I started watching your videos, and back in Dec of 2019 I bought my 1st 1gal fermenter and that's where it started. Now roughly 3 years later I have like 12 5gal batches going and have no plans on stopping. Just wanted to thank you both for introducing me to an awesome hobby that I and everyone else totally enjoys. "best wine I've ever had" is a common phrase when introducing someone to my mad scientist concoctions lol. So again. Thank you both.
Same for me but not as many jugs haha never will I buy wine from a shop again ! Just tastes of acidic water after being exposed to flavourful wine following these recipes 😋
@@glitchyhitchy1811 guess that's a good place to start since I'm kinda scared , dont want to ruin my muskadine grapes we picked from the bayou 😁 South Louisiana here. Never picked grapes from a boat before, fun. 💪😁✌🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️🧚♀️🦋🌷
I have made the original Skeeter Pee a number of times and found adding lime juice did improve the flavor. I put it in beer bottles and it is around 8 to 9% alcohol. Skeeter Pee is best when it's hot outside and you just got done mowing the lawn. The first bottle goes down and is very refreshing. While drinking the second bottle you suddenly feel the alcohol. So typically I only drink two bottles of ice cold Skeeter Pee and then go take a nap. :)
My experience as a tea drinker is that Tea doesn't brew properly when there is sugar, (or milk) added in before it has steeped. Also if the water is not hot enough it doesn't fully develop the colour/flavour.
@35:45 I would like to believe your use of the Brewer's Friend calculator is partially a result of my recommendation on your recent poll. Just my personal head cannon!
Dear Brian, We understand that you don't like our product, and derisively say you use it in place of sanitizing fluid in your airlocks. We also understand that you're out of scotch. We lovingly want to remind you that we don't care what your reason is for buying our Scotch - as long as you do. With Much Affection, --Scoresby Scotch
I made my first batch of skeeter pee back in late June. I started from scratch with actual lemons and went from there. I was a bit disappointed after the initial 2 weeks. But then I did back sweeten and waited 2 more weeks then bottles and pasteurized. On July 30th I gave a bottle to a group of friends and they were convinced I simply rebottled a "commercial" lemon cello. I had a time convincing them it was my own product! And it was a perfectly clear lemon yellow!! I will be making this as a standard from now on. Thank you for sharing your experience 🥰
I like where Derica's mind is at. I've recently gotten more into fortifying my meads with various other alcohols and it is kind of insane what the addition of rum(get some spices), cointreau or even flavored vodka(for various fruity flavors) can do to completely change a brew in a good way.
I just got finished with bottling 24 bottles of blackberry wine, racked off 6 gallons of watermelon wine, and started 6 gallons of apricot. Have the makings for a cinnamon mead, but clean up will take awhile. Thank you for your videos. Very well done.
Brian, quite a long time ago, when I was working at the LHBS, (Local home brew store) we had a batch of hefeveizen going, one day in. The boss had a play pool, hooked up to a glycol cooler, cooling the ferment down. I walked into the back room, and heard the 3 piece airlock hit the 20 foot high ceiling. I put in a blow off tube, for another day. Weiensteophan yeast is a QUICK fermenting yeast. steve
I am going to try your recipe. I used "Natalie's" lemon juice that had no preservatives. 3 gallon batch ended up 10%. Tasted great too but I like the idea of lemonade and zest.
@@xingganaide9811 I have no idea what brand it is, but I take a paper towel and dry out the inside neck of the carboy and dry the bung. It always stays in place that way
@@xingganaide9811 No. It won't give you any problems. Especially the fact that you are only drying off the little bit that the bung contacts with the carboy
I used to make skeeter pee, using real lemon cases from Costco, and some tea tannins, never needed yeast booster or anything special and the ladies in the neighborhood loved it!
If you're stuck for something to adjust the PH I've used ground egg shell in the past. It doesn't add any taste and most people have eggs in the house.
Had a watermelon wine explode and go all over cabinets and ceiling. 🤣. I am so grateful for this video. I tried to make a cranberry wine and it didn’t work at all. Now I know why. Cranberry’s are very acidic. Now I know what to do.
the haircut looks good Brian! idea for the remainder lemonade - make an Arnold Palmer mead/wine. half tea half lemonade, and a bunch of honey. what could be better?
I don’t know about Skeeter Pee, but I did just receive my CS Brews tee shirt. The fabric is extremely soft, only to infer that the fabric was made with Unicorn plasma and kissed by a fairy! I shed tears of joy that could only be explained as my thankfulness that I had finally made it! I was the owner of the most angelic article of clothing in the world. Please hear these words and purchase your CS Brews tshirt. Your life will thank you………
You are both the most adorable brewers out there, I really enjoy your no nonsense and it's so fun to watch. Thank you both, P.S, Dericha(Jerichica) you are simply perfect and lovely and your descriptions on taste for finished products is always correct and I find what satisfies your taste buds, satisfies mine too! Thank you both once again, much love to you !
In my experience from pasteurising IN a fermenting bucket, I have noticed the sediment drops out after about 12 hours to 3 days. I’m one of those strange people that does drink lemon juice. I know it’s bad for the enamel on my teeth, but it tastes soooo good. Unfortunately, here in NZ we don’t get a fraction of the ‘pre-made’ stuff you guys do, so unless I figure out a lemonade recipe from scratch, this will be off my radar 😢 I would love to find a way to make (from scratch) a NICE low alcohol (5%), carbonated lemon squash drink. That would be my absolute undoing 🤣
Please make a Rumble channel. I use TH-cam as little as possible. I watch y'all's channel almost exclusively for wine and mead. y'all are the only reason I even come to TH-cam anymore. but I love your videos, thanks for what y'all do.
