# Here We Go (Skeeter Pee)



## Mcamnl (Aug 8, 2010)

This afternoon I am going to give Pee a try. I have everything I need except a couple cans of some flavor juice concentrate. (Haven't decided yet.) I don't have a slurry available at the moment but from what I have read it is not really necessary. I am going to put together a good starter and run with it. 
Running to pick up a 5 gallon carboy and a couple of other things in a little while then will get things rolling. 
I'll post more as things get going.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 8, 2010)

Oops. Forgot to grab yeast energizer when I was at my local shop picking up a 5 gallon carboy. So I guess the pee will have to wait a day or two. My wife spotted an Island Mist Exotic Fruits White Zin while we were there and asked if I would make that for her. So maybe I will be starting that tonight.


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## Julie (Aug 8, 2010)

You need more carboys and you need to start both of them tonight. And don't forget to save the slurry from the mist kit for another skeeter pee


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## Mcamnl (Aug 8, 2010)

I do need more carboys. lol 
Slowly but surely I will get there. 
Can I start pee without the energizer? 
My only concern with starting the mist kit is the only bucket I have right now for a primary is the bucket my syrah juice came in. I think that is only a 6.5 or 7 gallon bucket. What are the odds the mist kit will bubble over?
I have an order put together at Midwest Supplies that includes a 7.9 gallon bucket (and another kit  ). Maybe I should wait a couple of days for that?
Maybe not. lol


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## arcticsid (Aug 9, 2010)

Calm down MC!! LOL.

I am not going to comment on the kit except to say, save the slurry as Julie said.

Pee needs both energizer and nutrient! Have to have it!

Mix up the pee in the bucket, it wants air lots of it! Whip, not stir each day, 

Fresh ginger is a nice touch to the pee and I like a little tannin in there.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 9, 2010)

I went out and bought a 7.9 gallon bucket and some energizer at my local shop. 
With the help of my 11 year old, I put together stage one of the mist kit. After an hour I already have some action in the airlock. 
I also put together my very first batch of pee. 
The directions now have me waiting 24 hours before adding a starter. 
I have some directions for a starter that I am going to use. Hopefully things will be working well tomorrow evening. 
Question about the mist slurry...... Do I just scoop it out with a spatula and save it in a butter dish or something? Keep it in the freezer?


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## xanxer82 (Aug 9, 2010)

just have your skeeter ready to dump into the bucket right after your rack the mist out... that's what I did for my mulberry.


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## arcticsid (Aug 9, 2010)

Excellent!!!!!
Whe you transfer you kit, all that sludge in the bottom is your slurry.

Pour it int a freezer bag and toss it in the freezer.

When you want to use it, thaw it out at room temp, even place it in a bow ofwater at about 100F, thaw it out slow, but before you add it to your must be sure it is around 75F(the slurry(.

I tried once with slurry, and it was froze, I did the above and to my amazement, it fired up after only like 2 rs.

But no!, a slurry isnt necessary to get a batch of pee going, your startere will work just fine.


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## Wade E (Aug 9, 2010)

Keep the temps a little lower then 100* Thats a little too close to killing the yeast.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 10, 2010)

Well cool. I was informed today at work that I will be spending next week in Orrtanna, PA. Not a bad trip. 
I am wondering though..... 
If the pee and mist are not ready to be transferred to carboys yet, can they spend another week in primary or would I be better off transferring them a little early?


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 10, 2010)

Hmm - IMO - I would transfer them early - but i don't know that much about Pee - so see what some of the others have to say.


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## UglyBhamGuy (Aug 10, 2010)

I would check the SG.
My Pee fermented fast, but it was HOT this Summer in HellaBama (part of the reason i made the Pee.  )


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## Mcamnl (Aug 11, 2010)

Worked on a starter today. Started it this morning before work. I had a pretty active ferment working still after dinner so I stirred up the pee, hit it with a wire wisk, and poured in my starter. Hit it a little more with the wisk and set the lid on the bucket. I will check it in the morning and hit it with the wisk before heading off to work.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 11, 2010)

Nothing this morning yet so I whipped it up a little and headed off to work. 
Home for lunch and lifted the lid and we have some action going on here. 
Bubbling like mad. Sounds like I poured a glass of fizzy pop. Whipped it a little with my whisk and it foamed up pretty good. I'll whip it again when I get home and take an sg reading to see what it is doing. 
Pretty warm in my basement today. Right around 80.


