Brewing alcoholic cordial/seltzer

[Banjo89]

Just looking for some advice on how I should make some low cost seltzer/alco cordial. Ideally it would be carbonated, if it could be clear as well that would be nice.

I was thinking I would just use:

• filtered tap water
• raw sugar/white sugar (whatever people think is best)
• whichever yeast is recommended (I was thinking turbo yeast as it's quite cheap and comes with yeast nutrient incorporated and is designed with the intention to be used with simply sugar)
• I wasn't sure how to "clean" it up after fermentation, I'm open to all of these options
  • using a pack which includes carbon and clearing agents Fast Turbo Yeast Pack - The Brew Shed
  • using a filter after brewing Ez Filter Alcohol Filtering System - The Brew Shed

Ideally I'm just looking for a clean neutral tasting end product which is something I can add flavouring essences to. Can I use the carbon pack without distilling or would that only be added if it was going to be distilled? Would the carbon pack even be necessary if I was going to use a filter at the end stage and what would be the difference between using a carbon pack (which is later settled out using the fining agents) and just using a carbon filter at end of fermentation?

 

[Hangover68]

I'm after something similar, i bought some EC-118 yeast and will probably do a water, white sugar and nutrient base then flavour afterwards.
Not looked into the filters yet but for the amount i'll brew (maybe 1-2 kegs /year) it will be something much cheaper then the EZ filter.

 

[Grmblz]

Best Practices – Hard Seltzer Fermentation | Lallemand Brewing Stay away from Turbo yeasts, they're designed for noob stillers.

 

[MHB]

Thats a good link Grunblz.
Anyone looking to make alcoholic seltzers would be well advised to follow the above very precicely, you will get a good product if you do.
Mark

 

[The Mack]

Above link is good, followed it on my Seltzer brews for the missus...fwiw despite it seeming relatively straight forward I found the seltzer brews a lot more labour intensive compared to beer brewing but I digress.

Tried glucose and white table sugar, both were fine. Water was regular tap water with some campden treatment, tried a couple "malty" water profiles but no discernible difference.

EC 118. is a great yeast choice, I've tried filtering through a carbon cartridge and it was painfully slow.. I have a plate filter and that was a breeze to work with- brilliant clarity, very quick. I suspect gelatine/ biofine (or combination of both) would do the same job with a bit of conditioning time.

I've tried DAP and Wyeast nutrient in various combinations and they all worked fine, I figure it is the consistency of the feeding that matters. (And available oxygen, no nutrients from the grain means the yeast needs to be completely Molly-coddled into doing its job)

Have tried pre and post ferment flavour additions and much prefer the latter, both for stability and appearance. Citrus stuff, passionfruit and raspberries were the winning flavours in our household.

Good luck.