swing top bottles

[newbee17]

I tink I just found "the deal of the century" the shop down the road from me have 750ml swing top bottles with lemonade in dem 2 for 1euro.
Everybody was looking at me when I bought 40 of them bt dere really hard 2 get at dat price,ill just dump the lemonade and delabel dem and dey will be perfect.


I hope they get more of dem in stock soon.

 

[bovineblitz]

Was the lemonade carbonated?

 

[Golddiggie]

Instead of just dumping the lemonade, how about using it to make hard lemonade? You have free ingredient there, add some honey, pitch some yeast, let her ride until strong...

With 40 bottles, you have enough to make two 5 gallon batches there... :rockin: Use half of it in each batch (~15 liters) along with about 5-10 pounds of honey and you could have something rocking there... :rockin: Just add honey until you hit a decent OG and go for it.. Depending on how much honey you use, will determine what yeast to use... Of course...

 

[Golddiggie]

Was the lemonade carbonated?

Hadn't even thought of that... DOH!!!

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

Wow, hard lemonade looks like its real easy to make. Now if I only had an extra carboy and a 'deal of the century' :-D

 

[Golddiggie]

Wow, hard lemonade looks like its real easy to make. Now if I only had an extra carboy and a 'deal of the century' :-D

Only reason I've not started a batch, is my 3 gallon carboys have mead in them... I'm debating getting one this week, just so that I can make a batch of hard lemonade for end of spring...

Damnit, now I'm just going to have to do it... Get some decent honey (it doesn't need to be mead grade, so you don't need to spend a lot there) and some frozen lemonade... I already have yeast to use, so I'm good there... Will go to the LHBS and get the carboy early in the week... Just need to remember to get some DAP too...

 

[newbee17]

golddiggie you rock your my hero i would of never tought of doing that im gone gen to doing that first ting inda morning.just im fairly new to this so would i need to heat it before i add honey? and im used to using kits so i have nothing to get OG reading is it ok to just wing it??

yeh was carbonated lemonade.

whats dap???

 

[Golddiggie]

I wouldn't heat up the honey... If it's liquid, just mix it in...

This is going to be a 'cold' project...

I would taste the lemonade before going with this. If it's sweet, you could start on the low end of the honey range. You could use good sugar to (dememera comes to mind) instead of honey, if you wish... Or combine both... Since it's carbonated, you might want to let it go flat, then take a hydrometer reading off of it...

1 pound of honey will increase the must gravity by ~7 points, in 5 gallons of solution (total)... 12 pounds of honey typically takes up 1 gallon of volume...

So, if the stuff you have in bottles tastes decent/good, use it. If it's butt-nasty then toss it... Or make a small batch, to get your feet wet, and reserve the rest for a bigger one.

I would get a hydrometer as soon as possible... It's a critical tool to have when you're brewing/fermenting anything. Without it, you won't know what you have for potential, or when things are really done...

DAP is a yeast nutrient... You could also boil up some bakers yeast, to use in place... Typically with mead, and high OG must/wort, you'll want to give the yeast nutrients to help them along... More important with must (which is what you'll be making here)...

Slight stab in the dark without knowing the gravity of the lemonade... But tasting will tell you about how much sugars it appears to have... Assuming it's medium sweetness/dryness I'd say it's probably about 1.015 (complete stab in the dark though)... If you use 4 gallons worth of the lemonade, I would still go for 6-10 pounds of honey... Make one, see how it is in 4-6 weeks, and then alter for the second batch...

DO get a hydrometer though... If you can get one before you start this, it will be a HUGE help... Without knowing the gravity of the lemonade, it makes things more difficult... With a hydrometer, you could also use the Dememera sugar to get the OG to where it will make something strong...

I would aerate the crap out of the must before you pitch the yeast in. I would also make a starter for the yeast... You can do that with a weaker must, say a few ounces of honey in a quart of water... Once it's fermented that, add a few more ounces of honey... Let that go, and see how much yeast you have in the container... I would use DAP or even the Wyeast Beer Nutrient to help things along... While yeast loves sugars, it needs other things to really do well... That's what the nutrient will provide.

