Hard lemonade: lactose? yeast for bottling?

[NreeK]

Hi there fellow brewers.

I’ve got a batch of hard lemonade that’s almost ready for bottling/secondary fermentation.
This is my 3rd ever brew (1st Coopers Heritage Lager, 2nd Coopers ginger beer + fresh ginger and other goodies).
My homemade recipe including pretty much whatever was at hand:

10L bucket full of lemons off my tree
5g Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast
4g yeast nutrient sachet
2kg Brown sugar
1kg white sugar
1kg dextrose
100gm grated ginger

Boiled up the juice and the halved lemons. Added the sugar in the fermenter.
Made up to 23L. Pitched yeast (which I'd started/prepared with the nutrient according to instructions on pack).

Within 2 days, plenty of action through the airlock. (I’m using an old Coopers fermenter (pre-krausen collar type)).
OG 1.075
FG 1.000 (most likely… if the fermentation has stopped…may get stronger)
Therefore online calculator says ABV = 9.84%

So after 14 days it’s a rip snorter. There is no sweetness so I will add lactose. I have no particular plan on how much lactose I will use. I'll just try and sweeten it to taste.

I’ve got a some of questions though:
1. I’ve never added lactose before, so can I add it directly to the fermenter before bottling.. ie. Will it dissolve?
2. I’ll use 2 carbonation drops per 750ml bottle like I do in beer, will this be about the right amount?
3. Also, will I need to pitch more yeast for the secondary fermentation? (will the current yeast be dead or out of nutrients or hard to reactivate for secondary fermentation).


I’ll say thanks now ahead of time for the collective wisdom that congregates here on this forum. I’ve already learnt a lot from reading various threads, it's such a great resource.

Cheers,
NreeK

 

[bronson]

sorry mate, i dont have the answers for you but I'm very intrested as I have a ship load of lemons myself.
Ive only dabbled with lactose in a "from scatch" ginger beer but personly didnt have great results. Good luck

 

[verysupple]

Unfortunately I don't have many answers either.

But...

While I've never had a hard lemonade, I'm guessing you're going for about the same fizziness as normal (softdrink) lemonade. If not, ignore the following.

One of my collegues used to work in a drinks packaging plant and while I can't remember exactly what carbonation levels (in terms of vols or g/L CO2) they used for softdrinks I remember thinking it was pretty damn high compared to beer. Apparently it has something to do with the liquid not keeping much CO2 in solution (you know how a bottle of Coke seems to lose its gas really quickly). So I would reckon you need to prime pretty heavily, but don't risk bottle bombs. My LHBS said the bottles they sell could hold 4.5 vols no problems, but they're thicker and stronger than typical commercial bottles (which are generally designed as single use) so I wouldn't think reused commercial bottles would be designed to hold much past 3 vols.

Anyhoos, 2 drops / 750 mL bottle should be safe (i.e. significantly less than 3 vols) and I'd err on the side of caution and stick with that if you're unsure of the bottle quality.

 

[Kingy]

Interested in hearing how this turns out. For the record i tried lactose and stevia before in ginger beers and didnt make much difference. It was actually worse i reckon.
When i make gingers now i crash chill when it gets to around 1.005-1.008 to stop fermentation and keg.

 

[Rocker1986]

Carbonation levels in different soft drinks vary as well and I was always of the understanding that it is a taste balancing thing. Coke is very high in carbonation to offset how sweet it is. Other drinks like Solo are quite low in carbonation by comparison, because they aren't as sweet so they don't need as much bite from the carbonation to balance it.

Maybe try different carbonation levels across the batch to see what you like the best. Might pay to get some of those sturdy bottles mentioned for it though, just to be sure. Otherwise, yeah just use the 2 drops per 750mL bottle. What sort of bottles will you be using?

 

[NreeK]

Thanks for all your replies. I knew I'd learn a lot from asking!

As I'm only a beginner I'll be using PET bottles, and if it's horrid, no drama. It's only my 3rd brew and I am expecting to make some stinkers before I make anything particularly great. I am taking careful notes though so I can learn from my mistakes. Perhaps I'll prime most with 2 drops but I'll do a few with 3 and maybe a couple with 4.... just to see what happens.....

