Lemonade
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GMK
BrewInn Barossa:~ Home to GMKenterprises ~
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OK...Just made my lemonade tonday.
Tasted great into the fermenter...
Might Call it GMKaide.
Used 30 lemons.
Zested 18, cut the ends off all of them and slice the big ones into 3 and the small ones in half - Longways.
Then cut as much of the white stuff off as possible. This is what is supposed to make it bitter. Put the lemon flesh and the zest into a large saucepan. Grate 50gms of Ginger into the pot.
Use a bamix to shread the pulp up in the saucepan.
Add the following:
- 10 ltrs of boiling water
- 2 kg of castor sugar (for 5 % or 4KG for 10%)
- 150gms of Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons of Ground Cinamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground Cloves
- 25gms of Chinnok Pellets.
- 7 pieces of 1 inch x 2.5 inch 5mm toasted american oak pieces.
Boil for 20 mins...strain into fermeter and pitch Wyeast 3276 cider yeast. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient.
Will ferment in primary for 3 weeks - then rack and add sliced lemons if not lemony enough.
Will keep u posted on how it turns out....
Tasted great into the fermenter...
Might Call it GMKaide.
Used 30 lemons.
Zested 18, cut the ends off all of them and slice the big ones into 3 and the small ones in half - Longways.
Then cut as much of the white stuff off as possible. This is what is supposed to make it bitter. Put the lemon flesh and the zest into a large saucepan. Grate 50gms of Ginger into the pot.
Use a bamix to shread the pulp up in the saucepan.
Add the following:
- 10 ltrs of boiling water
- 2 kg of castor sugar (for 5 % or 4KG for 10%)
- 150gms of Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons of Ground Cinamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground Cloves
- 25gms of Chinnok Pellets.
- 7 pieces of 1 inch x 2.5 inch 5mm toasted american oak pieces.
Boil for 20 mins...strain into fermeter and pitch Wyeast 3276 cider yeast. Add 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient.
Will ferment in primary for 3 weeks - then rack and add sliced lemons if not lemony enough.
Will keep u posted on how it turns out....
Kai
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I made a lemonade with 12% lemon juice and the yeast pooped out in the bottle, I've got a second one with 8% lemon juice on the go right now. It's fermenting very slowly and i'm staring down the barrel of a five week ferment.
A lot of the zest flavour disappears if you add it to the primary. In my opinion you need to dry zest for any flavour transferral to be worthwhile.
Let us know how it turns out.
A lot of the zest flavour disappears if you add it to the primary. In my opinion you need to dry zest for any flavour transferral to be worthwhile.
Let us know how it turns out.
GMK, Doc, Kai and any other experimenters - any news on how the various recipes are going? The missus is keen for me to make her some and the lemonade kits that are available are trollop. I wouldn't go near them - I've made 5 batches of various brands and they all had one thing in common - lemon essence. That stuff is rubbish. :angry:
So, tomorrow will be attempt number 6 and my recipe will be something along the lines of
3 kg Coopers brewing sugar
2 lemons, juiced
Safale yeast
Probably add a few old dry yeast sachets during the boil and make up to around 25 L. :chug:
Chatty
So, tomorrow will be attempt number 6 and my recipe will be something along the lines of
3 kg Coopers brewing sugar
2 lemons, juiced
Safale yeast
Probably add a few old dry yeast sachets during the boil and make up to around 25 L. :chug:
Chatty
Kai
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My first one that I thought pooped out actually did carbonate, it just took a couple months. It would have tasted fine except for the fact I sweetened it with stevia and the aftertaste is too strong.
My second one is currently stuck at 1012, I tried to help it along with some wine yeast nutrient, but it doesn't seem to have been too successful.
My second one is currently stuck at 1012, I tried to help it along with some wine yeast nutrient, but it doesn't seem to have been too successful.
I posted the results of mine in another lemonade thread somewhere.
