Original Skeeter Pee Recipe

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Pitched my yeast on my first (double) batch a couple days ago! This should be exciting and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

That Speidel 60l primary is getting me in trouble! :)
 
Finished my first batch and bottled! 53 bottles, after giving most of it away / being drank by coworkers, I've got 10 left that I put labels on, I like how they turned out! =)

IMG_8761[1].JPG IMG_8756[1].JPG IMG_8757[1].JPG
 
I racked a batch of Sauv Blanc from primary tonight, looked at the bottom of the fermentation bucket and said: "It would be a shame to let that good yeast go to waste."

I've always wanted to do a Skeeter Pee, so I'm in the process as we speak.

Best, Fran
 
I’m going to chime in on this thread about how to up the lemony taste. Forgive me is this has been covered already, I haven’t read all 11 pages.

My wife and I went to Italy last Fall and visited the Limoncello factory. They have a great walk around of the entire process starting with the introduction of the lemons.

Basically they take grain alcohol and soak in lemon peels for some period of time before adding sweeteners and clearing it. This made me wonder if adding lemon zest or peels either during primary or after first racking and letting it sit for a while to absorb the lemon flavor would add the desired amount of extra lemony goodness.

Thoughts?
 
I've for several years now have been using 1 concentrated quart per gallon, one pound of whole lemons per gallon running up my SG to max for EC1113 THEN after it maxes out and kills the yeast i pour 1 fifth of pure grain alcohol into 6 gallons after that i bulk age and rack a few times, lemon or pine apple kills the alcohol taste, i warn all whom tastes if you drink don't drive,
 
I've for several years now have been using 1 concentrated quart per gallon, one pound of whole lemons per gallon running up my SG to max for EC1113 THEN after it maxes out and kills the yeast i pour 1 fifth of pure grain alcohol into 6 gallons after that i bulk age and rack a few times, lemon or pine apple kills the alcohol taste, i warn all whom tastes if you drink don't drive,
 
hounddawg-
I'm not following 'how' you're making this fortified version. Can you please explain it a bit more?

One whole lemon or a pound of lemons per gallon? When are you doing this?
What are you running your initial SG up to? I see EC1118.
I see the fifth of grain going in - what proof are you using as there's some different ones?
Are you depending on the yeast colony dying due to fermented ABV or by the addition of the grain alcohol?
Any k-sorbate/k-meta?
 
First batch of skeeter pee, I decided to make a lime-only mojito version ready in time for my beloved's birthday (he loves mojitos). Only day 4 but it seems very promising!

I made a starter 2 days ahead:

252g white wine concentrate from a cheap kit
700ml water
6.25g Go-Ferm
1 pack 1118

I pitched 600ml of this and used the rest for something else.

Must:

Cooked for 30 mins:

3175g sugar
3l water
250ml bottle of lime juice

Added to:
5× 250ml bottles lime juice
1.5l fresh pressed lime juice including pulp, treated with
.5g Campden (24hrs) and
20ml pectic enzyme (12 hrs)
1.3l mint tea made with
20g dried mint, steeped for 30 mins while cooking the sugar
water to 19l/1.075
24g Fermaid K (divided in 2, 2nd to be added at 1/3 break)
8g DAP (divided in 2, 2nd to be added at 1/3 break)
3g powdered tannin

I pitched on the 31st, so it took a few days to get going, but it is suddenly down to 1.049 today (from 1.072 yesterday), so I added the second additions of DAP and Ferm K. It smells really nice and tastes great too, the lime is stronger than the mint but both are there (next time I will do twice as much mint tea in place of some of the water). I'm going to add a white rum essence and maybe a creme de menthe essence as well in secondary. Undecided whether to bottle carb, maybe I'll do half and half and compare.

I messed up a bit and added all the lime juice at once, but the fermentation is very vigorous now, I've been whipping it every day, so I think it's going to be fine. No off smells or flavors at all.
 
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This is my very 1st try at making anything fermented, so I hope it's s good as everyone keeps saying.