I can't say that this lemonade is the nicest thing at this point, hence the dire need for sweetening.. if it doesn't turn out well, perhaps I can kill my neighbours chickens with it!

Thanks again... I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[Dave70]

For what its worth, I juiced a bunch of lemons after skinning them for a batch of lemincillio. I carbed up a couple of bottles using a carbonation cap cos I actually don't mind straight cold fizzy lemon juice.
I added a little lactose to a glass of it to see how it would turn out.
And it was fcuking gross, as it turned out.

In fairness, I'm not a fan of lactose in the first place - no sweet stout for me - and my juice was just plain old carbonated lemon, not alcoholic. So your mileage may vary.

 

[Bomber Watson]

Backsweetening with commercial lemonaide might be a better option.

 

[NreeK]

Thanks Dave and Bomber, I'll experiment by making up a few glasses of the stuff and trying with various sugars..... I've never actually used lactose in anything, so yeah... I should try it first.... I could call it "Milk Milk Lemonade".......

 

[Yerbabie]

I've used Lactose in a few ciders, and I've added 250gm to 500gm of Pear, Strawberry pear. raspberry pear etc... It clears out no worries, you can't tell it's in.

To be honest the Lactose makes it taste kinda funny (I've tried a few bottle from the same with / without for comparison.

So for my next batch I'm going to try Xylitol, a Natural sweeter from Birch trees, which is 1:1 suger substitute. (expensive but).

For secondary carb I just add 130-140grams of suger after racking prior to bottling (assuming 20-23L), this ensure you get it consistant, and suger / brown suger is cheaper than drops.

I don't think you need to add more yeast, it's only stopped because theres no more suger to consume. I normally Cold crash my brew to drop out most of the rubbish before racking, and I found there is always enough yeast to keep it going in the secondary.

Cheers.

 

[Chookers]

So for my next batch I'm going to try Xylitol, a Natural sweeter from Birch trees, which is 1:1 sugar substitute. (expensive but).

I think they also make it from sucrose. Isn't Xylitol just sugar that's had its molecules changed around..

To quote the Splenda "its made from sugar, so it TASTES like sugar. How's that for the icing on you cake aye"

but I don't think they call it xylitol? or maybe I've mixed it up with all the other FREAK sugars out there

 

[GalBrew]

So for my next batch I'm going to try Xylitol, a Natural sweeter from Birch trees, which is 1:1 sugar substitute. (expensive but).

I think they also make it from sucrose. Isn't Xylitol just sugar that's had its molecules changed around..

To quote the Splenda "its made from sugar, so it TASTES like sugar. How's that for the icing on you cake aye"

but I don't think they call it xylitol? or maybe I've mixed it up with all the other FREAK sugars out there

I would avoid using xylitol, unless of course you want to give everyone drinking your lemonade the runs.

 

[Simdop]

Interested in hearing how this turns out. For the record i tried lactose and stevia before in ginger beers and didnt make much difference. It was actually worse i reckon.
When i make gingers now i crash chill when it gets to around 1.005-1.008 to stop fermentation and keg.

I was thinking of doing the same thing dude. Have you got a ripper recipe? And at that gravity, how much sweetness is there?

 

[Kingy]

It was trial and error I stopped it to early once can't remember the gravity and when I chilled it down it was to sweet so I let it warm up and fermented out a bit more.
The recipe is from here have a search for ginger beer from scratch.(chappos recipe) It's a top recipe. I've made it many times now. It's a shame ginger is so expensive or I'd make it more often. I follow the recipe but add 1 small chili and a bottle of buderim ginger cordial to the boil.

 

[Airgead]

I would avoid using xylitol, unless of course you want to give everyone drinking your lemonade the runs.

For a great description of the effects of xylitol, go to amazon, look up sugar free gummy bears and read the reviews...

http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/product-reviews/B008JELLCA

 

[Blind Dog]

Personally I wouldn't use lactose - it's bad enough in beer (just about get away with it in a milk stout as the roast balances somewhat, but still can't stand the stuff) - can't imagine it would be beneficial in a lemonade.

Back sweetening in the glass with cordial of sugar syrup would be my preference. It's easy, works, and you can add a variety of flavours