How strong would you like this to be? That will really determine how much sugar/honey to use... Plus, how much sugars are in the lemonade...

I'm planning on making mine in the 6-12% ABV range... Probably looking to use 1.5-3 pounds of honey per gallon of must... You can use the mead calculator to get a base mead ratio/recipe.. Assume very little gravity contribution from the lemonade, look at it as more of a flavor element...

Hope this helps, and doesn't make it more confusing for you... If you have time (which you probably do) make a test batch, or one batch first... You can always tweak the second batch to get something different from it all... Either way, you should get something good (provided the lemonade is good) out of this... Make one batch strong, the other modest, and mix them up when you give them to your friends...

 

[newbee17]

Yeh that's a good idea I tink ill make a 1gal batch nd c what it turns out like its fairly bitter like lemmons wouldn't normally drink it bt if it kicks like a mule ill have a try.

Thanks for your help I'm always looking to learn more about home brew

 

[newbee17]

started my first batch of "hard lemmonade" today addes 3 pounds of honey to 2 gal of lemmonade so fingers crossed il post how it turns ou in a couple of months and hopfully its good.

 

[Golddiggie]

started my first batch of "hard lemmonade" today addes 3 pounds of honey to 2 gal of lemmonade so fingers crossed il post how it turns ou in a couple of months and hopfully its good.

Just for giggles, have some extra honey on hand in case you want to back-sweeten it later... Which yeast are you going with?

I'm going to the LHBS shortly to get another carboy to make mine. Also plan on picking up some DAP to feed the yeast... Should be done fermenting in about a month, so probably drinkable in 2-3...

I'm looking to use dried cherries in mine, so a hard cherry lemonade...

If you can, get some DAP/yeast nutrient and plan on adding some to help it along... Lalvin also offers Fermaid which is another yeast nutrient... Good to have on hand for when you need it (eventually I think most of us will at some point)...

You might want to get a PH meter, or a way to test the PH on it... You don't want it too low, or it will be hard for the yeast to do their job... I believe you can use potassium carbonate (or bicarbonate) to lift the PH a bit... Just enough for the yeast to be happy, but not eliminate the zing from the base lemonade.. You can try with a few grams (~3) at first, to see how it goes. Once the yeast take off, I'd hold off on adding any more... Give them a few days between times you add any, to make sure you don't use too much... I plan to pick some up from the LHBS today, so that I can do it up right...

I'll probably use Lalvin Labs EC-1118 or D47 for my yeast (like both)... EC-1118 has a fast fermentation speed (the others are lower) with low nutrient requirements (good news for me on both counts )... D47 has the "ENHANCES VARIETAL CHARACTER" listing, where EC-1118 is "Neutral"... Both are good in my book.

With your amount of honey, you're probably going to hit in the 6% ABV area... Pretty solid, and moderate, results... I'll probably aim a bit higher in mine...

Will be interesting to compare results when both are finished...

 

[newbee17]

I used a wine yeast as was hoping it would have a higher alcohol tollerance but didn't wanna put more honey in as didn't wanna make it 2 sweet.as deres no home brew stores within 100miles of me I've ordered a hydrometer but have 2 wait for delivery so I'm just winging it have no proper readings.
Kept enough lemonade for another batch if this goes well I'll try get it stronger and maybe add more flavours any ideas??
I used a youngs nutriant just a teaspoon per gal.
Yeh let me no how your batch turns out and we can compare

 

[Golddiggie]

I used a wine yeast as was hoping it would have a higher alcohol tollerance but didn't wanna put more honey in as didn't wanna make it 2 sweet.as deres no home brew stores within 100miles of me I've ordered a hydrometer but have 2 wait for delivery so I'm just winging it have no proper readings.
Kept enough lemonade for another batch if this goes well I'll try get it stronger and maybe add more flavours any ideas??
I used a youngs nutriant just a teaspoon per gal.
Yeh let me no how your batch turns out and we can compare

Ok, which wine yeast??? I picked up some Lalvin 71B-1122 for this batch (haven't tried it before, but profile looks good)... With a 15-30C (59-86F) temperature range (for it's 'happy place') I should be good... The low end of the scale will be the harder part, but I might just move it into the warmer part of the kitchen, or maybe even the living room (closer to 70 there most of the time, low 60's otherwise)...