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## Minnesotamaker (Aug 11, 2010)

Mcamnl said:


> Well cool. I was informed today at work that I will be spending next week in Orrtanna, PA. Not a bad trip.
> I am wondering though.....
> If the pee and mist are not ready to be transferred to carboys yet, can they spend another week in primary or would I be better off transferring them a little early?



Here is what I would do with the Skeeter Pee. I'd get it fermenting as strong as you can before leaving, and then add the last bottle of juice, nutrient, and energizer just before you head out. Whip it good with a whisk and then snap a lid on the primary with an airlock. This way, even if it ferments dry, it'll be protected by a layer of CO2 in the primary. Hopefully it'll be done when you get back and will be ready to go into the carboy to begin degassing, stabilizing, and clearing.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 12, 2010)

I got home from work late last night. Wandered down to the basement and took a reading on my pee. It was already just a hair below 1.05. So my youngest and I added the final ingredients. After adding the energizer and nutrient it foamed up and almost spilled over. lol My sons eyes got really big and a "Holy Cow" was uttered. 
I stirred it up well and replaced the lid.
Then I logged on and read what Minne posted. 
At the rate its going I'll be able to transfer it to a carboy by the weekend. 
Cool.


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## Minnesotamaker (Aug 13, 2010)

You are now a "mad scientist" in the eyes of your son...


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## Mcamnl (Aug 14, 2010)

The Mist is on the left and Pee on the right. I only have one 6.5 gallon carboy at the moment (my finance department gave me approval for a second  ) so the pee went into my 5 with extra to a 1 gallon. Lots of CO2 in the pee. Took a sip of both during transfer. The mist was ok. I think the F-pack will help a lot. The pee was different. A little on the tart side. I didn't get much of the lemon out of it. Maybe when I sweeten it that will come out? I added 2 cans of Apple/Raspberry concentrate in place of some of the water when I first put it together. That's where the little color is coming from.
So there they sit.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 25, 2010)

Alright, back from my business trip.
Both of my wines look to be done. I will be checking them for the next couple of days to make sure. 
My plan is to transfer the pee back to my primary bucket and clean out the glass. Can I add the kmeta, sorbate, and sparkoloid in the primary then transfer it back to the 5 gallon and one gallon carboys? Will the one gallon be ok only being half full or should I just fill up the 5 gallon and dump the half gallon?


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## Arne (Aug 25, 2010)

Don't dump the 1/2 gal, put some sugar water in it and drink it. Use 2 pts sugar and `1 part water. Add a little and ck it with your hydrometer. When you get it where you like it you can sweeten up your big batch to the same sg. and it should be the same.


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## Arne (Aug 25, 2010)

Or, transfer the 1/2 gal to smaller bottles and let em clear out first. This is what I would probably do. Then pour off the clear wine and sweeten to taste, and adjust your big batch to be the same.


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## Minnesotamaker (Aug 26, 2010)

Remember that when you sweeten the SP, the sugar will increase the total volume and you night end up with almost a full gallon over 5 again.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 26, 2010)

Right. Forgot about the increase after adding sugar. I am going to put it all back into my primary bucket tonight and mix the next ingredients in then put it back in the 5 and 1 gallon containers to clear. Then in a couple of weeks I will go back into the bucket for sweetening. Then once again back to the glass. No hurry here. I have more travel coming up so this should time out pretty well.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 28, 2010)

Well the half gallon sure cleared fast. There is a lot of sediment on the bottom of the 5 gallon but it is still very cloudy. I degassed it with my little vacuum pump till it stopped bubbling up. Maybe I will do it again after work today to try and get some more out of it. 
I may rack the half gallon off the sediment and sweeten it. I know it will be to my taste but is there a general sg most people shoot for when sweetening their pee? 
3 P's. I know. Still working on that.


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## Minnesotamaker (Aug 28, 2010)

I dont' know the SG, but I usually go about a cup of sugar per gallon.


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## Mcamnl (Aug 30, 2010)

A lot of sediment at the bottom but not much clearing. Still very cloudy.
There isn't even a line towards the top I have sometimes seen as wine clears. 

Patience.


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## Mcamnl (Sep 1, 2010)

So, as I sit here looking at my Pee, my impatience starts to shine through. 
I kind of figured it would clear faster. I used superclear. Maybe I should have started with sparkoloid. I used superclear on my Syrah and it worked really well and I wanted to use my last one. Could I rack it off what has settled out so far and add sparkoloid? I degassed it really good. Maybe not good enough.


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## Minnesotamaker (Sep 1, 2010)

A couple of thoughts.

