# First batch of pee questions



## hobbyiswine (Dec 28, 2011)

I have decided to start my first batch of pee and had a couple questions. I am going to use the skeeterpee.com recipe and try not to make any changes for this batch. My first wine kit is in the primary and this will be my first try at starting from scratch.

Questions: 

My first batch is a WE sav blanc and is currently in the primary. I was going to use this yeast for my slurry. The packet was Red Star but I tossed the package in the garbage so not exactly sure which strain. This should work right? 

I was going to make up the lemon, sugar, water, nutrient mixture and pour into a 6 gallon carboy and leave it for a couple days (per instructions) while I go out of town. Should I put an airlock on it or just rubberband a cloth over it?

I am going to transfer my sav blanc into the secondary and was then going to just add my skeeter pee mix into the slurry. The SG on the slurry should be around 1.002 or so at this time. Any need sanitize the primary or can I just dump my skeeter must on top of the slurry that is left in the primary?

Thanks for the help!


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## Arne (Dec 28, 2011)

Looks like you are good to go. Dump her in and watch it bubble. Don't forget to stir it a couple times a day and add the rest of the nutrient when the recipe says to. Won't be long and you will be peeing with the rest of us. Arne.


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## rjholtmus2 (Dec 29, 2011)

*First Batch of Skeeter Pee*

Bottled my first batch of Pee on Oct. 6. Was a little disappointed at first because it did not have much "zip" but after a two months in the bottle - WOW!: ib Although the recipe says you can drink it right away, it (like most wines) does better with a little aging. This is a great wine. I like it VERY cold. Hope yours is as good as mine.

Roy


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## hobbyiswine (Dec 30, 2011)

Seems that I am on my way to "peeing". 

Only hitch I had so far was that my initial SG was low. (1.056) so I added 4 cups of sugar to bump it up to 1.070. Seems I may have added a bit more water even though I had followed the recipe. After adding the extra sugar water I have a full 6 gallons in the primary. My yeast slurry took off right away and is bubbling nicely. Lots of little bubbles. The sav blanc that the slurry came from never made a foam in the bucket and it doesn't seem that the pee must I have going will. I know the yeast is Red Star and came in a blue package but not certain of the strain. Almost like clean burning hot propane fuel!


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## Arne (Dec 31, 2011)

It is gonna be fine. If you have diluted it down too much, you can add some more lemon later after stabalizing, or you can add it now, just kinda hard to know how much to put in, but mite be about a half a bottle. Arne.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 1, 2012)

Have been giving the pee a good stir twice a day since it started on 12/28. Had left the lid on loose for the first few days. Put it under an airlock today in the primary and the ferment is really chugging along. About one bubble per second. I was going to give it a good mix with the spoon and check the SG tonight. I checked the SG earlier this morning and it was down to 1.030 and has been dropping about .1 per day.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 4, 2012)

*pee update*

I added the yeast nutrient, energizer, and third 32oz bottle of lemon juice concentrate to the pee must a few days ago. Just checked it the SG is down to .992 so that puts the abv right at 10% so it should be dry. I gave a little sniff and taste. YIKES in a bad way. It smells ok, kinda like wine with a bit of lemon but tastes awful. I know it has yeast in it and all that but it is all acid and no flavor. Needs to be backsweatened for sure. I know this should be nothing like the finished product but it is close to awful. Anyone else taste their skeeter at this stage and have a similar experience?


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## arcticsid (Jan 4, 2012)

hobby, be sure to add the required amount of nutrients.

Starving this of its "stuff" can lead to funky smells being emitted!


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## Arne (Jan 5, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> I added the yeast nutrient, energizer, and third 32oz bottle of lemon juice concentrate to the pee must a few days ago. Just checked it the SG is down to .992 so that puts the abv right at 10% so it should be dry. I gave a little sniff and taste. YIKES in a bad way. It smells ok, kinda like wine with a bit of lemon but tastes awful. I know it has yeast in it and all that but it is all acid and no flavor. Needs to be backsweatened for sure. I know this should be nothing like the finished product but it is close to awful. Anyone else taste their skeeter at this stage and have a similar experience?



I'm thinkin put just a little in a glass and add a little sugar to it. Should make it taste better, give it a little more time and then when you add sugar, should be like lemonaide. Get it where you start drinkin it and you best have another batch started. It disappears in a hurry. Arne.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 5, 2012)

I read the instructions wrong and waited until the SG was 1.005 instead of the recommended 1.050 before adding the last bottle of juice and yeast nutrient. Did this mess me up? Also, my SG is still dropping and is at .990 and that is much lower than where the directions said it would finish (.995). I was going to add the sorbate, kmeta, and sparkolloid and get it into a carboy since I don't see much benefit in leaving it in the primary with the SG so low. Have I messed It up?