I picked up enough lemonade concentrate to make 3 gallons tonight... Also grabbed 6# of honey to add... I'll run the numbers to make sure I'm not adding too much honey, so it finishes more dry than sweet. You can always add more honey if you want to later. Although I have a feeling it's going to finish dry no matter what, unless I make it over 14% ABV... That might be a bit much for most of my family to handle... Although it could be fun to see... Could age it enough that it smooths out to the point where they don't notice how potent it is until they're really feeling the effect...

I picked up another package of dried cherries to use once it's finished fermenting... I already had one package, and the store should have more by the time the batch is ready for them... So, I'm making hard pink cherry lemonade... Can only imagine the possibilities for the label there... lol

I did get some DAP and Fermax to use in this... Always good to have on hand for mead, wine, hard juices, etc...

Probably should put up pictures too, of how things progress on this one...

 

[newbee17]

What would you label this hard lemmonade is it a mead???

Was just reading bout mead and people say it tastes better with age do the same rules apply 2 this

 

[Golddiggie]

I think hard lemonade might, technically, be a melomel as we've made it... Fermented honey with fruit added for flavor and additional sugars...

Mine took almost a week to actually really start fermenting... Used 4# of honey, 6 12oz cans of pink lemonade concentrate, and enough water to make 3 gallons. Added DAP at the start (enough for the entire batch) as well as some pot. bicarb. to help offset some of the acidity. I did pick up some PH test strips, which helped me to find out that the PH was a bit on the low side. I added as much pot. bicarb. as I felt safe adding (while avoiding foamcano's)... Since I mixed it all cold, not all the honey has gone into solution yet, but it's slowly getting there. I figure I have at least a few months before I'll need to bottle it up. Not sure what I'll end up priming mine with, but it will probably be either more honey, or raw cane sugar.

I still have a blowoff tube in, since when I give the carboy a shake, to aerate/mix, it foams up nicely... I figure that I'll wait until all the honey is gone before I even think it's close to being done... Just hope it tastes like I think it will...

Oh, and I'm thinking about adding dried cherries to it once fermentation is finished. Could give it a nice flavor. Or, I'll just cut up a couple and put them into some of the bottles. Probably going to use clear bottles with this, so it will be easy to see which is which...

 

[newbee17]

When I rack this could I add more honey nd let it ferment again?

 

[Golddiggie]

When I rack this could I add more honey nd let it ferment again?

You could, if you wanted to... With the amount of honey you used, though, you might not want to... With 3# and ~2 gallons of must, it should have a nice kick to it. I would taste it and see how it is. If you think it needs more punch, then add another pound of honey to it and let it ferment that out.

I re-ran the numbers on what my OG would have been if the honey was in solution from the start... I'll probably be in the 12-13% ABV range. Figuring how much sugar is in each container of concentrate, times how many cans I used, plus the amount of honey used for the batch size.

Since I think we both plan on having carbonation in our results, I wouldn't let it ferment out too much. You'll want at least some yeast left alive at the end. If you can find out how high an alcohol tolerance the yeast you used has, that will help. Without OG readings, though, you'll be shooting in the dark... Best thing would be to taste it first. If you like the alcohol feel/content level, then just add some more honey for carbonation before bottling it up (just as you would beer)... Fill up the bottles that you purchased the original in and enjoy...

For giggles, you could have people try the raw lemonade you used, then have some of what you made out of it. Do a blind tasting on them, so some will have one, while the rest of the people have the other, then swap... Just don't let anyone too young to drink get into the upgraded stuff...

 

[newbee17]

Yeh that would be a nice abv to reach.it hasn't foamed at all just bubbling away nicely have it inda hotpress to keep warm

I was tinking about adding sum kind of fruit was gona go with few diff types bt would the fruit not rot.

I invested in a hydrometer so nxt time ill be able to do the numbers a little better.

