# Hard Lemonade.



## Dave70

My initial effort, though simple, was somewhat laclusture and not in the spirit of this forum at all I think.

Sprite
Vodka
Ice..

Seriously but, its just something I want to have a bit of fun with, Ive already got 5L of mead bubbling away, but that's months away from drinking, and the kegs are busy gassing. I'll probably just knock up 10 liters or so and bottle it in PET's, store it in the cupbord and roll it out at a party.
I remember there use to be that 'Two Dogs' stuff around, dont know if you can still get it, never realy looked, but from memory it was very bitter. Would you add lactose to your own brew to sweeten it up? Mmmm-lemon and lactose..

cheers.


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## chappo1970

Try this. It's as yet untried. I've juiced the lemons and the limes and the juices are frozen ATM awaiting for me to slot this in the brewing schedule. However if you want to give it a crack your more than welcome.

Recipe looks like this:

30 lemons juiced
15 limes juiced 
zest of 10 lemons
zest of 5 limes
2kg brown sugar
1kg Ironbark honey
500g lactose
2 sticks cinnamon
Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead

Boil 21lts say for 30mins

Add brown sugar 30 mins
Add lactose 15 mins
Add cinnamon
Add zest 5 mins
Add honey 5 mins

Whole [topic="203"]thread[/topic] here on the subject


Cheers Chappo


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## mika

Search


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## Dave70

mika said:


> Search



To be honest, I wasn't expecting much interest in the topic - wrong - that thread dwarfs _War and Peace_!!

cheers


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## Bribie G

A problem with alcoholic ginger beer and lemonade is that they should taste like an alcopop or soft drink but end up as dry as chewing a pencil because the yeast attenuates them so much. I make an alco ginger beer a couple of times a year and find the best approach is to brew it with the intention of serving it in a jug with ice and mint leaves, maybe a pineapple chunk or two and well laced with a heap of Bundaberg ginger beer cordial or Buderim ginger refresher, a little cocktail umbrella..............

I reckon Chappo's recipe would be great as a cocktail such as the above with a good blast of Bickfords yellow lime cordial, so I would probably cut out the lactose, to avoid Aunty Mavis (lactose intolerant) getting the shytes. I reckon a measure of Gordons Gin or a good quality Tequila would go well. :icon_drool2:


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## pdilley

Michael, remind me to teach you about real tequila one day, the stuff that must be made in Jalisco, Mexico and is 100% blue agave tequila. Not 51% any agave mixed with 49% sugar alcohol, yellow food dye and a dead insect thrown in the bottom of the bottle and flogged to tourists and bottle shops around the world in a made up ritual involving limes, or in a pinch lemons, and salt and lots of sucking 

Still got only about 300mL of real tequila left and its blasphemous to use it in a mixer, and about the same of a special cactus based drink mistakenly labelled as a tequila called raicia, Mexican Moon Shine 

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

EDIT: Now if I showed you photos of it being made in 55 gallon drums in the open with about half a million dead insects floating on top of the liquid as it bubbled away you might not want to drink it  The real stuff is a complex smokey medley that has a simple drinking technique to bring out the maximised flavour.

My Photos from trekking through Mexico in search of the elusive real tequila:

Raicia Agave




Baby Blue Agave, takes as long as raising a Son until you can make a few tiny bottles of real tequila from, hence so much fake tequila sold worldwide



Roasted Hearts, only part used



500,000 dead insects, real tequila brew, if you look in the upper right corner you see Mexican no chill cubes


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## loikar

Brewer Pete said:


> Michael, remind me to teach you about real tequila one day, the stuff that must be made in Jalisco, Mexico and is 100% blue agave tequila. Not 51% any agave mixed with 49% sugar alcohol, yellow food dye and a dead insect thrown in the bottom of the bottle and flogged to tourists and bottle shops around the world in a made up ritual involving limes, or in a pinch lemons, and salt and lots of sucking



Faaaark!.....Still, I reckon I'd drink it.

I remember drinking some 25yo Mescal years back, in an unlabeled bottle with a mate and his dad, that was insane. Clean, smooth and blew my fu*kin tit's clean off!

BF


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## pdilley

BeerFingers said:


> Faaaark!.....Still, I reckon I'd drink it.
> 
> I remember drinking some 25yo Mescal years back, in an unlabeled bottle with a mate and his dad, that was insane. Clean, smooth and blew my fu*kin tit's clean off!
> 
> BF



You're on the right track!


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## pdilley

Ok, got a good hard lemonade recipe from Jack Keller c/o Lon DePoppe, so give it a go!


