Brew Number

38

Style

Alcoholic lemonade AL 22/10

 Ingredients

6 normal lemons

6 wild lemons

500 g lactose

1 kg cane sugar

champagne yeast from Osb Pk

Brewing notes

Put 1 L cold water in pot.  Add zest of 6 lemons.  Add juice of 6 lemons and juice of 6 wild lemons.  Bring to boil and simmer 30 mins.  Add lactose and cane sugar, simmer 5 mins.  Add to fermenter with cold water and ice.  Make up to 12 L at 26 degrees.  Check pH – about 3.  Remove 1 L lemonade, add dessert spoon bicarb soda.  Fizzes, pH now 7, doesn’t taste very lemony.  Too much.  Add half this mixture back to brew.  pH about 4 – OK.  Check OG, 1049.  Add champagne yeast to 50 ml water at about 40 degrees.  Stir, cover with glad wrap 15 mins.  Remove glad wrap, add spoon full cane sugar.  Cover 15 mins – bubbling.  Add 1 spoonfull lemonade, stir, cover 15 mins – bubbling.  Add 1 cup lemonade, stir, cover 15mins – bubbling.  Add 2 more cups lemonade, stir, cover 15 mins-bubbling.  Add whole lot to fermenter at 5.30pm.  7.30 pm under pressure but not bubbling.  19 Oct not bubbling.  Rehydrate second champagne yeast and pitch directly into fermenter at 7am – fizzes on impact!.  7pm not bubbling, little pressure.  Turn light box on, wort temp goes from 22 to 28 degrees.  20 Oct, 7am – BUBBLING.

21 Oct, bubbling slows, temp 28 to 30 degrees, give a good shake.  22 Oct – no bubbling, no pressure.  FG 1.012.  Decant through siphon tube, bulk prime 5 oz cane sugar, bottle.

Tasting notes

Second attempt at alcoholic lemonade.  Should be 5.2% ABV. 

Out of fermenter at bottling – not sweet, but pleasant lemony taste, not much bitterness, lasting tartness on the tongue.

3 Nov – 12 days old.  Very dry aroma, slightly bready.  Only slightly cloudy, reasonable carbonation.  Dry, tart, winey lemony taste, not very sweet at all.   More like lemon wine than lemonade, probably refreshing on a hot afternoon but needs to be sweeter next time.

17 Nov – Very good carbonation, lively in glass, better with slice of lemon and a spoonful of dextrose.

8 Jan – Dry/winey aroma.  Very clean, slightly yellow colour.  Very good carbonation, lively bubbling in glass.  Now tastes like quite a nice dry lemon champagne, with a slight cidery taste.  Has to be drunk cold.  Adding lime doesn’t work, too acidic.  Probably still add artificial sweetener next time.

21 Jan – Getting steadily better, bready aroma gone, now quite a nice dry winey lemonade, but probably prefer Brew 35.

10 Feb, Although, this one is growing on me, now quite a clean taste, not as gingery/yeasty as Brew 35, and as long as you are not expecting a beer taste it can be quite nice. Excellent carbonation.