I'm gonna say... likely not. TH-cam is where we earn a living, I can't say I want to split that into two different things at this time, but thank you for the input, and glad you watch us!
Hello over there over on the other side of the Atlantic. I do pasture my carboys on the stove top, but I put a metal grid in the bottom of my huge pot. It is a bit of watching the pot but it works quite nicely. Love your content!
@@CitySteadingBrews yes I know and the closer I get the 60 degrees in my brew the closer I make the temperature of the water until the meet at 60 degrees, then I leave it for 25-30 minutes just to be sure.
The ginger beer I made ended up being way too sweet, but I found that when pouring it into a glass, if I added lemonade then that compensated for the sweetness. The next time I make it I will add lemonade to the secondary, and hopefully that will balance everything out.
To answer your very first question (about just using lemonade), I remember in researching it, you don't want to drop the acidity all the way immediately (but gradually). And you'll get more of the unfermented lemon flavour. My Skeeter Pee had 3 points where I added more lemon juice (going to 7.5% before stalling for good).
I realize this is an older video, but since you get into pH in this one: something brewers fiddling with pH should bear in mind. When you're measuring pH, make sure to degas a much as possible first. Dissolved carbon actually lowers pH. And since pH is a logarithmic scale, that can lead to surprising differences at low values.
Hey I tried making wine and I’m scared to try it and I’m new to making wine I should be safe to drink it right I mean if I’m right I have a higher chance to poison my self while cooking right
A note about the cloudiness... it didn't look like the lemonade was clear so that could be 1 reason because it does look a little lighter in color after the enzyme was added.
I just wanted to say that i have been binge watching your channel. I really like the way you explain things, and i like that you will respond to people. Simply put a lot of people im Subbed to don't respond to messages. I look forward to watching all of your videos, I'm on bed rest so i have nothing but time now. Lol
We feel that the community is the reason the channel is what it is. Without interacting, we're just people on a stage. That can get boring. Also being a teaching show, it's unfair to. Ot try and help when people have questions :) Hopefully you're up and around soon!
You could use the leftover lemonade to make a deconstructed radler Instead of a beer with lemonade added to it, a beer brewed right away with lemonade instead of water
A citron is a small melon citrus grove owners grow in their groves to keep deer from eating the citrus. Apparently you can eat it, but it doesn't taste very good. I've been told it's like eating just watermelon rind. But apparently deer love it. They fill up on that instead.
So an idea for you'll to think about making with the other two gallons of lemonade considering you are making a brew called skeeter pee. Making a carbonated beverage based off the gator pi!ss shot 1oz citron vodka, midori melon liqueur and 7oz sprite. A carbonated honeydew lemonade might be really good. Or a brew based of the alligator pi!ss shot 1/3 oz peach schnapps, amaretto, midori melon, Southern comfort peach liqueur and a splash sweet & mix.
I'm no expert but I've done a few batches of Lemon mead and in my experience it seems like the yeast adapt during fermentation and if they stall even minor adjustments (adding water, sugar, and most times just degassing) is enough to kick off fermentation again. High acid brews also seem to go much smoother staggering the yeast nutrients. The times I've added all the nutrients up front have been the times I've had stalls.
I’ve read somewhere on the forums about why not to add pectin enzyme into “secondary”. They were saying the compound doesn’t do well when alcohol is present (similar to nutrients)
Watched the video today, September 11th, 2023(A day we shall never forget!!). I was wondering if you saved the Skeeter Pee and how does it taste now? I’m a huge fan of skeeter pee and have produced well over 100 gallons of the stuff since 2018. I’ve barrel aged it in wine barrels and whiskey barrels. LOVE IT!!!
Put a kitchen towel under your fermenter in the pot for a cushion and you should be able to pasteurize gently on the stovetop. It is a method used for canning jars.
@@CitySteadingBrews Wow! I really appreciate the response. I was just thinking what to do if one does not own a sous vide machine. To be clear, I have never made a home brew, beer, wine or mead. But for some reason I find your videos fascinating. Please keep sharing your great content and pass along your knowledge. Fan in Kansas.
I started an Arnold Palmer wine 2 weeks ago with 64 oz of Lemonade and 64 oz of Black Tea (8 bags) with an SG of 1.102, I am expecting it to take a year based off the amount of tea and the results from your tea wine video.
Hi Bryan and Derica. Thank you for your time to make awesome videos. I was wondering if I could add bentonite to clear my lemon wine faster. My brew is done fermentation so I just dont know how to add bentonite. Thanks 😊
In response to your skeeter pee video: have you ever tried partially freezing your brews to clear them? I noticed that usually cleared almost anything up by a lot!
An idea for other things to use that lemonade for (if it hasn't already been mixed with vodka yet), make a mead with it. Growing up, for me a hot toadie was lemonade (fizzy) heated up in the microwave with honey and cheap blended whiskey added to that. So you could potentially make a cheats hot toadie.
Just tasted my 1st brew ever (1 gallon Orange Raisin mead) didn't have a hydrometer when I started it last Saturday 09/16/22. 2 questions. Gravity is at 1.001 (used half tsp Red Star Champagne yeast) Does something need to be done? The number seems off. Any suggestions or comments are welcome And does the cheap liquor taste mellow out over time? Doesn't taste bad just cheap.