Here are some things to know about this stuff. First, it is 10% alcohol by design, which means don't tweak the recipe to make it stronger or you'll throw it out of balance. Second, serve it chilled; like lemonade, it's a hot weather drink and needs to be chilled. Third, you can bottle this stuff in beer bottles and cap 'em so they can go along on outings in the mini cooler. Fourth, this stuff goes down so smoothly that it is very easy to drink too much of it. Pace yourself, keep track of what you drink and be responsible.

Mosquito Pee (makes 5 gallons)

3 bottles of 32 oz 100% lemon juice (e.g. ReaLemon in the green plastic bottles or equivalent)
7 lbs sugar (or 16 cups)
3/4 tsp tannin
6 tsp yeast nutrient
2 tsp yeast energizer
Approx 4 3/4 gallons water
Yeast Slurry*

*Yeast slurry is the yeast lees from a previous batch of wine or mead from the first racking, without any pulp or seeds

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 14 teaspoons lemon juice. 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. Measure SG with hydrometer and record it. I shoot for an SG of around 1.070 which yields a beverage of around 10% alcohol if it ferments dry. 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 (75-80 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 to clear. This may take a month or two. Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy. Give the batch a quick degas (use agitation and vacuum if you have the equipment). Add 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulfite, 2 1/2 tsp sorbate, and Sparkolliod. After two weeks, the Mosquito Pee should be crystal clear. Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy, add 5 cups sugar, and stir to dissolve. Wait two weeks to be sure no new fermentation begins and bottle.

Notes: 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 flavored malt beverages with 5% alcohol) 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.

Additional notes: The finished beverage will often take on highlights of the wine which provided the yeast slurry. I've made this with the slurry of raspberry, crabapple, and peach wines. All seem to have kept a bit of the originating flavor elements into the finished beverage. I guess what I'm saying, keep this in mind when you decide which batch should donate it's yeast starter. In other words, I'm not sure if a batch of candy cane wine would be the best choice.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## jdonly1

*Hard Lemonade (Alcoholic)*
*T*his recipe makes a semi-sweet alcoholic lemonade of about 4.5% strength. You can vary the sweetness by varying the amount of lactose in the recipe or make it dry by leaving the lactose out altogether (see notes) 

*You will need:*




A 25 or 30 litre fermenter *
Enough bottles for 20 litres of lemonade
A priming scoop for measuring sugar into the bottles *
Homebrew sterilizing compound *
Beer or screw top softdrink bottles
*_(Available from Liquorcraft)_ *Ingredients:* 
2kg glucose/dextrose *
500g lactose *
12-24 lemons, sliced or chopped fine including peel
up to 50g crushed or grated fresh ginger (optional)
5g yeast nutrient *
1 sachet SAFale yeast *
Water to make up 22 litres of wort *
* _(Available from Liquorcraft__)_
*Method:* 
Heat 5 litres of water then add glucose, lemons & ginger & simmer for 20 minutes.

Sterilize your fermenter according to directions on the sterilizing compound.

Add about 12 litres of cold water into your fermenter. Pour the hot mixture through a straining bag (available at homebrew suppliers) into the fermenter.

Top up with cold water to the 22 litre mark add the yeast nutrient & stir well.

Make sure the temperature is 30C or less & add the yeast, fit a fermentation lock in the lid of the fermenter & half fill it with water.

The fermentation should start within 24 hours although it usually ony takes a couple of hours to start. When it starts, bubbles should be rising through the lemonade & stream through the water in the airlock.

Allow the lemonade to ferment until it stops then allow it to settle & clear for 48 hours.

Use a priming scoop (available from Liquorcraft) to add a measure of sugar to each bottle.

Fill the bottle to about 50mm from the top then seal it firmly with a crown seal or screw cap.

Store these bottles in a warm place for a week or 2 to allow them to condition (become fizzy). They will now be ready to drink.
*Notes:* You can vary the quantities of lemons & ginger to suit your own taste. You cannot use sugar or glucose to sweeten a bottle fermented drink like this because it will cause the bottles to explode. This lemonade is sweetened with lactose which is a non-fermentable sweetener. You can add more or less lactose to suit your own taste. As a rough guide, lactose is about half as sweet as sugar


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## peterlonz

When are you pussies going to stop whining about lemonade & ginger beer being excessively dry?
Of course it is.............just use a keg & force carbonate after back-sweetening. This can be done in stages to get the sweetness just right.
Never ever use artificial sweetener BTW!


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## FarsideOfCrazy

Nothing like resurrecting a post from 9 years ago


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## 5teve

I guess the pussies stopped whining 9 years ago after all.


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