I think mine would have come out alright if I had used lemons that had rippened enough. They weren't green, but they were ready either.
Luckily I bottled it and they are sitting under the house for another couple of years to mellow. Currently it is way to tart.
Beers,
Doc
I think mine would have come out alright if I had used lemons that had rippened enough. They weren't green, but they were ready either.
Luckily I bottled it and they are sitting under the house for another couple of years to mellow. Currently it is way to tart.
Beers,
Doc
GMK
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No hope with the juice of 2 lemons to get anywhere near enough lemon flavour.Chatty said:
I used 30 odd lemons and zested 20 of them.
Mine is still in the primary - will need to rack soon to secondary and another 6 sliced lemons to really get the lemon flavour without it being too tart.
My lemonade is along the lines of old Fashioned Lemonade - a bit cloudy and slightly dark coloured.
it is tasting rather nice - though needs a bit more lemon...
Hope this helps.
GMK
BrewInn Barossa:~ Home to GMKenterprises ~
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In my recipe i zested the lemons - ie a really fine grater and got the yellow part of the skin - then cut the lemons into halves/thirds and removed most of the white pith - this is waht makes it bitter.
Then juiced the lemon pulp thru the food processor and you can follow the rest in the recipe above...
Then juiced the lemon pulp thru the food processor and you can follow the rest in the recipe above...
Kai
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Hey Doc, from what I've read & heard the early bitterness of your lemonade might have been due to the oranges, it's my understanding that orange juice usually doesn't taste particularly nice when fermented but I haven't tried for myself.
I've been flicking through a book on living the self sustainable life and there was a recipe for lemonade in it. It goes like:
approx 26 lemons juiced
zest from 5 lemons
100g cream of tartar
250g dextrose
500g lactose
nutrient
yeast
why the cream of tartar? I don't know
:chug:
approx 26 lemons juiced
zest from 5 lemons
100g cream of tartar
250g dextrose
500g lactose
nutrient
yeast
why the cream of tartar? I don't know
:chug:
Guest Lurker
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Could be but seems odd. Cream of tartar is potassium hydrogen tartrate which looks a bit complicated but seems to me it acts as an acid? The lemonades I have made with fresh lemons come up at pH 2 to 3. I had a lot of trouble getting yeast to start until I added some baking soda to get the pH up to about 4, which seemed to make the yeast finally kick off. So I would expect to add a base rather than an acid to a fresh lemon recipe. Then again that lemonade tasted like crap so what do I know.
I can't think of much reason to use cream of tartar at all. I suspect you use 100 g of cream of tartar when Venus is in Orion's sector, an extra 50 g when in the year of the Goat, otherwise omit... 
pKa1 and pKa2 of tartaric acid are 2.96 and 4.3. For citric acid pKa1 3.15, pKa2 4.77, pKa3 5.19. Wikipedia says lemons are up to 8% citric acid by dry weight... so maybe double that by wet weight? In that case, for 2 kg of lemons we have 320 g of citric acid, so 100 g of hydrogen tartrate is going to do bugger-all in terms of pH adjustment...
pKa1 and pKa2 of tartaric acid are 2.96 and 4.3. For citric acid pKa1 3.15, pKa2 4.77, pKa3 5.19. Wikipedia says lemons are up to 8% citric acid by dry weight... so maybe double that by wet weight? In that case, for 2 kg of lemons we have 320 g of citric acid, so 100 g of hydrogen tartrate is going to do bugger-all in terms of pH adjustment...
Ugh, yeah you're right, mea retardo. That'll teach me to post after a big night! Still, I can't see that the cream of tartar is going to do much in terms of pH, as you say. Maybe the bitartrate ions contribute to the flavour somehow, in the same way sulfate and bicarbonate ions do?
Still, I can't see that the cream of tartar is going to do much in terms of pH, as you say. Maybe the bitartrate ions contribute to the flavour somehow, in the same way sulfate and bicarbonate ions do?Backlane Brewery
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We were drinking this last night- it is excellent, a million miles away from 2 Dogs or those breezer type things. Crisp, lemony, dry but not bitter. A bit cloudy with yeast sediment and pulp residue.