As for the recipe, since this is my 1st go around, I tried to follow the instructions to the T.... and I ran into a problem

Using 7lbs of sugar to make 5.5 gal of must didn't yield me a SG of 1.070. I had to take it to 8.5lbs of sugar to get there. Has anyone else noticed this, or is everyone using a measuring cup (16 cups) instead of weight?

Thanks!
 
Well, one obvious concern was whether you were able to get all of the sugar to dissolve before taking the SG reading?

The initial 7 pounds were inverted, so that was dissolved. I then found a PA chart on homebrewit and saw that it takes 1.81 lbs per gallon of water to get 1.070 on the hydrometer. When I did the math, that came out to 9 cups of sugar. Not knowing how much sugar was in the lemon juice and not wanting to figure it out, I added another pound to my sugar syrup to make sure it was dissolved. After mixing everything into my fermenter bucket, I took a hydrometer reading.. It was a Pain to read because of bubbles, but it looked like I was a hair under 1.070, so I added a 1/2 lb, which took me to 8.5 lbs, of granular sugar and stirred I took a another reading and it looked a hair higher now.. but still couldn't really tell because bubbles from whipping up the must to get it oxygenated.

This morning, I took a hydrometer reading and it's 1.071.. I remembered I had a refractormeter, so I checked with it.. and 1.071.

So it seems, at 8.5 lbs of sugar, it's hair over 1.070.. I don't know how much sugar is in the lemon juice, nor do I know how much I lost to the pot it was boiled in (I do think I got most of it since I did rinse it with some water to try get most). Still, going by weight, I feel 7 lbs isn't enough unless you don't take it to 5.5 gallons as in the recipe.

hydrometer-pa-chart.jpg
 
Kicked off a double SkeeterPee batch of lemon-peach using the gross lees of a recently racked peach Dragons Blood double batch. I've been doing mine a bit differently by racking off my previous batch then adding the water, lemon juice and invert sugar directly on top of the gross lees. i.e.: I've never let it sit a day or two before doing that. Just rack prior contents out, dump new contents in taking care to not put super hot invert on top of the yeast. Man is this batch boiling/rolling after just one day!
 
<<Racking on top of lees>>Yes, I did the same with a batch of beer the other day, and am just heating some invert to do the same on top of my previous batch of skeeter that went to secondary this evening.
 
Keep in mind that lemon juice does nothing to assist the fermentation so you could add half up front then half after fermentation is finished. Then rack to clear.

Marilyn is pushing me to make another Cranberry Lime Skeeter Pee. May have to break down and make it again.

Definitely thanks to Lon for the original recipe.
I would love to have that recipe if you would be willing to share? Thankyou.
 
Skeeter Pee Recipe

The original, inexpensive, quick, easy to make, easy to drink, naturally fermented, lemon, hot-weather, thirst quencher.
——————————-