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## TABITHARL (Jan 5, 2012)

Hi Hobby, I am pretty sure I read that you are new at this too- so am I!
I have done 2 kits (which were great) and started my first batch of pee in early December. I am doing a recipe of DJRockinSteve's, cran/lime sp. I've hit tons of roadblocks, but still trying thanks to Steve's guidance. I must agree with you, I'm not super impressed with the taste of my pee, very sour. I added 2 cans of cranberry concentrate to backsweeten, but its still sour. Going to add more concentrate and maybe some sugar. I have a feeling I am going to dilure the heck out of it, but I want it to taste good. Will be following your progress, so good luck!


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## Sammyk (Jan 5, 2012)

For what it is worth, I purposely left out the 3rd bottle of lemon and it was fine. Not as sour/tart as the first batch where I used 3 bottles.


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## Sammyk (Jan 5, 2012)

I am going to start another batch and only use one bottle total. Why? because we both have acid reflux and it bothers the heck out of us to just drink a small glass.


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## TABITHARL (Jan 5, 2012)

So you think the sour is pretty normal then? I've never been a huge lemonaide fan, but cran/lime sounded good. I actually had to use 3 bottles lemon juice and 1 bottle lime so I do understand thats probably why is so sour. Do you think I will ever be able to get it sweet enough? I'm actually pretty discouraged, but have been trying to "keep my head up". 
Will definately be doing a kit wine next to get my confidence back up... (-:


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## Arne (Jan 6, 2012)

TABITHARL said:


> So you think the sour is pretty normal then? I've never been a huge lemonaide fan, but cran/lime sounded good. I actually had to use 3 bottles lemon juice and 1 bottle lime so I do understand thats probably why is so sour. Do you think I will ever be able to get it sweet enough? I'm actually pretty discouraged, but have been trying to "keep my head up".
> Will definately be doing a kit wine next to get my confidence back up... (-:



Let it clear a little so you can stand to drink it, draw a glass and start adding sugar, stir, taste, more sugar stir and taste til you get it sweetened where you like it. If you have enough left in the glass to take a s.g. reading, that will tell you where you want to sweeten the whole works to. I usually taste some while it is sitting and sweeten it a week or two before bottling. Oh, and I sweeten it in the glass while tasting too. Way too sour without some sweetening for me. Arne.


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## Sammyk (Jan 6, 2012)

The first batch was per original recipe. Very tart even with the additional sugar. I would have to check my notes because I am not sure how much more sugar I had to add then the recipe called for. I boiled down different bottle juices and added more sugar. It was good but as I said but it is not for anyone with acid reflux. We gave most of it away. We don't drink lemonade for the same reason.

Shame because we have a Meyers lemon tree in our greenhouse that produced over 100 lemons last year. Crop should be double that this year. I will just feed the lemons to our koi - they love them.

The 2nd batch I eliminated the 3rd bottle. I made an f pack with 7 pounds of frozen mixed berries. While it did eliminate most of the lemon taste, it still caused problems with acid reflux. Not as severe as the original recipe.

I plan to start a 3rd batch very soon with only one bottle of lemon and the slurry from the 4 berry fruit. I suspect this will be more of a wine then a pee, I think. I will let it age like the 2nd batch until this summer.

The second batch so far has an awesome berry taste.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks for all the info. I am going to get my pee out of the primary and add the stabilizers and sparkolloid tomorrow. Went to rack it tonight and didn't have the sorbate.

Interesting note about the acid reflux. I get it infrequently but when I do it feels awful so maybe "drinkin pee" wouldn't be the best idea. Gonna keep moving ahead on this batch though and see how it turns out. Worst case scenario I am only out about $15 in product. Better than buying a bunch of fruit or kit and messing that up! Will chalk it all up as a learning experience and keep on to the next batch.


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## Sammyk (Jan 6, 2012)

Don't get me wrong. The SP is great. We loved the ones we back flavored with 64 oz of cranberry and black cherry cranberry especially. It is the lemon that gives us both problems because of acid reflux.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 7, 2012)

Was just talking to my wife tonight that maybe we would experiment with some different flavoring and sweetness levels just to give it a try. The 64 oz was for how many gallons? I know it will take some trial and error and depends on your individual taste. Was that basically just juice that you added to it to get the flavors you want? Curious how that would hold up for a few months or more in the bottle or if the sorbate would be enough to keep all the bad bugs out?