Re: The "Nail Polish Remover" taste. You may not be imagining it. acetone and methanol are both possible fermentation byproducts, especially when pectin is involved. It's not going to be enough to be harmful, but it may be enough that if your palate is sensitive to it, you'd pick up on the flavor.
I know old video. Just started the hobby and as things to do with the lemonade. I haven't went through all your stuff yet but you said Arnold palmer mead. I think that could be good. I may try after I get a few batches under my belt
Recently got 2 jars of Fleischmann yeast, instructions stated to first put yeast in small bowl with warm water and a gram of sugar, stir...if it doubles volume pitch it ya good to go. Seems like a great time saver. Just did this with batch started yesterday and the party started an hour, airlock is rockin' 🤟😁😎
@@CitySteadingBrews It's gotta be frustrating to wait a couple days to find out the pitch was dead. Was addressed in another CSB Vid to watch for the foam. Remember am a noob learning and finding CSB to be extremely valuable resource. Thanks!!!!
I made some lemonade wine with frozen raspberry lemonade as a base and it took like 2weeks to really start as I remember. I think the extreme acid stunted the yeast progression
Citron is the ancestral fruit of lemons and limes etc, which are bred from Buddha's hand type fruits cross bred with the pomelo (like a very large grapefruit) the amount of work that has gone into fruit cultivation is insane it is weirdly complex and super interesting
Citrus = highest pectin of all fruits = more methanol content if pectinase is not added early. That "nail polish remover" smell might even be a bit of acetone as the brew was under a bit of ph stress, therefore produces more undesirable hydrocarbons. The amounts are tiny and can be metabolised by the liver in small amounts. This is why citrus is not the optimal fruit to make alcohol
Instead of adding sugar and pasteurizing could you have added more sugar at the fermentation stage and keep adding small amounts until the yeast goes to sleep and the excess sugar gives the SG you want (e.g. 1.02)
I just thought I would share I have started making my own skeeter pee the biggest issue I had was that lemon juice and lemonade are not really on sale for large amounts in Australia as lemonade of this kind is not really part of our traditions any lemon juice I did find had heaps of preservatives so I used all fresh lemon juice and added a campden tablet going to pitch my yeast in 24 hours if this works il do a strawberry/lemon and lime/lemon skeeter pee next.
Ill try this, but name is changing to Buzzing Summer. Oh and of course later version Mead style, dubbed Honey’s Buzzing Summer… As far as PH, I check each time with Mead. I found you want it at least 4 in safe recipes and 4.5-5 with antibiotic loaded ingredients. I believe its calcium carbonate to raise PH, add carefully. I have had a brew accidentally reach 5.5 which fermentation was on fire. Product did turn out well but needed time and burned to .996-.997 if I recall.
Interesting, you neutralizing a lot of the acidity (to get it to start up again) meant you didn't need to sweeten it nearly as much as I was expecting.
I think it would add a honey flavor? Not what I envisioned Skeeter Pee tasting like so… we didn’t use it. Does that mean you shouldn’t? I don’t think so.
Wow, I had not considered pasteurizing a whole gallon of wine like that. Should of but no. Wish I had done that after back sweetening a blackberry mead we just made. It went from 15% to 18% and was DRY. We used red star premiere classic and wow, did not expect that. With that said, it’s going to be AMAZING with some steak
Absolutely love you both and have been watching your vids for a while. I've been brewing for a bit over 2 years now and your videos are a huge help. I was wondering if adding phosphorus via egg shell would have worked so you wouldn't have to worry about altering the taste? I once made a lemon ginger mead (1 gallon) and added way too much fresh lemon juice for fermentation and it stalled. Feeling it probably needed some phosphorus, I added the shell of one boiled egg (just the shell none of the albumen or egg at all) and it came back to life wonderfully. The mead ended up being outstanding in flavor. What are your thoughts on egg shell to balance ph levels? Is baking soda the better option?
That little bit of evaporation will actually remove any methanol in the wine created during the fermentation process. Just keep the temp below 175f and no alcohol will be removed as that's alcohols boiling temp and water isn't until 212f.
They will sometimes leave the pot temp around 165f until zero drips ensuring all the methanol was cooked out before continuing aka heads and hearts. Have to have some good temp control though
Hello just found you guys..... love you guys your videos are great. so as a home wine maker sometime when i made cider and wine I would back sweeten with concentrate frozen juice. ( apple or grape) just FYI. I have made skeeter pee before great job guys.
We have huckleberries around here but I can't seem to find a wine or mead recipe using huckleberry. Most people say they taste like blueberry but I think they have there own unique flavor. if you could please made a huckleberry mead or wine please and thank you
Its been 9 months, have you tried a bottle after 6 months? Since this a great summer time drink, interested how it mellowed after 6. We had done a similar last year, but with a lb of honey and loved it. We also got some carbonation in the bottles, just enough to give a little "spritz" to it.
Hi and thanks for another great video. Not sure if this is the right place to ask but please would you consider making a toffee/caramel mead? I love toffee vodka and think a mead, potentially high abv, would also be pretty good, thanks!
@@CitySteadingBrews hi guys! Last piece of advice on this one please. So, starting my first bochet tomorrow and was thinking I’d add dates for added toffee-ness. Would you put these in primary, conditioning or both?? Thanks 🙏
I made a ferment from Costco strawberry lemonade. Came out great. Lovely taste. I’m calling it wine but my god daughter says it’s more like a cider. Whatever, I’m enjoying it.
