2 and 3. My semi open fermentation was in an Ale Pail and with the lid just sitting on top of the bucket with an airlock in place. This batch I am doing it in a Carboy with a bung and airlock, but the bung is not pushed all the way in.) This will allow Oxygen in but will keep the bugs and other nasties out.
8. When you reach your desired FG and do not want to carbonate it with dextrose add 3 crushed Campden tablets or ½ tsp of K- Meta to stop fermentation. I bottle condition mine so I rack to a secondary or cold crash for a few days before bottling.
Hard Lemonade (Batch #4) Original thread located at:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hard-lemonade-problem-12104/
OG 1.100
Present OG as of 06/09/11: 1.035
Ingredients:
10 cans of Minute Maid lemonade concentrate or enough to get 5gal.
Sugar to an SG of 1.100 (1.5 pounds per gallon, more or less- see below) ( I did #5 Cane Sugar)
#1.5-2 Light DME
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 tsp yeast energizer
3 crushed Campden tablets or 1/2 tsp K-meta
Wine yeast
Procedure:
1. Rehydrate one sachet of Cotes de Blanc wine yeast in ¼ c water and a tsp of yeast energizer and nutrient. I used an Erlenmeyer flask on a stir plate so I did not have to mix it up manually.
2. Heat water to 170F, mix #5 of sugar and #2 of light DME. Stir and hold for 15-20 min to allow sugar and DME to dissolve.
3. Add enough Lemonade concentrate to yield 1.5g in the sugar/DME must. I used 3 cans.
4. Remove some of the must and store so that you can periodically add it to the starter. (I filled up two pint sized sanitized mason jars)
5. Once the yeast is looking and smelling “yeasty”. It has that cream color to it. I start adding some of the removed must. I did about 1/3 at a time and built up the starter over 18-24 hrs. You want to do this slowly so the yeast can get acclimated to being in a very acidic environment.
6. The next day I made the rest of the lemonade (3.5gal), and a tsp or so of yeast energizer and added it to the must in the fermenting bucket for a total of 5gal. OG is 1.100.
7. I did not do an open fermentation the first time but I did do a semi open fermentation for batch 2 and 3. My semi open fermentation was in an Ale Pail and with the lid just sitting on top of the bucket with an airlock in place. This batch I am doing it in a Carboy with a bung and airlock, but the bung is not pushed all the way in.) This will allow Oxygen in but will keep the bugs and other nasties out.
8. When you reach your desired FG and do not want to carbonate it with dextrose add 3 crushed Campden tablets or ½ tsp of K- Meta to stop fermentation. I bottle condition mine so I rack to a secondary or cold crash for a few days before bottling.
remilard
Well-Known Member
I assume he used it because it is more soluble than calcium carbonate and does not add sodium like baking soda.
I would use calcium or potassium hydroxide as I don't ever want to add bicarbonate.
You want about 3.5 for optimal yeast performance.
Here is another easy lemonade recipe/method.
2lbs. Corn Sugar
2lbs. clover honey
2lbs. light malt extract
6 cans frozen lemonade concentrate
* Optionial Fruit puree 2-3 lbs
6% ABV estimated
1 packet nottingham dried ale yeast
Bring 1.5 gallons of water to a boil. Add sugar, honey, and malt extract. Boil for 5 minutes. Chill the wort in a covered pot. When cooled pour ingredients into the primary fermentor. Top off with enough cooled water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast and ferment in the primary for about one week or until primary fermentation has completed. Add 6 cans of thawed lemonade concentrate to the secondary fermentor, you can also add any aseptic fruit puree you like at this point (think rasberry-lemonade). Rack the contents of the primary to the secondary until fermentation completes (usually about a week). Keg or bottle as normal but make sure to use a cheesecloth or steeping bag around end of siphon to filter out lemon/fruit particles.
Note: I know there are many processes for fruit/lemonade out there but this method works for me and bypasses the difficult initial ferment hard lemonade can have due to the high acidity levels by giving the yeast a head start in the primary. You can also add a pound or more lactose to the final 5-10 minutes of the boil to increase sweetness
(more of a mikes hard lemonade taste).
2lbs. Corn Sugar
2lbs. clover honey
2lbs. light malt extract
6 cans frozen lemonade concentrate
* Optionial Fruit puree 2-3 lbs
6% ABV estimated
1 packet nottingham dried ale yeast
Bring 1.5 gallons of water to a boil. Add sugar, honey, and malt extract. Boil for 5 minutes. Chill the wort in a covered pot. When cooled pour ingredients into the primary fermentor. Top off with enough cooled water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast and ferment in the primary for about one week or until primary fermentation has completed. Add 6 cans of thawed lemonade concentrate to the secondary fermentor, you can also add any aseptic fruit puree you like at this point (think rasberry-lemonade). Rack the contents of the primary to the secondary until fermentation completes (usually about a week). Keg or bottle as normal but make sure to use a cheesecloth or steeping bag around end of siphon to filter out lemon/fruit particles.
Note: I know there are many processes for fruit/lemonade out there but this method works for me and bypasses the difficult initial ferment hard lemonade can have due to the high acidity levels by giving the yeast a head start in the primary. You can also add a pound or more lactose to the final 5-10 minutes of the boil to increase sweetness
(more of a mikes hard lemonade taste).
geezerpk
Well-Known Member
That's what I do, and it works fine for me. I can hear the purists cringing from here, but no one whose tried mine have objected or noticed the use of artificial sweetener. Of course, since they're my friends, they probably have very unrefined tastes to begin with.