For a 5 gallon batch
3 bottles of 32 oz 100% lemon juice (e.g ReaLemon in the green plastic bottles or equivalent)
7 lbs sugar (or 16 cups) to ferment
3/4 tsp tannin
6 tsp. yeast nutrient (3 now, 3 later)
2 tsp. yeast energizer (1 now, 1 later)
Approx, 4 1/2 gallons water
Yeast Slurry
Potassium metabisulfite (Kmeta)
Potassium sorbate (sorbate)
Sparkolloid
2 1/3 lbs sugar (or 6 cups) to sweeten finished Skeeter Pee. Use more or less for your tastes.
——————————-
Many people have difficulty getting lemonade to ferment. This is due, I believe, to several factors. The high acidity, the lack of natural nutrients, and preservatives that are often included in the lemon juice. Therefore, I do whatever I can to assist the process.
I use reverse osmosis water; this is by choice and tap water should work fine since much of the chlorine should evaporate out during the initial steps. Make invert sugar by adding your 16 cups sugar to a large stainless cooking pot along with 8 cups water and 1/3 cup lemon juice (I keep lemon juice in the fridge for cooking, so I use that. Therefore, I actually have 1/3 more lemon juice than is stated in the ingredients above. If you don’t have the additional lemon juice, go ahead and use 1/3 cup from one of your three bottles; it won’t matter much). Stir sugar to dissolve and heat to just below boiling while stirring. Hold at this temperature for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and pour it into your primary along with 2 of the bottles of the lemon juice (reserve the last bottle until later), and enough additional water to make 5 1/2 gallons. Add the tannin, 3 tsp. of the yeast nutrient and 1 tsp. of the yeast energizer. Stir.
Test S.G with hydrometer and record. I shoot for an SG of around 1.070 which yields a beverage of around 10% alcohol if it ferments dry. If your SG is a little low, you can add granular sugar to bring it to the target level. Make sure you stir thoroughly to dissolve the sugar; if you have undissolved sugar at the bottom, it will throw off your readings and your Skeeter Pee won’t turn out properly. Vigorously beat the mixture with a wire whip for a couple of minutes to introduce oxygen and purge it of artificial preservatives. I then cover the bucket with a dish towel and let the sit for 24 to 48 hours.
After 24-48 hours, give it another quick whip and then pour in yeast slurry from the first rack of another batch of wine. It sometimes takes a while, but you should have active fermentation within a couple of days. It helps to keep this must warm (70-78 degrees). You may need to occasionally whip in some additional oxygen with the whip if fermentation seems to be progressing slowly.
Periodically check the gravity. When it gets down to around 1.050, add the other 3 tsp of nutrient the second tsp of energizer, and the last bottle of lemon juice; vigorously mix it in. Don’t be afraid to introduce some oxygen to the mix at the same time. This late addition of yeast food and oxygen helps reduce the likelihood of your batch developing a sulfur-dioxide problem. (Because of the high acidity and low nutrition, lemon has a higher propensity to developing the sulfur-dioxide rotten egg smell.) After a couple of days, you can rack into a clean, sanitized carboy.
Allow the Pee to ferment dry and for fermentation to stop (SG between 0.998 and 0.995). Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy. Give the batch a quick degas (use agitation and vacuum if you have the equipment). Add 1/2 tsp Kmeta, 2 1/2 tsp sorbate, and Sparkolliod (follow directions on the package). After two weeks, the Skeeter Pee should be crystal clear. Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy, add 6 cups sugar, and stir to dissolve. Wait two weeks to be sure no new fermentation begins and bottle.
Notes:
1. I don’t call this “hard lemonade” because too many people have tried the commercial versions and they tend to make a mental impression of what it’s going to taste like before trying it. When it doesn’t taste just like the commercial versions (which are usually 5% alcohol, lemon flavored malt beverages) they conclude that it’s a poor reproduction. This stuff isn’t a reproduction; it’s the original home-style without the big marketing budget and price tag. Please be advised that you need to keep an eye on those you serve this to. Because it drinks easily on a hot day and the alcohol is about double that of commercial hard lemonades and beer, it is easy to accidentally over consume; it sneaks up on you real fast.
2. This beverage will often take on slight flavor characteristics of the wine that donates the yeast slurry, keep this in mind when deciding which flavors will blend well with lemon.
3. You want to use a healthy yeast slurry to start your batch. If the slurry is coming from wine that is being pushed to high alcohol levels, it’s possible the slurry is suffering from the effects of alcohol poisoning. Therefore, it’s best if the slurry is used while it is still part of an active ferment.
4. You may have noticed that you start with 5 ? gallons of must and this is a recipe for 5 gallons. This is because you’ll be leaving a bit more sediment behind at your first racking. Remember that you’re adding the slurry from a previous batch and it will be left behind along with the sediment created by the Skeeter Pee.
5. If you aren’t in a hurry, Skeeter Pee will often fall clear without the Sparkolloid (as long as you’ve done a good job of degassing). My batches often clear in 30 to 45 days without fining.
6. There’s no need to age this beverage. It tastes great soon after bottling. Serve chilled.

www.skeeterpee.com
Thankyou so much! What is the "amount" of yeast slurry to be used?
 

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