Alcoholic lemonade

[George J]

I am planning to put down an alcoholic lemonade. I got the following recipe off the web.

 

2kg Dextrose

500g lactose

12-24 lemons sliced or chopped

5g yeast nutrient

SAFale yeast

 

Heat 5 litres of water, add the lactose, dextrose and lemons, and simmer for 20 mins. Strain this into the fermenter, add water upto 22 litres and let it brew.

 

My questions are these:

 

What is the expected FG for this? or how do I know when fermentation is done? does the rule of 2 similar consecutive hydrometer readings apply to a lemonade?

 

When priming, how many carb drops do I add to each 750ml bottle?

 

Will 500g lactose produce a sweet lemonade or will it be a dryish drink?

 

Thanks

 

[91abv_chris]

Seems to me like the pH might have an effect on the fermentation. How low can it go before it interferes?

 

If you left out the lactose, you might get an interesting wash to distill into a tasty aperitif (provided it was legal to do so in your neighborhood)

 

 

[Muddy Waters]

What is the expected FG for this? or how do I know when fermentation is done? does the rule of 2 similar consecutive hydrometer readings apply to a lemonade?

 

When priming, how many carb drops do I add to each 750ml bottle?

 

Will 500g lactose produce a sweet lemonade or will it be a dryish drink?

 

Thanks

 

I've never got further than looking for recipes for alcoholic lemonade but I'll have a stab at the questions above.

 

Yes, the same rules apply in regards to stable hydrometer readings. Not sure what the FG would be but would expect it to be around the 1.000 mark. 500g of lactose will add some residual sweetness but whether it suits your taste is another thing.

 

 

[George J]

Chris, from what I have read, I think the recipe calls for the yeast nutrient because of the acidity of the lemons affecting the yeast's performance.

 

I'm hoping that the lactose will give a slight sweetness to the drink. This is to keep SWMBO happy [innocent]. A happy wife means a higher brewing budget [lol]

 

Thanks Muddy. I'll let you know how this turns out and whether its worth a shot.

 

 

[Dj labby]

I add some artificial sweetener to get it somewhat sweet. I have found when doing ginger beer that lactose doesn't really add much sweetness, not the kind most people like anyways. I just use a liquid sweetner, works a treat. Can add before, during or after fermentation. I like to add after as you never know how sweet it is going to be after fermentation.

 

Like the idea of heavy lemonades... Might have to do a small batch. Haha.

 

[91abv_chris]

Interesting, I may make one up myself.

 

What particular kind of nutrient would you recommend? Just any with DAP and AG, or one that specifically adjusts pH?

[George J]

Well, I put this down yesterday and this morning there is a nice thick foam on top of the brew and I can hear it bubbling! No Muddy, I didn't use an airlock, this is covered with glad wrap.

 

I'm not sure what the yeast nutrients contain Chris. I just bought a bag of the stuff from the LBHS. But whatever it is, it seems to be working judging from the activity in the FV right now.

 

Give me a week to see how this goes so I can come back with some feedback on the this recipe.

 

Labby, do you just use any ordinary sweetener? wouldn't adding this to the brew prior to bottling cause possible bottle bombs? I might look at adding it to the glass once poured if it isn't sweet enough for the wife..

[Muddy Waters]

Labby' date=' do you just use any ordinary sweetener? wouldn't adding this to the brew prior to bottling cause possible bottle bombs? I might look at adding it to the glass once poured if it isn't sweet enough for the wife..[/quote']

 

Artificial sweetener isn't fermentable George so you can safely add it at any time.

 

[Dj labby]

Like muddy said, it isn't fermentable, however i add it at the end as i never know how it will turn out once the fermentation has occurred.

 

Its just a liquid sweetner. Not sure of the brand, but i found it at the supermarket. You only need a couple of drops for a cup of coffee, so really lasts a long time. Tried other types, but they generally don't have as much sweetner/volume, so you use heaps which starts to add up when making a few batches.

 

Hope this helps. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

I have a heap of oranges that i could use to make up a batch, but not sure about an orangeade!! hahah

[91abv_chris]

I finally got a fermenter freed up, so I tried this with a few changes...here's what I did:

 

1.5kg Dextrose

800g sucrose

8 lemons chopped

9 cups lemon juice

5g gluco-amylase

15gr pkg Coopers brewers yeast - I think it's a close match to SAFale, but does anyone have an insight on it?

300 gr malt

 

Heat 5 litres of water, add the sucrose, dextrose, juice and lemons.

 

Added 300gr 6 row distillers malt @ 66.5oC (152oF) and 5-ml (1-tsp) of gluco-amylase

 

cover and rest 30 min

strain grains and lemon pieces

pour in fv, cool to 95F (35C) with ice

OG= 1.100

pH= 2

total volume= 16 qts (15 ltrs)

pitched yeast @ 90F (32C)

 

My thinking was to make the OG high enough to end with some residual sweet without hurting the yeast.

I really wasn't sure it'd ferment at all @ pH of 2, but after it sat for 12 hours, it started and smells pretty promising.

[Guest]

OG @ 1.100 is a huge brew.... I doubt 15g of dried yeast will be enough. (I could be wrong as I often am). Nevertheless, I certainly would have stepped it up some.

 

I'll be interested to hear how this one turns out.

[91abv_chris]

Thanks Bill, I'd have pitched more but the 1 package was all I had.

 

The upshot to underpitching should be a buildup of fruity-ish esters to accompany the lemonyness.

In the best case (and what I'm hoping for), the yeast should go happily along until 8-ish% abv before giving up, leaving some residual sweetness.

 

It's still doing something in the fv...not sure what, but it's gone opaque. Going to check gravity later today and see.

[91abv_chris]

I'm amazed.

Gravity is almost exactly 1.000 after less than 72 hours.

Taste is tart and lemonish, but not sour.

 

This is turning out to be an interesting experiment. Going to rack off 6 or 8 liters and add some dex to it, maybe some flavoring too.

I think either the ferment will restart or it'll sweeten up...anyone have any ideas what to do with the other 10 liters?

[PB2]

15gr pkg Coopers brewers yeast - I think it's a close match to SAFale, but does anyone have an insight on it?

 

This is the very same yeast, developed by our resident Doctor of yeast, that comes with our Original Series kits.

[91abv_chris]

It's settled and finally worthy of a picture!

 

 

Added 2 cups per gallon (about the same amount as you'd use in homemade soda) of sucralose at bottling time and primed with 5 or 6 grams sucrose per longneck.

 

It turned out pretty good, all in all. The lemon tartness comes through smartly, followed by a slightly malty background. Refreshing, not terribly dry but does contain a little 'kick'. Carbonation is 'enthusiastic' at first, but settles down to a steady fizz that lasts to the end of the glass.

 

If I do it again, I'll add less artificial sweetener (maybe half as much) and ferment at lower temperature.

 

Thanks for the tip on this, George. I call it a successful experiment.