Skeeter Pee

[fathertorque]

No. K-meta and k-sorbate prevent fermentation from restarting when you back sweeten. Otherwise you'd end up with bottle bombs.

Thanks! I probably shouldve searched harder prior to posting(and come back to edit the post) because I answered my own question a little later in the day. I'd imagine backsweetening with splenda to skip those ingredients would have deplorable results. Just gonna not be a cheapo and order some.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I have 6 gallons of pee ready for sweetening tomorrow and, if all goes well, bottling in a few days. I'm sweetening with blueberry preserves and 100% blueberry juice. Oh, and I was going to infuse this all with 4 1-ounce packets of fresh mint leaves. This will go over well with everyone I'm sure!

Everyone likes drinking my pee! 😉

 

[Jsamp]

I have my first batch kegged right now. Good stuff. I've been trying to find something my lady would appreciate since she's doesn't like beer. It's quite not sweet enough for her as is but has been adding raspberry lemonade drink packets and loves it like that.

I have a 2nd batch fermenting right now. I would like it to be a little sweeter and raspberry flavored for her. Any recommendations for back sweeting with raspberry?

 

[z-bob]

I just finished bottling a 3-gallon batch. (I use a lot less sugar for backsweetening than the recipe calls for) Starting another 4-gallon batch on the lees from the apple cider that I also bottled today.
All my previous batches of SP have been made with some kind or another of champagne yeast. The cider was fermented with 71B; no idea if it will make a difference.

 

[Dominic1920]

I made this and followed the recipe to the letter. While it has an intense lemon flavor it tastes what I can only describe as flat and watery. No mouth feel or bite. I think it would be better carbonated, but I really cant tell for sure. What did I do wrong?

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I made this and followed the recipe to the letter. While it has an intense lemon flavor it tastes what I can only describe as flat and watery. No mouth feel or bite. I think it would be better carbonated, but I really cant tell for sure. What did I do wrong?

I've noticed that if I don't get the back sweetening to a high enough level, it can taste thin and watery. Try making some simple syrup and add a little at a time to a single glass. See if that fixes it.

 

[Dominic1920]

I've noticed that if I don't get the back sweetening to a high enough level, it can taste thin and watery. Try making some simple syrup and add a little at a time to a single glass. See if that fixes it.

Ah thats it, then. I guess I didn't actually follow the recipe to the letter because I didn't back sweeten at all. Thanks,

 

[z-bob]

Ah thats it, then. I guess I didn't actually follow the recipe to the letter because I didn't back sweeten at all. Thanks,

Oh my, that would taste awful.

Add about half (maybe less than half) of the backsweetening sugar, stir it up, and taste it. Add more sugar until it tastes right. In my 3-gallon batches, it has taken about 1 3/4 cups of sugar. I don't know that 2 cups would be too much, but it might be for my taste.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Sweetening is very important with Skeeter Pee. It doesn't taste good dry! After Ii enjoy the nice weather this afternoon, I'll be doing what I alluded to in a previous post and sweeten my pee with a simple syrup I'm going to make using blueberry preserves ( no seeds or solids), 100% blueberry juice, and mint.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I don't know if I'll use preserves again. I should've read the labels more thoroughly than I did. The pectin in it will probably keep my wine hazy.

I also assumed (falsely) that the preserves combined with the juice was enough sugar to sweeten it where I wanted it. It bumped the gravity up from .990 to 1.002. I had to make more simple syrup with leftover blueberry juice and table sugar to bump it up to 1.016. That made all the difference in the world. A sweet blueberry/lemon flavor with a mint undertone. This is gonna be a popular one.

Next time I do a blueberry pee, I'll use just the juice and sugar to make my simple syrup instead of preserves. This will get the gravity where I want it without adding too much additional liquid that might have diluted my current batch, even if it was a little bit.

 

[Boom]

I have kegged two batches of SP and neither time did I backsweeten.

I made a big batch of simple syrup and just let people sweeten it to taste. It's not too bad dry, I used 71b yeast maybe that's why. It's almost like Sauvigon Blanc when it isn't backsweetened

It's nice to have on hand dry so you can sweeten it/mix it with whatever you want

 

[fathertorque]

So I've got all my SP ingredients and have been doing a lot of reading and video watching of people's various techniques while I've been waiting on my apfelwein to hit the three week mark. It's ec1118 so should still be active enough as a slurry. Here's my thought though...instead of mixing the invert sugar with the lemon juice, degassing and waiting 24-48 hours and risking getting buggies attracted to the sugar water...couldn't I just pour all the lemon juice into a container(say a tea jug, one gallon carboy or whatever) whisk the heck out of it and then cover with one of mesh bags for biab to keep most nasties out? Seems doing it that way would work...plus getting the sulfites out of the 3rd addition of the lemon juice. I tend to overthink new ferments and brews before I jump into them.