I would avoid lactose unless you really want something sweeter, and don't see why you would need to add tartaric, ascorbic or citric acid. It's all in the lemons...the pectinase will get it out.
Nosebleed hard lemonade.
2.5-3 kg lemons, washed in steriliser & roughly chopped.
5 g pectinase
2kg white sugar, glucose or dextrose
10g champagne or wine yeast- I used Lanvin.
Put chopped lemons- peel, stalks & all- in a large saucepan, adding pectinase and enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, mash a few times with a potato masher or similar, cover, and leave, preferably overnight.
The next day, start the yeast in 500ml of warm water, with 100g of the sugar dissolved in it. Stir well, cover and leave for at least 30 minutes.
The heat and pectinase should have reduced the lemons to a kind of thick pulp. Bring back to the boil, then take off the heat and mash with potato masher until fairly smooth. Do not worry if there are a few large chunks in the mix.
Allow pulp to cool enough to handle, and then squeeze through a piece of boiled muslin. This will be easier if you lay the muslin in a colander placed on top of a bucket and gently pour the pulp in. When the bulk of the liquid drains, then gather the corners of the muslin in and squeeze.
You should now have at least a litre and a half of cloudy lemon must, and a big blob of dryish pulp. Add 50 grams of the pulp to the bucket and stir.
Place the must in a sterilised fermenter with remaining sugar, and top up to 15 litres with warm water. Stir well to dissolve sugar before pitching yeast starter (and a pinch of yeast nutrient if you are feeling nervous). Seal and add airlock.
This takes at least 2 weeks to ferment out. If hydrometer readings over two or three consecutive days indicate fermentation has stopped but FG is still above 1000, add more yeast.
Prime and bottle as usual- 1 tsp sugar or carb drop per stubby. It comes out fairly strong, and initially has a bit of a yeasty taste, but smooths out after a couple of weeks. Best served very cold.
I would avoid lactose unless you really want something sweeter, and don't see why you would need to add tartaric, ascorbic or citric acid. It's all in the lemons...the pectinase will get it out.
Nosebleed hard lemonade.
2.5-3 kg lemons, washed in steriliser & roughly chopped.
5 g pectinase
2kg white sugar, glucose or dextrose
10g champagne or wine yeast- I used Lanvin.
Put chopped lemons- peel, stalks & all- in a large saucepan, adding pectinase and enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, mash a few times with a potato masher or similar, cover, and leave, preferably overnight.
The next day, start the yeast in 500ml of warm water, with 100g of the sugar dissolved in it. Stir well, cover and leave for at least 30 minutes.
The heat and pectinase should have reduced the lemons to a kind of thick pulp. Bring back to the boil, then take off the heat and mash with potato masher until fairly smooth. Do not worry if there are a few large chunks in the mix.
Allow pulp to cool enough to handle, and then squeeze through a piece of boiled muslin. This will be easier if you lay the muslin in a colander placed on top of a bucket and gently pour the pulp in. When the bulk of the liquid drains, then gather the corners of the muslin in and squeeze.
You should now have at least a litre and a half of cloudy lemon must, and a big blob of dryish pulp. Add 50 grams of the pulp to the bucket and stir.
Place the must in a sterilised fermenter with remaining sugar, and top up to 15 litres with warm water. Stir well to dissolve sugar before pitching yeast starter (and a pinch of yeast nutrient if you are feeling nervous). Seal and add airlock.
This takes at least 2 weeks to ferment out. If hydrometer readings over two or three consecutive days indicate fermentation has stopped but FG is still above 1000, add more yeast.
Prime and bottle as usual- 1 tsp sugar or carb drop per stubby. It comes out fairly strong, and initially has a bit of a yeasty taste, but smooths out after a couple of weeks. Best served very cold.
