First Batch(es) of Skeeter Pee

Just wanted to say thanks to you inmates!

I'm starting my first batch of Skeeter Pee and have only ever made kit wines before so this is interesting and challenging!



I followed the directions for standard SP and made two seperate 5.5 gallon batches. (just in case I wanted to experiment with one or some when I backsweeten) (cranberry, mojito etc etc).

I've whisked them and let them sit for abotu 48 hours.

I have now made my first yeast starters ever as well. (in the mason jars in the pic).

After less than an hour the starters are foaming away nicely.

I'll add about a cup of the must to each starter in about an hour and then add the starters to the 5.5 gallons.

This thread was more for me to just verbalize what I'm doing and how its coming along and to say thanks for answering my questions as this can be a little intimidating the first time.

I'm going away for 5 days next week so I'll have to trust the wife to keep an eye on it.

Hoping its ready by July 11 for a summer party we're hosting to which you're all invited!!

yeast starter went well for about 45 minutes then I took some advice on here and gave it a shake and a stir.

waited about 2 hours now and no more foam came to the top of the yeast starter which I found odd.

I decided to go ahead and add about 1/3rd of a cup of the must to the starters anyways and will add the starters to the 5.5 gallon primarys in about a 15 minutes.

Casper137 said:

yeast starter went well for about 45 minutes then I took some advice on here and gave it a shake and a stir.

waited about 2 hours now and no more foam came to the top of the yeast starter which I found odd.

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I believe you should not have waited that long before giving them access to a sugar source.

From: http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/whydra.pdf

*Note: Once the yeast has been introduced into the hydration water, you need to be aware that the clock is ticking. This is because the yeast will soon completely use up whatever stored energy they previously had in them from their preparation at the factory to complete the hydration process. From this point on, if they don’t get the nutrition they need they will quickly begin to starve, deteriorate and begin to lose viability. So, it’s best not to prolong this moment and begin feeding them immediately. Fortunately, the timing of this critical feeding is based on an easy-to-read indicator: once you begin to see signs of activity at around the 20-30 minute mark, then the yeast are letting you know that they now are wanting to be fed and areready to be exposed to the must. It is important to note that you should never let the hydration process extend beyond 30 minutes without giving them food. [Emphasis in original]

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sour_grapes said:

I believe you should not have waited that long before giving them access to a sugar source.

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I'm hoping he "rehydrated" the yeast in plain water, which has a 15-30 minute limit, and the added the Yeast Starter, which has sugar and nutrients.

The rehydration is only about 2 ounces of water. The jars look like there is a much more starter solution.

I used the directions richmke had posted.

richmke said:

Rehydrate the yeast per instructions - 2 ounces of warm TAP water (95-105 degrees) for 15 to no more than 30 minutes.

In the meantime, warm 2 cups of TAP water to 85 degrees. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient or energizer. Mix well

Sometime during the 15-30 minute period, pour the rehydrated yeast into your mixture. Mix well.

Note: At this point, you will want the mixture to sit for 4 hours. You want a larger container because it will foam. I use a 1 quart canning jar (lid loosely on top). A 1/2 gallon wine bottle would work well too. If you remember, give it a swirl every 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare your SP. Ideally, you want the yeast temp to be within 15 degrees Fahrenheit when you pour the yeast into the SP. If the temps are a little far apart, add 1 cup of SP to the yeast slurry. Mix and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Then pour that into the SP.

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it started to foam and then about 30 minutes later I gave it a small swirl/shake and it did not foam again for the next 2 hours but there was action goin on in it.

So I added about ahalf cup of the must let it sit for 15 minutes then added the whole thing to the 5.5 gallons.

room smells like yeast this mornjing and theres lots of action going on in buckets so seems like it worked.

primaries are fermenting wonderfully!

nice big foamy head on both buckets.

hopefully within a couple days I'll see the SG start to drop.

as long as it's doing it's thing is it necessary to stir it up in the first couple days?

or just let it do its thing with teh foam on top for as long as the foam keeps working away?

Casper137 said:

as long as it's doing it's thing is it necessary to stir it up in the first couple days?

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Daily or twice daily stirring during the first 5 days or so helps to release the CO2 that the yeast put out. Some say that makes for happier yeast, and you are less likely to have an overflow of foam.

richmke said:

Daily or twice daily stirring during the first 5 days or so helps to release the CO2 that the yeast put out. Some say that makes for happier yeast, and you are less likely to have an overflow of foam.

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thanks.

I gave it a good stir this morning after reading this.

will give her a good mix a couple times a day for the next few days.

Check your SG each day or so. It might be carboy time. My SP usually ferments dry in a couple of weeks.

Rodnboro said:

Check your SG each day or so. It might be carboy time. My SP usually ferments dry in a couple of weeks.

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Mine finished dry in 5 days but I pitched it on a 1 gallon slurry of Mango wine. I had to add the first sugar break nutrients at 36 hours and then at 60 hours for the last. My batch finished dry at 0.990 at 5 days from 1.086 SG.

When the gravity approaches 1.01, only stir slowly to release CO2 and not introduce oxygen. This will help with the clearing when you secondary.

Rodnboro said:

Check your SG each day or so. It might be carboy time. My SP usually ferments dry in a couple of weeks.