 

[z-bob]

Here's what I've done on my last two batches, and I didn't notice any difference from when I made the invert syrup:
I just use plain white sugar and dump it into the fermenter with the yeast energizer, half of the yeast nutrient, tannin, etc, and just one bottle of lemon juice. I add the water (either bottled water, or tap water dechlorinated with vitamin C) and pitch the yeast. A week later I add the second bottle of lemon juice, and a week after that I add the rest of the lemon juice and the rest of the yeast nutrient.
By adding the lemon juice a little at a time, the yeast doesn't have to deal with so much sorbate or benzoate preservatives while it's ramping up.

 

[fathertorque]

Here's what I've done on my last two batches, and I didn't notice any difference from when I made the invert syrup:
I just use plain white sugar and dump it into the fermenter with the yeast energizer, half of the yeast nutrient, tannin, etc, and just one bottle of lemon juice. I add the water (either bottled water, or tap water dechlorinated with vitamin C) and pitch the yeast. A week later I add the second bottle of lemon juice, and a week after that I add the rest of the lemon juice and the rest of the yeast nutrient.
By adding the lemon juice a little at a time, the yeast doesn't have to deal with so much sorbate or benzoate preservatives while it's ramping up.

Pitching a yeast starter, re-hydrated or just dry? I like the idea of spacing out the lemon juice...seems like less likelihood of getting nasties in the mix.

Honestly I'd kind like to let my apfelwein sit another week or so and not mixup the lemon flavors with the apple-ness.

 

[Jsamp]

Anybody ever try this with less lemon juice? I'm on my 2nd batch and thought the first one was just a bit to tart. I haven't added the third bottle yet.

 

[z-bob]

Pitching a yeast starter, re-hydrated or just dry? I like the idea of spacing out the lemon juice...seems like less likelihood of getting nasties in the mix.

I've used champagne yeasts (EC-1118, Premier Cuvee, etc) by just rehydrating them and pitching. I started a new batch a week ago using the 71B slurry from a carboy of hard cider that I bottled.

 

[Jsamp]

Pitching a yeast starter, re-hydrated or just dry? I like the idea of spacing out the lemon juice...seems like less likelihood of getting nasties in the mix.

Honestly I'd kind like to let my apfelwein sit another week or so and not mixup the lemon flavors with the apple-ness.

Both batches I made I just pitched 2 packets of yeast. Both fermented without any issues. As far as nasties I don't see it being a big concern with the acidic environment. I just don't see any bugs grabbing hold very easily. Yeast have a hard enough time.

 

[mr_y82]

I have kegged two batches of SP and neither time did I backsweeten.

I made a big batch of simple syrup and just let people sweeten it to taste. It's not too bad dry, I used 71b yeast maybe that's why. It's almost like Sauvigon Blanc when it isn't backsweetened

It's nice to have on hand dry so you can sweeten it/mix it with whatever you want

:rockin: That's what I do with my apple cider... well not simple syrup, but backsweeten with unfermeted juice at the time of consumption... simpler and less waste! Of course, I typically drink it dry.

 

[fathertorque]

:rockin: That's what I do with my apple cider... well not simple syrup, but backsweeten with unfermeted juice at the time of consumption... simpler and less waste! Of course, I typically drink it dry.

Hm, man I'd never thought about mixing up a sweetner for folks to add into cider...I usually split a 5 gallon carboy between sweetened, carbonated bottles and dry, still liters.

 

[fathertorque]

Started my batch of SP last night. Going the gradual additions of lemon juice route. Had an SG of 1.07. I whipped the heck out of it with a drill whip and pitched a rehydrated 1118 packet. Eight hours overnite and there's no visible airlock activity but I cracked the bucket lid and there's obvious movement with slight fizzing and bubbling. There seems to be quite a bit of yeast hanging out on top, but it all appears to be moving about. Curious if anyone has seen delayed airlock activity with this or if anyone has any thoughts.

 

[SpringSteam]

I always start my SP with 2 bottles of Lemon juice, then add additional during fermentation and taste it so it dosent get too tart. (using pretty small Juice bottles 75cl) Have tried once to start with 4 bottles but, was hard to get the fermentation to start. And the taste was not what i wanted.....

 

[Jsamp]

Started my batch of SP last night. Going the gradual additions of lemon juice route. Had an SG of 1.07. I whipped the heck out of it with a drill whip and pitched a rehydrated 1118 packet. Eight hours overnite and there's no visible airlock activity but I cracked the bucket lid and there's obvious movement with slight fizzing and bubbling. There seems to be quite a bit of yeast hanging out on top, but it all appears to be moving about. Curious if anyone has seen delayed airlock activity with this or if anyone has any thoughts.