Brian and Derrica, thanks for the video! Didnt you say PH range 3.5 to 4.5? Now you want 4? Did i hear you wrong before? Thanks, keep up the GREAT videos
@@CitySteadingBrews Iv only used it in baking and you can use it in higher quantities to replace baking soda and it does give the unique flavour to cream soda but I don't know anything about using it in a brew that's interesting to know thanks
I have successfully used bentonite clay to clarify my wines, Have you used that method before and if so which is your preferred method? I haven't tried the pectin yet but am anxious to get your opinion. Thanks in advance
Can you actually try making an Arnold Palmer version of this, perhaps as an experiment of what happens to the profile of the brew when you have "too much" tea present?
basically skeeter pee is a Sima that has been left long enough to finnish... ha ha edit : usually my fermentations start within 45 minutes because i pitch at 30 celsius. i seen turbo yeast pitched at 34 celsius go full blast in 20 minutes. i also seen brews go to full blast in 3-5 minutes after a step feed of sugar and yeast energizer maybe the sodium bicarbonate had an energizing effect. these little critters react to electrolytes.
Yes you can. We used to purposefully put in more fermentable sugars at the beginning but we learned that too much sugar can stress the yeast and yeast can't read so they might go beyond their alcohol tolerance. Now we add fermentable sugars to our desired target ABV and then back sweeten to desired sweetness level which normally requires pasteurization as well to prevent fermentation from restarting.
How do you sanitize and then dry your funnel? I've always used wet, just sanitized, bowls, measuring cups and measuring spoons with my dry ingredients, which doesn't work great.
I started watching your videos, and back in Dec of 2019 I bought my 1st 1gal fermenter and that's where it started. Now roughly 3 years later I have like 12 5gal batches going and have no plans on stopping. Just wanted to thank you both for introducing me to an awesome hobby that I and everyone else totally enjoys. "best wine I've ever had" is a common phrase when introducing someone to my mad scientist concoctions lol. So again. Thank you both.
Same for me but not as many jugs haha never will I buy wine from a shop again ! Just tastes of acidic water after being exposed to flavourful wine following these recipes 😋
That is awesome! We are glad you are enjoying the hobby!
I'm just starting here soo excited too 🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️
@@hbg8683 try the red wine city steading do.. many many o'bottles ive made and its super good 👍
@@glitchyhitchy1811 guess that's a good place to start since I'm kinda scared , dont want to ruin my muskadine grapes we picked from the bayou 😁 South Louisiana here. Never picked grapes from a boat before, fun. 💪😁✌🤸♀️🤸♀️🤸♀️🧚♀️🦋🌷
I have made the original Skeeter Pee a number of times and found adding lime juice did improve the flavor. I put it in beer bottles and it is around 8 to 9% alcohol. Skeeter Pee is best when it's hot outside and you just got done mowing the lawn. The first bottle goes down and is very refreshing. While drinking the second bottle you suddenly feel the alcohol. So typically I only drink two bottles of ice cold Skeeter Pee and then go take a nap. :)
If you’re worried about diluting your must by adding tea why not heat a cup of lemonade and steep your black tea bags in it?
My experience as a tea drinker is that Tea doesn't brew properly when there is sugar, (or milk) added in before it has steeped. Also if the water is not hot enough it doesn't fully develop the colour/flavour.
acidic solutions extract different than more neutral solutions, it might have an effect on the flavor, or none at all, give it a try:)
@@coconutfleetsleeper5717 I have and it worked fine.
@@terrycuyler5659 awesome:)
Or calculate the amount of honey in your must to account for the amount of dilution a cup or two of strong tea will add to the must
@35:45
I would like to believe your use of the Brewer's Friend calculator is partially a result of my recommendation on your recent poll. Just my personal head cannon!
I'm sure at least in part it is :)
Dear Brian,
We understand that you don't like our product, and derisively say you use it in place of sanitizing fluid in your airlocks. We also understand that you're out of scotch.
We lovingly want to remind you that we don't care what your reason is for buying our Scotch - as long as you do.
With Much Affection,
--Scoresby Scotch
Lol. I don’t buy it anymore, just once!
I made my first batch of skeeter pee back in late June. I started from scratch with actual lemons and went from there. I was a bit disappointed after the initial 2 weeks. But then I did back sweeten and waited 2 more weeks then bottles and pasteurized. On July 30th I gave a bottle to a group of friends and they were convinced I simply rebottled a "commercial" lemon cello. I had a time convincing them it was my own product! And it was a perfectly clear lemon yellow!! I will be making this as a standard from now on. Thank you for sharing your experience 🥰
If you don’t mind, could you tell me the recipe you used for it? That sounds amazing 😍
I like where Derica's mind is at. I've recently gotten more into fortifying my meads with various other alcohols and it is kind of insane what the addition of rum(get some spices), cointreau or even flavored vodka(for various fruity flavors) can do to completely change a brew in a good way.
I agree, I fortified a cherry wine with some star anis/ouzo/raki style of grain spirits, turned out lovely♡♡♡
You could use one of those extra lemonades, combine it with some organic blueberry juice, and make something new: Grinch Wine.
I just got finished with bottling 24 bottles of blackberry wine, racked off 6 gallons of watermelon wine, and started 6 gallons of apricot. Have the makings for a cinnamon mead, but clean up will take awhile. Thank you for your videos. Very well done.
FYI the cap from the jugs of McCoys orange blossom honey fit nicely on standard one gallon fermenters.
Never having watched these two before- they like go at it together.
