Hard lemonade / Skeeter 4 Summer 2019

[OpenSights]

Lol! Pretty much. Everyone who’s tried it, including two professional brewers really like it. I think it’s a little too hot. If I do pitch more yeast and bring the ABV up to say 12% and back sweeten with 1:2 (a can of lemonade diluted to half strength) should bring the ABV back down while retaining the flavor?

I guess what’s bugging me about it is I intended it to be a light crisp refreshing alcoholic drink that goes down easy and you can put a pint away without noticing... IMHO, it’s more like a mixed drink and 4 ounces is more than enough.

I have a board meeting tonight so I’ll bring a half pint and get more feedback. My club’s main focus is to brew following the BJCP, but also include wine, cider and mead.

Edit: This is one of three beverages I made for family reunion, so I really don’t want it too high in ABV. I’d like to see it around 5-7%.

 

[EricaM]

Sorry...no clue on that [emoji15] The jarred jalapenos I get from Sam's work great all the time. Good luck -- maybe a pepper expert here can chime in with some insight.

Thanks. I'll taste it again when I rack it off the peppers, which should be soon... whatever day I'm awake enough. My brother in law recommended adding capsaicin alone, since it already tastes like peppers, but I'm a little afraid of handling the powder and having it in the house with small children. Maybe I'll look for something diluted in a solution.

 

[bmd2k1]

Thanks. I'll taste it again when I rack it off the peppers, which should be soon... whatever day I'm awake enough. My brother in law recommended adding capsaicin alone, since it already tastes like peppers, but I'm a little afraid of handling the powder and having it in the house with small children. Maybe I'll look for something diluted in a solution.

When ya just eat one of those sliced peppers is it hot??

 

[EricaM]

When ya just eat one of those sliced peppers is it hot??

Yes. The jarred peppers I added were quite hot. And I had added one slice to a glass of wine before I added any to the carboy, and it made the wine in the glass hot. Not sure what's going on. Maybe I should add another jar and get the extra spicy kind...

I wonder if maybe the peppers sank to the bottom and then only spiced the wine on the bottom? I'm going to go give it a stir and then sample again.

Edit: Mystery solved. I stirred it and then it had burn, so apparently the heat was all at the bottom of the carboy or something.

Thanks for the suggestion for how many peppers/gallon. It's just the right amount of heat. Now I just need to sweeten and bottle.

 

[Blacksmith1]

The heat is carried in the oils that are in the peppers. That's what you need to get in suspension long enough to transfer to your beverage. And it shouldn't take long to do so.

 

[OpenSights]

Sooooo, lemon flavored jet fuel?

One more pro brewer and my club board, most anyway tried it. They all liked it, but all agree with me... not a drink for over 4 oz!

So I got to thinking after our meeting and a few beers... why pitch champagne yeast just to back sweeten and dilute, maybe mess with the flavor in a bad direction, when I can just dilute and throw in a can of concentrate. It’s still active with a pinch of nutrient, new sugar and an extra gallon of water....

 

[Blacksmith1]

OG was 1.121

Maybe less sugar next time?

 

[EricaM]

One more pro brewer and my club board, most anyway tried it. They all liked it, but all agree with me... not a drink for over 4 oz!

So I got to thinking after our meeting and a few beers... why pitch champagne yeast just to back sweeten and dilute, maybe mess with the flavor in a bad direction, when I can just dilute and throw in a can of concentrate. It’s still active with a pinch of nutrient, new sugar and an extra gallon of water....

I'm having this problem with my blueberry. Any ideas of what is good to dilute blueberry wine with?

 

[OpenSights]

Maybe less sugar next time?

Absolutely!

 

[OpenSights]

I'm having this problem with my blueberry. Any ideas of what is good to dilute blueberry wine with?

What’s your recipe, OG, current gravity and yeast? Any advice from me is pretty much guessing based on my limited experience.

I’ve been thinking of making a blueberry wine. I have a source, 30lbs for $30. IIRC I got between 3 to 4 gallons last year.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Wait till it's finished and stablized, then use blueberry juice?

 

[Seamonkey84]

I'm having this problem with my blueberry. Any ideas of what is good to dilute blueberry wine with?

Depending on your batch size, Knudsen’s blueberry juice in you only need a few quarts. Though depending on your recipe, you might want to water it down. If you need a few gallons to dilute your mix, then prob the vintners harvest concentrate.

 

[EricaM]

Bottled lemon-berry-jalapeno today. Added 75 ml of wine conditioner. Forgot to take sg before adding 50ml of conditioner. After the 50ml of sweetener it was 0.99, which would put it at 11%, but it's probably a little bit stronger.

Broke the tops off two (used) bottles using the capper today. I'm not sure if it's me not knowing what I'm doing or just that the bottles are old.
This wine is yummy. I really like the jalapeno with the sour from the lemon.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Did a basic limade. Wife seems to like it. Have another gallon of lemon that will be ready next week.
If I do 5 gallons does the timing change, or wil it be the same amount of time till ready?

 

[bmd2k1]

Did a basic limade. Wife seems to like it. Have another gallon of lemon that will be ready next week.
If I do 5 gallons does the timing change, or wil it be the same amount of time till ready?

My 5-6gal batches using S04.....take about 1month. Cheers [emoji111]

 

[Blacksmith1]

So the limeade was ok, the second lemon used 71-B and was still too sweet and had an odd flavor. What did I learn from this? Yeast makes more of a difference than I thought, and if you really like it, DON'T change anything.

 

[OpenSights]

Mine is chugging away still! Down to a bubble every 2 seconds from the blowoff tube.

May 15 I pitched
S-04
OG 1.121
As of last Sunday 1.020
ABV 13.26%
I have made a few small extra nutrient additions.

Family reunion is a week from tomorrow. Mouthfeel is thick, still way too sweet! I’m thinking of cold crashing early/mid week, then rack 3-3.5 gallons into a keg, add a gallon of water and possibly add some lemon juice concentrate. I’ll do a small half cup, adjust it to what I like and size for kegging.

I really messed this one up....

 

[Blacksmith1]

Maybe not. At 30 days the one we liked was still sweet. And had enough alcohol to get me staggering a bit. With the amount of sugar you started with it may stay sweet all the way up to 98%abv.

 

[OpenSights]

Lol! Lemonade sugar shine!

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Just threw together another batch of this, used 6 limeaide cans and 4 pink lemonaide. Pitched kveik yeast and she is blowing off rotten fruit throughout the house.

 

[OpenSights]

Kegging.

14.18%

 

[bmd2k1]

Kegging.

14.18%

Better give the fam a head's up on that bad boy [emoji102]

 

[OpenSights]

Better give the fam a head's up on that bad boy [emoji102]

Absolutely! I decided to keg in my 3 gallon keg.... the rest came out to 120p.