Airlock activity does not equal fermentation. I'm sure it's fine. Get a hydrometer reading.

 

[fathertorque]

That's what I was thinking, just needed to hear it from someone else. It looked like and smelled like fermentation to me. Figured I'd take a reading next Monday before I add the 2nd bottle of juice. Thanks man!

Airlock activity does not equal fermentation. I'm sure it's fine. Get a hydrometer reading.

 

[Texconsinite]

Anybody ever try this with less lemon juice? I'm on my 2nd batch and thought the first one was just a bit to tart. I haven't added the third bottle yet.

Yes. I made a watermelon batch and only used 2 bottles of lemon juice instead of 3, becasue i was concerned the lemon would odrown out the delicate watermelon flavor. The reduced lemon really made a difference, but I'd have to say it really wasn't my favorite batch. The conclusion i came to is that the lemon juice kinda hides the alcohol bite and other young-wine flavors. For straight lemon pee, reducing the Lemon would not be good idea IMO.

However, after over a dozen batches of pee of various flavors, I've found that I can get other fruit flavors to come through just fine with the normal amt of lemon. And a solution for it being "too tart" might be to add some other fruit flavors to balance out the lemony tartness. Strawberries work well.

Heres how:
2-3 days before making invert syrup w lemon juice. Make a starter in a 1/2 gallon jug (100% juice any type), pour yourself a glass of juice to drink, then add: 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp Nutrient. EC-1118. Shake like crazy, put a balloon on plastic jug (after 5 days dump in and affix lid)

1-2 lbs frozen then thawed fruit in muslin bag in primary

Backsweeten with whatever juice, packets, etc you want as well as sugar.

Between the 1/2 gallon of juice starter & the primary fruit, you will be AMAZED how much flavor comes through just backsweetening with sugar.

One previous poster said his lady liked to add raspberry lemonaide packets to the pee to further sweeten it. To get this right out of the bottle, Just backsweeten it with those same packets + sugar to taste, and let your lady be the assistant taste tester. Some ppl even use Kool-aid packets. Once the yeast is sorbated+Kmeta'd, fermentation stops, so preservatives in Kool-aid , frozen daiquiri mix, etc arent gonna hurt anything.

 

[fathertorque]

Anyone else had a batch go from 1.07 to a little under 1.05 in a matter of two days? That's adjusting for a temp of about 78 ambient temp. I didn't use a starter, just pitched some rehydrated 1118. I went ahead and added the nutrient and energizer and second bottle of juice.

 

[fathertorque]

After one week gravity showed .99 so onward with the k-meta and sorbate and racked into secondary(s).

View attachment 1439865634210.jpg

 

[z-bob]

BTW, do NOT drink a whole growler of SP -- over ice in a large glass -- by yourself in an evening. It goes down so easy, you can hurt yourself. (ouch)

Probably best not to put it in a half gallon bottle in the first place.

 

[menerdari]

Have my first batch of SP in secondary.
Spent 6 days in primary, started at 1.075 and was at 0.998 when I racked over.
Started with 2 quarts real lemon and added 2/3 of another quart at day 4, used a starter of C1118 and mixed with a whip each day. when I racked to my carboy I had about 20 ozs. left over so I was obligated to add some sugar and ice and drink it. It was deliscious, if this is the result of a batch that is not done yet, I can't wait for the final results
I plan on splitting into 1 gallon batches and flavoring 4 of them and just back sweeten the rest.

 

[petey_c]

BTW, do NOT drink a whole growler of SP -- over ice in a large glass -- by yourself in an evening. It goes down so easy, you can hurt yourself. (ouch)

Probably best not to put it in a half gallon bottle in the first place.

z-bob, you could probably also post that advice in the, "Don't Do That" thread...

 

[Yeroc]

Apologies if this question was already asked and answered somewhere within the 249 pages of this thread. I'm wondering if I can go ahead and back sweeten while I'm waiting for the Sparkolloid to settle out or if I need to wait for the Sparkolloid to finish first. More info...

After my skeeter pee fermented out, I added Potassium metabisulfite and sorbate, but I didn't have Sparkolloid on hand. Since then I got some Sparkolloid. I racked to a new carboy and added the Sparkolloid per manufacturer's directions just a few days ago. I'm feeling impatient and want to back sweeten soon so that I can bottle in a few weeks. Can I mix in my 6 cups of sugar now and then wait a few weeks for the Sparkolloid to settle out (and to confirm that fermentation doesn't start back up).

Alternatively, I guess I could just back sweeten at bottling, but the recipe suggests to back sweeten and then wait a few weeks before bottling (to avoid bottle bombs, I’m sure).

Any thoughts from previous experience? Thanks!