Can’t say it on TH-cam, but chemistry is paramount
I can't tell if this is a compliment...or not, lol.
@@CitySteadingBrews No pun intended (because of brewing), but it’s good chemistry on screen. Subscribed!
@jr-zu8wt thanks!
Brian, quite a long time ago, when I was working at the
LHBS, (Local home brew store) we had a batch of
hefeveizen going, one day in. The boss had a play
pool, hooked up to a glycol cooler, cooling the ferment
down. I walked into the back room, and heard the 3
piece airlock hit the 20 foot high ceiling. I put in a
blow off tube, for another day. Weiensteophan yeast
is a QUICK fermenting yeast.
steve
So glad yall did this, I have been debating making it for awhile. May have to move it up on my things to brew list.
I am going to try your recipe. I used "Natalie's" lemon juice that had no preservatives. 3 gallon batch ended up 10%. Tasted great too but I like the idea of lemonade and zest.
What brand stopper do they use? Mine keep popping out?
@@xingganaide9811 I have no idea what brand it is, but I take a paper towel and dry out the inside neck of the carboy and dry the bung. It always stays in place that way
@@heyporcupine thanks. I thought about that but wondered if after using Star-san the paper towel would introduce bacteria.
@@xingganaide9811 No. It won't give you any problems. Especially the fact that you are only drying off the little bit that the bung contacts with the carboy
You should do a mead recipe with one of the other bottles of lemonaid. If you have mint, add some of that too. I want to do this eventually
I used to make skeeter pee, using real lemon cases from Costco, and some tea tannins, never needed yeast booster or anything special and the ladies in the neighborhood loved it!
If you're stuck for something to adjust the PH I've used ground egg shell in the past. It doesn't add any taste and most people have eggs in the house.
That's a Pilot G2 Premium Refillable Rolling Ball Gel Fine Point Pen. I love those pens!🙂Great video. Needed the clearing tips. Thanks.
Had a watermelon wine explode and go all over cabinets and ceiling. 🤣. I am so grateful for this video. I tried to make a cranberry wine and it didn’t work at all. Now I know why. Cranberry’s are very acidic. Now I know what to do.
the haircut looks good Brian!
idea for the remainder lemonade - make an Arnold Palmer mead/wine. half tea half lemonade, and a bunch of honey. what could be better?
With extra lemonade, do something with butterfly pea, the color changing chemistry is pretty and fun.
The most enjoyable,entertaining post I have seen on your channel.Greetings from England.
I'd recommend a 1:5 lemonade to cider mix with .5 oz Citra hops dry hopped for 2 days for your remaining lemonade!
Thank you, I have wondered about Skeeter Pee for a long time. I am going to have to give it a try.
I don’t know about Skeeter Pee, but I did just receive my CS Brews tee shirt. The fabric is extremely soft, only to infer that the fabric was made with Unicorn plasma and kissed by a fairy! I shed tears of joy that could only be explained as my thankfulness that I had finally made it! I was the owner of the most angelic article of clothing in the world. Please hear these words and purchase your CS Brews tshirt. Your life will thank you………
Lol, that was awesome! Thanks. We try to only offer high quality comfy merch that we want to wear ourselves! Glad to hear it is appreciated!
I bet this would be great if it were allowed to bottle carbonate. Nice video guys!
You are both the most adorable brewers out there, I really enjoy your no nonsense and it's so fun to watch. Thank you both,
P.S, Dericha(Jerichica) you are simply perfect and lovely and your descriptions on taste for finished products is always correct and I find what satisfies your taste buds, satisfies mine too! Thank you both once again, much love to you !
Never clicked so fast on a video! Always look forward to your content :)
Thank you for watching!
In my experience from pasteurising IN a fermenting bucket, I have noticed the sediment drops out after about 12 hours to 3 days.
I’m one of those strange people that does drink lemon juice. I know it’s bad for the enamel on my teeth, but it tastes soooo good.
Unfortunately, here in NZ we don’t get a fraction of the ‘pre-made’ stuff you guys do, so unless I figure out a lemonade recipe from scratch, this will be off my radar 😢
I would love to find a way to make (from scratch) a NICE low alcohol (5%), carbonated lemon squash drink. That would be my absolute undoing 🤣
Please make a Rumble channel. I use TH-cam as little as possible. I watch y'all's channel almost exclusively for wine and mead. y'all are the only reason I even come to TH-cam anymore.
but I love your videos, thanks for what y'all do.
I'm gonna say... likely not. TH-cam is where we earn a living, I can't say I want to split that into two different things at this time, but thank you for the input, and glad you watch us!
Hello over there over on the other side of the Atlantic.
I do pasture my carboys on the stove top, but I put a metal grid in the bottom of my huge pot. It is a bit of watching the pot but it works quite nicely.
Love your content!
It can be done, but you have to be more cautious.
I know I never let the water temp past about 70 degrees Celsius.
Only need an internal temp of 60 in the bottles, any higher is just more risk of breakage really.
@@CitySteadingBrews yes I know and the closer I get the 60 degrees in my brew the closer I make the temperature of the water until the meet at 60 degrees, then I leave it for 25-30 minutes just to be sure.
@@henka1bylin gotcha.
The ginger beer I made ended up being way too sweet, but I found that when pouring it into a glass, if I added lemonade then that compensated for the sweetness. The next time I make it I will add lemonade to the secondary, and hopefully that will balance everything out.
