rasberry hard lemonade

[duneman101]

So i am a newb, and i am try a veriation of the hard lemonade recipe, but would like to add some rasberry flavor to it... should i add the rasberry mash to the primary during fermentation or rack onto it in a secondary or should i not mess with the rasberry mash and just use some rasberry extract flavoring in bottling?

sorry i tried searching this out, but i wasn't to fortunate in getting an answer from searching and my LHBS guys are a bunch of F@#$ing idiots...

 

[Tusch]

There are a few trains of thought for adding fruit. If you use straight raspberries, you can add them to the primary fermentation, the secondary, or you can kill off the yeast and rack onto the fruit for aging. If you add it in primary, you will get a lot of color but the sugar in the fruit will be fermented away, leaving some good tart flavor I would imagine. This would be basically the same for secondary as well, though you may get more flavor since the fermentation won't be as strong at this point.

If you are ok with still lemonade or you are able to keg, then I think the third option would be best. You could finish off the lemonade, then sorbate it to kill the yeast. Once this is done, rack onto a few lbs of raspberries per gallon and let it soak up that great flavor. After that, either bottle it still or keg it.

 

[Yooper]

Well, I love the hard lemonade recipe I've posted here, but I'm not sure raspberries would be good in it. I"ve had fermented raspberries before (raspberry wine) and it quite honestly wasn't very good. Now, that doesn't mean raspberries won't be good in hard lemonade- I'm just thinking that fermenting them might not be so good in it. Maybe ferment the hard lemonade (and that was a tough ferment for me to get started due to the high acidity) and then add some raspberries for flavor. I've never actually done this, though- it's just my thoughts on it.

 

[duneman101]

Thanks a bunch for the thoughts, i think i will ferment out the hard lemonade, kill the yeast then rack onto the raspberries and age. How long do you think it will take to age it and get a raspberry flavor? I am not a big fan of super tart drinks, but SWMBO wants more than just lemonade, so i thought i would give it a try.

 

[Yooper]

It shouldn't take very long for the raspberries to break down and flavor the hard lemonade- maybe a week? I'm not sure, but I would guess that would be about right. The lemonade would probably be about 8% ABV, so it would "steep" pretty quickly, I'd think.

 

[duneman101]

It shouldn't take very long for the raspberries to break down and flavor the hard lemonade- maybe a week? I'm not sure, but I would guess that would be about right. The lemonade would probably be about 8% ABV, so it would "steep" pretty quickly, I'd think.

nice, so that ought to be done just in time for my big dune trip over memorial...

i plan on a 5 gal batch, how many pounds of raspberries do you think i should use, and should i put them in a diffuser of some sort or panty hoes or something to keep them from pulping it all up?

 

[Tusch]

Definitely put them in a fruit or mesh bag for sure. They will soak up a lot of good brew and you aren't going to want to lose it, plus they will most likely break down a bit and this would ease some of the racking pains. Once you get the flavor profile you are looking for, pull the bags out and press them, putting as much of the juice back in the brew.

Now for amounts, I can't say, since I've never tried raspberries, and yooper is WAY more experienced then me, so heed her advice. I see she used 4 lbs per gallon of blackberries in her wine recipe, so perhaps 2 lbs per gal. since you already have the lemon flavor in there?

 

[duneman101]

I am thinking maybe i should leave half of the brew in hard lemonade form, and the other half experiment with the raspberry thing... 10lbs of raspberries and 5 gallons of hard lemonade would be a pretty sad mix to dump down the drain if things go south... and if the raspberry mix is crappy tasting i can always choke it down, 2 gallons would be a lot easier than 5.

 

[Yooper]

That sounds like a good plan! The plain hard lemonade gets very dry, and you can sweeten it up to taste if you want, you can serve it still, or you can carbonate it. My husband loved it plain, still and dry. I liked it a little sweeter but still on the dry side, and I liked it still, not carbonated.

As far as the raspberries, since I've never done it, I don't know how many pounds of berries to use- two would be as good of a guess as any other!

So, to further mess up your ideas- you can carbonate, sweeten, add more lemonade for flavor, add the raspberries, etc. So many ideas- but I'm not really smart enough to help implement!

 

[duneman101]

So many ideas- but I'm not really smart enough to help implement!

no yours and Tuschs advise has been very helpful, as i am not a pro at this any little bit is helpful and valuable.