1) are you absolutely sure it was done fermenting? A slowly fermenting wine will keep the solids suspended even after using fining agents
2) what did you use as a slurry or starter? Could you be dealing with a pectin, starch, or mineral haze?

You could rack and then hit it with Sparkolloid, but if you have one of the above problems, Sparkolloid won't help you either.


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## Mcamnl (Sep 2, 2010)

I am sure it was done fermenting. I had the same sg readings a couple of days in a row. Unless I was reading my hydrometer wrong. There was a lot of CO2.
I just used a yeast starter I found on this forum using some of the must. I did add 2 cans of raspberry/apple concentrate at the beginning in place of some water.
I'll just let it go for a while and see what it does.
Peaches will be here this weekend so that will distract me for a while.


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## Minnesotamaker (Sep 3, 2010)

Mcamnl said:


> I am sure it was done fermenting. I had the same sg readings a couple of days in a row. Unless I was reading my hydrometer wrong. There was a lot of CO2.
> I just used a yeast starter I found on this forum using some of the must. I did add 2 cans of raspberry/apple concentrate at the beginning in place of some water.
> I'll just let it go for a while and see what it does.
> Peaches will be here this weekend so that will distract me for a while.



The apple could be your problem. Apple normally will have pectin in it. (The pectin you buy for making jams and jellies is usually made from apple skins).

If you didn't add any pectic enzyme, you may have a pectin haze. You can still treat it with pectic enzyme.


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## Mcamnl (Sep 3, 2010)

I did not add any pectic enzyme. I didn't see it on the recipe. But now that I know apples have pectin in them, I will add it in the future. 
I will rack it tonight after work and add the enzyme.


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## terryinsarnia (Sep 3, 2010)

Hate to sound ignorant but what is skeeter pee wine? I have never heard of it but it sounds popular and interesting so I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Thanks
Terry


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## ffemt128 (Sep 3, 2010)

terryinsarnia said:


> Hate to sound ignorant but what is skeeter pee wine? I have never heard of it but it sounds popular and interesting so I wouldn't mind giving it a try.
> 
> Thanks
> Terry



Its similar to a hard lemonade. It is spectacular to drink on a hot day, on a cool day, in the evening, just about anytime. Very inexpensive to make and is ready for consumption after it clears in about 60 day.

We are blessed to have the creator of this fine drink as a member on our forum to answer questions and make suggestions. 

http://www.skeeterpee.com


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## Mcamnl (Sep 3, 2010)

Can I sweeten the same time I add the enzyme?


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## Mcamnl (Sep 4, 2010)

Racked to a clean carboy and added pectic enzyme per instructions on the container. Next batch I will add that first.
I filled up a glass in the process to give it a taste. Not bad. A bit tart. 
I added a bit of sugar and that made a world of difference. My wife really liked it too. 
Would definitely be better chilled. Can't wait till this is done.


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## Minnesotamaker (Sep 6, 2010)

You should be fine sweetening and "pectic enzyming" at the same time. The enzyme could take a week or two to do it's thing, but hopefully you'll start to see a difference soon. Good luck; enjoy.


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## Mcamnl (Sep 6, 2010)

3 days and I see a difference already! Very cool.






I didn't sweeten yet. I figured better safe than sorry. I will give it a few more days then sweeten it up. thanks for all of the help on this. I can see many more batches in my future.


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## countrygirl (Sep 6, 2010)

looking awesome mcamnl!


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## Mcamnl (Sep 8, 2010)

I am planning on sweetening tonight and am wondering what is a good way to do this? I am just planning on racking to my primary bucket, slowly adding sugar to taste, then racking back to carboy for a week or so. Sound good? Do I need to add any k-meta before bottling?


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## Minnesotamaker (Sep 8, 2010)

Mcamnl said:


> I am planning on sweetening tonight and am wondering what is a good way to do this? I am just planning on racking to my primary bucket, slowly adding sugar to taste, then racking back to carboy for a week or so. Sound good? Do I need to add any k-meta before bottling?



That method will work fine. As for K-meta, per the recipe, you should be adding K-meta and Sorbate before adding sugar to the finished product. If you've already done that, then no additional K-meta will be needed. Without the sorbate/meta additives for stabilization, you run the risk of fermentation starting again and bottle bombs.


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## Mcamnl (Sep 8, 2010)

Pee is sweet. 
And back in carboy. Hooked my vac pump up to it and darn near fizzed over. LOTS of CO2. lol
Will give it the pump treatment some more before bottling.


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