To answer your very first question (about just using lemonade), I remember in researching it, you don't want to drop the acidity all the way immediately (but gradually). And you'll get more of the unfermented lemon flavour. My Skeeter Pee had 3 points where I added more lemon juice (going to 7.5% before stalling for good).
Since I found you guys a few days ago I just love listening to you guys and learned a lot
Awesome! Happy to help!
I realize this is an older video, but since you get into pH in this one: something brewers fiddling with pH should bear in mind. When you're measuring pH, make sure to degas a much as possible first. Dissolved carbon actually lowers pH. And since pH is a logarithmic scale, that can lead to surprising differences at low values.
Quite true.
Hey I tried making wine and I’m scared to try it and I’m new to making wine I should be safe to drink it right I mean if I’m right I have a higher chance to poison my self while cooking right
A note about the cloudiness... it didn't look like the lemonade was clear so that could be 1 reason because it does look a little lighter in color after the enzyme was added.
I just wanted to say that i have been binge watching your channel. I really like the way you explain things, and i like that you will respond to people. Simply put a lot of people im Subbed to don't respond to messages. I look forward to watching all of your videos, I'm on bed rest so i have nothing but time now. Lol
We feel that the community is the reason the channel is what it is. Without interacting, we're just people on a stage. That can get boring. Also being a teaching show, it's unfair to. Ot try and help when people have questions :)
Hopefully you're up and around soon!
You could use the leftover lemonade to make a deconstructed radler
Instead of a beer with lemonade added to it, a beer brewed right away with lemonade instead of water
A citron is a small melon citrus grove owners grow in their groves to keep deer from eating the citrus. Apparently you can eat it, but it doesn't taste very good. I've been told it's like eating just watermelon rind. But apparently deer love it. They fill up on that instead.
Use the extra lemonade to make an actual arnold palmer wine
Cool seeing you deal with a stall! Might be the bomb this winter if you heat it a bit.
Stalls happen. We like to show what to do if the worst happens!
So an idea for you'll to think about making with the other two gallons of lemonade considering you are making a brew called skeeter pee. Making a carbonated beverage based off the gator pi!ss shot 1oz citron vodka, midori melon liqueur and 7oz sprite. A carbonated honeydew lemonade might be really good. Or a brew based of the alligator pi!ss shot 1/3 oz peach schnapps, amaretto, midori melon, Southern comfort peach liqueur and a splash sweet & mix.
suggestion for leftover lemonade: Hard Tea. Ive made this a couple of times and its fantastic.
I'm no expert but I've done a few batches of Lemon mead and in my experience it seems like the yeast adapt during fermentation and if they stall even minor adjustments (adding water, sugar, and most times just degassing) is enough to kick off fermentation again. High acid brews also seem to go much smoother staggering the yeast nutrients. The times I've added all the nutrients up front have been the times I've had stalls.
I’ve read somewhere on the forums about why not to add pectin enzyme into “secondary”. They were saying the compound doesn’t do well when alcohol is present (similar to nutrients)
It works still but not as well. You need double the amount.
Watched the video today, September 11th, 2023(A day we shall never forget!!). I was wondering if you saved the Skeeter Pee and how does it taste now? I’m a huge fan of skeeter pee and have produced well over 100 gallons of the stuff since 2018. I’ve barrel aged it in wine barrels and whiskey barrels. LOVE IT!!!
We did the year tasting a few weeks ago :). th-cam.com/video/jby8BQd1x4M/w-d-xo.htmlsi=_kSa5xLT60e72ejQ
Put a kitchen towel under your fermenter in the pot for a cushion and you should be able to pasteurize gently on the stovetop. It is a method used for canning jars.
Yes, but honestly a sous vide is better and… if you can keep the internal temp to 140f thats all you need 10-15 mins and done.
@@CitySteadingBrews Wow! I really appreciate the response. I was just thinking what to do if one does not own a sous vide machine. To be clear, I have never made a home brew, beer, wine or mead. But for some reason I find your videos fascinating. Please keep sharing your great content and pass along your knowledge. Fan in Kansas.
I started an Arnold Palmer wine 2 weeks ago with 64 oz of Lemonade and 64 oz of Black Tea (8 bags) with an SG of 1.102, I am expecting it to take a year based off the amount of tea and the results from your tea wine video.
How did it turn out? I was reading through comments on this video hoping someone would have posted something about making an arnold palmer wine! :)
I really like this style of video. Start to finish in one video. Well done..
Thankyou!
Awesome video to you both. I learned a lot from it. You both are amazing. Thank you!!!
Our pleasure! Thank you for watching!
Ive sprayed a full 200sq ft room with fed 200+yr old sourdough starter. Glad i learned my lesson with that rather than my mead.
With the extra lemonade you coukd make lemon-cherry wine and lemon-raspberry wine... those would be yummy!
Hi Bryan and Derica. Thank you for your time to make awesome videos. I was wondering if I could add bentonite to clear my lemon wine faster. My brew is done fermentation so I just dont know how to add bentonite. Thanks 😊
You can use whatever clearing agent you wish to use. We don't use bentonite ourselves so can't say what you should expect.
Great video as always guys, and thanks for yet another reason for me to buy more fermenters lol. I can’t wait to try this. Have a great day.
Our pleasure!
A baloon with a pinhole works for an airlock in a pinch too. However if too much pressure builds, it can pop the baloon
th-cam.com/video/pB4zZuzf56k/w-d-xo.html
In response to your skeeter pee video: have you ever tried partially freezing your brews to clear them? I noticed that usually cleared almost anything up by a lot!