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I definetly check the SG at least once a day.

Not carboy time yet though.

HB_in_Subic said:

Mine finished dry in 5 days but I pitched it on a 1 gallon slurry of Mango wine. I had to add the first sugar break nutrients at 36 hours and then at 60 hours for the last. My batch finished dry at 0.990 at 5 days from 1.086 SG.

When the gravity approaches 1.01, only stir slowly to release CO2 and not introduce oxygen. This will help with the clearing when you secondary.

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Wow! fermented to dry in 5 days? thats quick!



It's only been 4 days (96 hours) since yeast was added to my primaries.

It has dropped from a starting SG of 1.07 to currently 1.04.

I just added the 3rd litre of 'real lemon' to each primary and another good tsp of nutrient and gave it a good stir/mix.

Question:

I'm leaving for 5 days first things Wednesday morning.

Would it be suggested to rack to secondaries (carboys) before I leave if SG is at say 1.02 or 1.03?

Or would it be okay to leave them with towel over primaries for the next 7 days?

Or would it be better to snap lids onto the primary buckets with a bung and bubblers till I get back and can then rack into carboys?

Casper137 said:

It's only been 4 days (96 hours) since yeast was added to my primaries.

It has dropped from a starting SG of 1.07 to currently 1.04.

I'm leaving for 5 days first things Wednesday morning.

Would it be suggested to rack to secondaries (carboys) before I leave if SG is at say 1.02 or 1.03?

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In 2 more days (Tuesday, 7 days total), your SP will be close to finishing. If you are going to then leave it for 7 days, better to rack to a carboy, and put an airlock on it. It should then finish while you are gone.

If you don't have the time, then 2nd best would be to put a lid on with an airlock.

richmke said:

In 2 more days (Tuesday, 7 days total), your SP will be close to finishing. If you are going to then leave it for 7 days, better to rack to a carboy, and put an airlock on it. It should then finish while you are gone.

If you don't have the time, then 2nd best would be to put a lid on with an airlock.

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Thanks Rich.

I'll try to make time tomorrow night to rack to carboys.

Hopefully I'm down to 1.02ish

Casper137 said:

Wow! fermented to dry in 5 days? thats quick!

Question:

I'm leaving for 5 days first things Wednesday morning.

Would it be suggested to rack to secondaries (carboys) before I leave if SG is at say 1.02 or 1.03?

Or would it be okay to leave them with towel over primaries for the next 7 days?

Or would it be better to snap lids onto the primary buckets with a bung and bubblers till I get back and can then rack into carboys?

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I think mine went so quick due to the large amount of yeast slurry (almost 1 gallon) from the Mango wine.

I agree on racking it or putting an airlock on it if you are going to be gone.

SG last night was down to 1.03 on one and 1.026 on the other so i figure by tonight it'll be good to rack to carboys and stick a bung and bubbler in.

thanks.

At day 6 (144 hours) the primaries were both at 1.01 and I racked them to carboys before leaving for 5 days.

Came back home last night and they were still bubbling away nicely.

Checked the SG on both tonight (day 12/288 hours) and they are at between .998 and 1.000 and still bubbling away.

Hopefully in another couple days they slow down and I can rack again to buckets for a day, let the lees settle then rack back to carboys (I only have two carboys).

Looks like everythings on track.




Question:

The original recipe calls for about 6 cups of sugar per 5 gallon batch when back sweetening.

If I wanted to turn one of the 5 gallon batches into a cranberry lemonade flavoured skeeter pee would I skip the sugar altogether and just add cranberry concentrate?

If so how much?

Or would the cranberry and lemon make it to sour?

I think the cranberry concentrate would be good. I would add the concentrate first to whatever flavor is good to you then add sugar to finish. I would start with one can and go from there. Check the SG along as well. The concentrates could oversweeten the pee before the flavor gets there.

Rodnboro said:

I think the cranberry concentrate would be good. I would add the concentrate first to whatever flavor is good to you then add sugar to finish. I would start with one can and go from there. Check the SG along as well. The concentrates could oversweeten the pee before the flavor gets there.

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Thanks.

Sounds like the wife wants me to use a rasberry concentrate rather then a cranberry concentrate for flavour in one of the 5 gallon batches.

I'll add one can once its clear and ready for backsweetening and go from there.



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Day 14/336 hours and one 5 gallon batch is still at about 1.000 and bubbling steady.

The other is down to about .996 and still bubbling but less so.

Think I will rack to buckets tomorrow night, let sit with lids and bubblers on buckets for 24 hours and then rack back to carboys.

Then see where I'm at and likely add the sorbate and metabisulphate.

My local wine guy has isinglass but not sparkalooid...would it be worth it to get some isinglass to add?

I've never used Isinglass. I've used Sparkolloid and Superkleer with good results from both. Your local wine guy should have Superkleer.

Day 17/400 hours

One carboy is sitting at .998 and the other at .996.

Neither is bubbling much anymore so I splash racked into buckets and snapped lids onto them with bubblers.

In about 24 hours after they have settled I will splash rack back to the cleaned carboys and add the sorbate and metabisulphate.

I did not end up getting any kind of clearing agent so I will just leave it for the time being and see if it clears on its own.

I'm thinking this isn't going to be ready to drink for my summer party on July 11.

booooooo