 

[Golddiggie]

Yeh that would be a nice abv to reach.it hasn't foamed at all just bubbling away nicely have it inda hotpress to keep warm

I was tinking about adding sum kind of fruit was gona go with few diff types bt would the fruit not rot.

I invested in a hydrometer so nxt time ill be able to do the numbers a little better.

With mead's you need to aerate it during the first 1/3 of the sugar consumption. Since that's an unknown time frame right now, I would give it a little shaking every day to see how it reacts. Chances are, you're getting good activity going, so you could have already passed the 1/3 break. At which point, you don't want to introduce oxygen/air into the must. It gets tricky when you don't have an OG to work with. I'm just giving mine a little shake to get the stuff on the top to mix back in (the fruit bits) and get more of the honey into solution (it's getting there)... I'll probably stop most of that once the honey is fully in solution.

If you have the hydrometer, you could use the calculator on got mead to figure out what your OG should have been, and base things off that.

For fruit, I would wait until fermentation is completed before adding any. Then, leave it in for 5-7 days before racking off of it. I don't think it will actually rot, but you could start getting flavors you don't want if you let it go too long.

I might pull off some of the finished hard lemonade into a 1 gallon jug and add some dried cherries to that. That way I can have two variants on the hard lemonade to offer/drink... I'm thinking of doing the same thing with part of my traditional mead batches. 1 gallon pulled off and racked onto dried cherries for 5-7 days (or until they lose most/all color)...

 

[newbee17]

Just tryed the mead calculator and got an 1.102 OG is this reading ok? My lemmonade on its own has an OG of 1.060 as dis is my first time using this I dnt know if its good or bad???

 

[newbee17]

I bought sum frozen mixed fruit to add 2 1 gal of my lemmonade after It finishes fermenting wen I rack it should I crush the fruit or just add as is??

I'm planning my next batch assuming it tastes good was tinking of adding sum tinned peach to the next batch and leaving a batch as original mead

 

[Golddiggie]

Just tryed the mead calculator and got an 1.102 OG is this reading ok? My lemmonade on its own has an OG of 1.060 as dis is my first time using this I dnt know if its good or bad???

Depends on how strong the yeast is... If it goes dry, you'll be at 13.9% ABV... My OG calculated to about 1.089, so I could be looking at the low 12% range. Really depends on how much extra sugars I put into it, and such. If I add another pound of honey (so very tempted to) I could hit 13.5-13.7%... Just not sure if I want to go that high in ABV on this one... While it would be funny to have people try it, think it's like Mike's, and then wonder why they're so tired after just one, or two glasses.

Either way, this is no kiddie lemonade we're making. :rockin:

For the fruit addition, I would let them thaw out, then use a potato masher on them to break them up. Don't spin them in the blender or anything like that. You don't want to cut any of the seeds.

My batch is pretty much done foaming when I give it a shake. So, I'm going to pretty much leave it alone most days. I might give it a swirl from time to time, just to keep things moving... I figured I'll check the SG around the middle of next week (at the 2 week mark) to see where it is. I might taste it too (also depending on where the SG is)...

For your mead, I would look for some good local honey. You might need to wait a few months until they've done their first harvest, but I think it would be well worth the wait. Start with a 3 gallon batch, so that you don't need to use as much honey (compared with the 5 gallon batch)... I would go with a yeast that will ferment to where you want the ABV to be, and leave either a little sweetness in the mead (ferment to as close to 1.002-1.006 as you can) or make sure you have enough time to back sweeten it (and not have it kick off fermentation again).

 

[Photopilot]

I know this is a hard lemonade thread now but it started out as a swingtop bottle one so I want to comment on those. Are these bottles clear? If so you can get those in the states from whole foods. The carbonated juice in them is also very good if you like that kind of thing. I do.

I use them but would not do so for bottling. Beer will skunk very easy in clear glass unless stored out of sunlight, possibly any light. I use the bottles to transport beer from my tap to a friends house. Like a high class growler.

I am glad that the thread got sidetracked though as I am going to be making some hard lemonade now.

 

[Golddiggie]

It turned into a thread to save the lemonade that was inside the bottles...