An idea for other things to use that lemonade for (if it hasn't already been mixed with vodka yet), make a mead with it. Growing up, for me a hot toadie was lemonade (fizzy) heated up in the microwave with honey and cheap blended whiskey added to that. So you could potentially make a cheats hot toadie.
I have found that inverting the sugars can guard against stalling.
Just tasted my 1st brew ever (1 gallon Orange Raisin mead) didn't have a hydrometer when I started it last Saturday 09/16/22. 2 questions.
Gravity is at 1.001 (used half tsp Red Star Champagne yeast) Does something need to be done? The number seems off.
Any suggestions or comments are welcome
And does the cheap liquor taste mellow out over time? Doesn't taste bad just cheap.
Arnold palmer wine.
Also Brian. Get yourself a space pen, can even write on wet surfaces
Could mix with our tea wine, lol.
I did a lemon wine this year that is very similar to what you did. Can't wait for the 1 year mark to taste it and see if it's good ;)
Re: The "Nail Polish Remover" taste.
You may not be imagining it. acetone and methanol are both possible fermentation byproducts, especially when pectin is involved. It's not going to be enough to be harmful, but it may be enough that if your palate is sensitive to it, you'd pick up on the flavor.
lol. just happen to be watching this on july 1, 2023. great timing!
I know old video. Just started the hobby and as things to do with the lemonade. I haven't went through all your stuff yet but you said Arnold palmer mead. I think that could be good. I may try after I get a few batches under my belt
Old or new we see the comments :)
May work on something like that. Welcome!
Recently got 2 jars of Fleischmann yeast, instructions stated to first put yeast in small bowl with warm water and a gram of sugar, stir...if it doubles volume pitch it ya good to go. Seems like a great time saver. Just did this with batch started yesterday and the party started an hour, airlock is rockin' 🤟😁😎
That's for baking... in brewing it doesn't save time (doesn't for baking either really), but does tell you if the yeast is viable.
@@CitySteadingBrews viability is why the test was executed. Kind of last minute but sure glad I did it.
@@CitySteadingBrews It's gotta be frustrating to wait a couple days to find out the pitch was dead. Was addressed in another CSB Vid to watch for the foam. Remember am a noob learning and finding CSB to be extremely valuable resource. Thanks!!!!
Oh for viability yes, I thought you meant you somehow skipped ahead in the process.
I made some lemonade wine with frozen raspberry lemonade as a base and it took like 2weeks to really start as I remember. I think the extreme acid stunted the yeast progression
Citron is the ancestral fruit of lemons and limes etc, which are bred from Buddha's hand type fruits cross bred with the pomelo (like a very large grapefruit) the amount of work that has gone into fruit cultivation is insane it is weirdly complex and super interesting
Hej, I love your video's! I've learned so much from you two, Thank you! Also, where can I find the siphon your using to take the gravity with?
Citrus = highest pectin of all fruits = more methanol content if pectinase is not added early. That "nail polish remover" smell might even be a bit of acetone as the brew was under a bit of ph stress, therefore produces more undesirable hydrocarbons. The amounts are tiny and can be metabolised by the liver in small amounts. This is why citrus is not the optimal fruit to make alcohol
you mentioned a arnold palmer, make a tea/lemonade kombucha thing with some of leftovers
Instead of adding sugar and pasteurizing could you have added more sugar at the fermentation stage and keep adding small amounts until the yeast goes to sleep and the excess sugar gives the SG you want (e.g. 1.02)
I just thought I would share I have started making my own skeeter pee the biggest issue I had was that lemon juice and lemonade are not really on sale for large amounts in Australia as lemonade of this kind is not really part of our traditions any lemon juice I did find had heaps of preservatives so I used all fresh lemon juice and added a campden tablet going to pitch my yeast in 24 hours if this works il do a strawberry/lemon and lime/lemon skeeter pee next.
Brian take notes ahahah 🤣🤣🤣
Y'all soo cute 🤣 💪😁✌🧚♀️🦋🌷
Ill try this, but name is changing to Buzzing Summer. Oh and of course later version Mead style, dubbed Honey’s Buzzing Summer…
As far as PH, I check each time with Mead. I found you want it at least 4 in safe recipes and 4.5-5 with antibiotic loaded ingredients. I believe its calcium carbonate to raise PH, add carefully. I have had a brew accidentally reach 5.5 which fermentation was on fire. Product did turn out well but needed time and burned to .996-.997 if I recall.
Make a lemonade hard cider with one of the lemonade jugs
Interesting, you neutralizing a lot of the acidity (to get it to start up again) meant you didn't need to sweeten it nearly as much as I was expecting.
What would you think about backsweetening with honey?
If you want.
@@CitySteadingBrews I know it would change the flavor, just curious what you think.
I think it would add a honey flavor? Not what I envisioned Skeeter Pee tasting like so… we didn’t use it. Does that mean you shouldn’t? I don’t think so.
Wow, I had not considered pasteurizing a whole gallon of wine like that. Should of but no. Wish I had done that after back sweetening a blackberry mead we just made. It went from 15% to 18% and was DRY. We used red star premiere classic and wow, did not expect that.
With that said, it’s going to be AMAZING with some steak
VInegar also works ok in an airlock as a last resort before defaulting to plain water.
I wouldn’t put vinegar anywhere near a brew. Just asking for trouble.
Absolutely love you both and have been watching your vids for a while. I've been brewing for a bit over 2 years now and your videos are a huge help. I was wondering if adding phosphorus via egg shell would have worked so you wouldn't have to worry about altering the taste? I once made a lemon ginger mead (1 gallon) and added way too much fresh lemon juice for fermentation and it stalled. Feeling it probably needed some phosphorus, I added the shell of one boiled egg (just the shell none of the albumen or egg at all) and it came back to life wonderfully. The mead ended up being outstanding in flavor. What are your thoughts on egg shell to balance ph levels? Is baking soda the better option?
We use potassium bicarbonate now. Some use egg shells we just prefer not to.
That little bit of evaporation will actually remove any methanol in the wine created during the fermentation process. Just keep the temp below 175f and no alcohol will be removed as that's alcohols boiling temp and water isn't until 212f.
Not really. Liquids mix and boiling points change.
@@CitySteadingBrews only slightly. It's the science of distilling. Shout out to Barley and Hops, and Still It
They will sometimes leave the pot temp around 165f until zero drips ensuring all the methanol was cooked out before continuing aka heads and hearts. Have to have some good temp control though
They go higher than the temps we use.
How about a lemonade mead with the other bottle's
We made a lemon mead: th-cam.com/video/j3Am3w6Xv4Q/w-d-xo.html
thanks I will watch it
You already make limoncello & as much as Derica likes Cointreau & you live in Florida, have you ever made triple sec? Soooo good. 😋
We did off camera, but could do a video.
Hello just found you guys..... love you guys your videos are great. so as a home wine maker sometime when i made cider and wine I would back sweeten with concentrate frozen juice. ( apple or grape) just FYI. I have made skeeter pee before great job guys.
Thank you! You most certainly can back sweeten with juice concentrate.
We have huckleberries around here but I can't seem to find a wine or mead recipe using huckleberry. Most people say they taste like blueberry but I think they have there own unique flavor. if you could please made a huckleberry mead or wine please and thank you
Its been 9 months, have you tried a bottle after 6 months? Since this a great summer time drink, interested how it mellowed after 6. We had done a similar last year, but with a lb of honey and loved it. We also got some carbonation in the bottles, just enough to give a little "spritz" to it.
We have them aging for the one year testing.
Hi and thanks for another great video. Not sure if this is the right place to ask but please would you consider making a toffee/caramel mead? I love toffee vodka and think a mead, potentially high abv, would also be pretty good, thanks!
That would be very close to a Bochet and we have done a few of those. th-cam.com/video/vyR7-8i_bVU/w-d-xo.html
@@CitySteadingBrews ah, ok I’ll look into having a crack at that one 👍
@@CitySteadingBrews hi guys! Last piece of advice on this one please. So, starting my first bochet tomorrow and was thinking I’d add dates for added toffee-ness. Would you put these in primary, conditioning or both?? Thanks 🙏
Skeeter pee mead would be a great way to use the other lemonade. Maybe a low abv blueberry version too?
I made a ferment from Costco strawberry lemonade. Came out great. Lovely taste. I’m calling it wine but my god daughter says it’s more like a cider. Whatever, I’m enjoying it.
Brian and Derrica, thanks for the video!
Didnt you say PH range 3.5 to 4.5? Now you want 4?
Did i hear you wrong before?
Thanks, keep up the GREAT videos
We want 4 yes. As time goes on we learn more and refine our ways!
Have you tried using cream of tartar it might give your brew a cream soda note if your into that while still reducing acidity
It doesn’t make things creamy, it’s actually an acid from the wine making process.
@@CitySteadingBrews Iv only used it in baking and you can use it in higher quantities to replace baking soda and it does give the unique flavour to cream soda but I don't know anything about using it in a brew that's interesting to know thanks
Is it possible to carbonate using table sugar and additionally add a non fermentable sugar like xylitol to have a sweetened carbonated brew?
Of course. I just don’t like non fermentable sugars.
Mix the spare lemonade with a half gallon of iced tea to make an Arnold Palmer wine.
It's literally tweas at that point
I have successfully used bentonite clay to clarify my wines, Have you used that method before and if so which is your preferred method? I haven't tried the pectin yet but am anxious to get your opinion. Thanks in advance
We have some to try.
Can you actually try making an Arnold Palmer version of this, perhaps as an experiment of what happens to the profile of the brew when you have "too much" tea present?
We've made Tea Wine before but an Arnold Palmer brew is certainly on "The List!"
basically skeeter pee is a Sima that has been left long enough to finnish... ha ha
edit : usually my fermentations start within 45 minutes because i pitch at 30 celsius. i seen turbo yeast pitched at 34 celsius go full blast in 20 minutes. i also seen brews go to full blast in 3-5 minutes after a step feed of sugar and yeast energizer maybe the sodium bicarbonate had an energizing effect. these little critters react to electrolytes.
Question... if the sugar levels exceed what the yeast is rated for, can you expect the final product to be sweeter? Total novice here.
Yes you can. We used to purposefully put in more fermentable sugars at the beginning but we learned that too much sugar can stress the yeast and yeast can't read so they might go beyond their alcohol tolerance. Now we add fermentable sugars to our desired target ABV and then back sweeten to desired sweetness level which normally requires pasteurization as well to prevent fermentation from restarting.
How do you sanitize and then dry your funnel? I've always used wet, just sanitized, bowls, measuring cups and measuring spoons with my dry ingredients, which doesn't work great.
If we are pouring dry ingredients we don’t sanitize it first. There’s no need as, like you said, it’s dry :)
A Cintron Is the great ancestor of all citrus fruit