For clear bottles, they can be used for beer IF you make sure you block light from hitting them. Such as storing them in a box that blocks all light, or within a closet/room that is also kept dark (basements are usually an easy choice, in a darker corner).

I haven't decided as to what I'll bottle my batch in, yet... I don't think I'll use brown bottles though, so that I can keep those for beer.

 

[newbee17]

Did a gravity reading 2day on the 2 week mark got 1.024

That means by my calculations I've hit 11%avb already nd still goin strong this is gonna be some serious lemmonade mmmm.

 

[Golddiggie]

You should hit close to 14% ABV with that batch... Which is why it's "sooooo haaaaard lemonade"...

 

[TheSeether]

The first beer that I actually liked was Fischer (French). I couldn't bear to throw those nice bottles away so I stored them fro YEARS and managed to amass about 45 of them. I consider it a drinkable but non-desirable beer nowadays. Those bottles cost me $3 back then and included the beer. I see the empty bottles today cost $3 plus shipping.

Anyway, that was my contribution to a thread that appeared to be about swing top bottles but really isn't.

A question: I have yet to see a reason to replace the seals. Is there a rule of thumb here or will it one day be visually apparent that they need replacing? They are cheap enough.

 

[Golddiggie]

Rule of thumb on replacing the seals seems to be after 5-6 batches go through them, or when they are starting to show age... They are pretty damned cheap, if you buy them in the right volume.

I'll probably be ordering some replacement gaskets soon, just to have on hand for when I need them. Basically, when I place another order with a place that stocks them, I'll get a bunch (probably 100)... I'll probably not need to order another set for some time after that.

The entire hard lemonade tangent came about since the OP was going to toss out perfectly good ingredient (not knowing he could use it for something else)... Maybe it's more genetic with me, but I can't see tossing out something that can be used. I'm thinking that I'll start a thread about hard lemonade now... :rockin:

 

[newbee17]

Should I wait till its finished fermenting to add my mixed fruit or should I just wait a week or so and throw them in?

When I put the fruit in how long should I leave it before I rack off the fruit??

Will it start fermenting again when fruit is added?

I tasted the hard lemmonade deres a strong alcohol taste with an after taste of the honey can't taste a lot of the lemmonade so I'm tinking of adding mixed fruit to one gal batch and blueberries to the other one to see what tastes better.

 

[Golddiggie]

I would wait until it's hit a stable SG before adding fruit to it... Most likely you'll get another round of fermentation when you add more fruit to it, since the yeast will start munching on the sugars there.

Depending on how high your yeast will go (ABV%) you might end up with something more sweet, especially when you add fruit...

I have started a new thread about making hard lemonade...

I'm thinking about adding small pieces of dried cherries to some of the bottles when mine is done. That way, I can have a mix of pink(ish) hard lemonade and cherry hard lemonade...

 

[newbee17]

Yeh the bottles are clear with a French lemmonade in them I'm not a big fan of the lemmonade but like dese bottles I store my cider and beer in them,have the shed shelved out like wine racks not a lot of light gets in but does get sum what happends if light gets at the beer as nobody has told me to keep it in the dark??

I guess I should start covering dese up with cloth or sunting?

 

[TheSeether]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_bottle#Lightstruck_beer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isohumulone

 

[Golddiggie]

If the bottles are clear, and it's BEER that's inside them, then you need to stop light from hitting them. For the hard lemonade, I would still do what I can to block light from hitting them during storage.

If you have a closet you can put them into, or a set of cabinets, that would work (put them into a box first)... If you're not sure about the box thickness, then either a heavy blanket, or towel will help too.

 

[BonnieJ]

Oh, I found these at the grocery store - $2.99 a piece (US). I wish I knew someone who bought them, because I would certainly pay them half of that for each. I'm going to buy them on the day of the month they have 10% off for students and dump it all out. I wish it was something I would actually drink, but I don't drink soda. I hope they still have them in. It's a grocery store that resells closeouts and stuff and although they've had that stuff for a while, they'll sell out eventually.

I'll get them in time to bottle my apfelwein in, I hope!

 

[outside92129]

The fresh'n'easy line of stores has them too. They work great, just gotta take precautions to keep them out of UV!