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## Sammyk (Jan 7, 2012)

We used the 64 oz bottled pure juice. WalMart had a nice selection of juice in the juice section. Simmered it down to about half and then added that amount to 1/2 gallon carboy. Simmering reduces the water content so that the wine does not become "diluted". We used the sugar amount, after fining, recommended in the recipe which works out to about 1 cup per gallon.

The flavor of the juice was predominant and just a slight hint of lemon taste.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 7, 2012)

After reading this thread I'm worried about my batch of skeeter pee. I already have 2 containers of lemon juice with other ingredients besides the yeast slurry. Tonight I will be adding the slurry and the rest of ingredients that it calls for but now I'm thinking I shouldn't add the third bottle of lemon juice cause according to you guys it's very strong.... Hmm what should I do??


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## Sammyk (Jan 7, 2012)

Best advice I can give is try the original recipe and see how you like it. For us it was to acidic/sour. More sugar and all it did was make it too sweet and still acidic.

The 2nd batch I only used 2 bottles, not quite as acidic. Then I made an f-pack of 7 pounds of 4 berries I bought at WalMart. Have not really tasted it because we have a few half gallons/quarts in the fridge we are working on. The 4 berry has a gorgeous red/blue color. More of the blueberry/blackberry color then the strawberry, red raspberry color. We do plan to sample it soon.

I am starting a 3rd batch, hopefully today and plan to cut it back to one bottle of lemon juice and use the slurry from the 4 berry pee.

Will it work? I have no idea but it is a worth a try.

I am a long time cook/baker. I cook from scratch, not a box mix person. Even after 43 years of marriage, I still make a main meal every day for just the 2 of us. 

I always use the original recipe and then make changes to fit our tastes. So, it was only my natural instinct to make changes to suit our taste. And in this case, get the acid content down.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 7, 2012)

Sammyk said:


> Best advice I can give is try the original recipe and see how you like it. For us it was to acidic/sour. More sugar and all it did was make it too sweet and still acidic.
> 
> The 2nd batch I only used 2 bottles, not quite as acidic. Then I made an f-pack of 7 pounds of 4 berries I bought at WalMart. Have not really tasted it because we have a few half gallons/quarts in the fridge we are working on. The 4 berry has a gorgeous red/blue color. More of the blueberry/blackberry color then the strawberry, red raspberry color. We do plan to sample it soon.
> 
> ...



Ugh I guess I will go with the original and see what happens. When did you rack it into a Carboy?


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## Sammyk (Jan 7, 2012)

I fermented in a 6.5 gallon pail. I can tell you if you ferment in a carboy you will have problems and maybe a mess if it overflows.

With the pail, I bought one and then got others from the bakery department at the local grocery store. They were happy to get rid of them. They even offered to save me more but I declined because I had more then I could use or a place to store them.

When the SG dropped I then moved it to 1 gallon carboys with air locks. You can not go by time or days, you need to go by the SG reading - being the same reading 3 days in a row.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 7, 2012)

Directions I used said to let it ferment dry, then transfer to carboy. Directions also said this would be at an SG of about .995 but mine made it down to .990. If you have an airlock on the primary you can keep an eye on the bubbles and then double check the progress with your hydrometer. Mine took about 9 days to get from 1.070 to .990 but the time may vary depending upon temperature of the must and the speed of the yeast you use.


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## TABITHARL (Jan 7, 2012)

When you add sugar do you just add granulated sugar? Or do you invert the sugar first? My thought is granulated sugar may be hard to disolve. I'll tell you what, although this is some sour wine, it sure is pretty and clear! Gotta stay positive!


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## JordanPond (Jan 7, 2012)

When I back sweeten a wine I always make a simple syrup. Making sure your granulated sugar gets disolved and stays disolved would be more difficult.


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## Arne (Jan 8, 2012)

If you invert your sugar it is much easier to mix in. Granular can be a bearcat to try and get stirred in. If taking just a glass, you can use granular, but watch and see how much stirring it takes to mix in. Arne.


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## dangerdave (Jan 8, 2012)

I have always used granulated sugar and stirred it in good. Four to six cups in a six gallon carboy isn't very hard to get disolved, IMO. I'll try making a syrup for my next batch and compare the work/output.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 8, 2012)

I added the yeast slurry yesterday and I just took a reading and I'm at 1.066. So I gave it a quick stir and sealed her back up. I looked at the bubbler and I'm getting 1 bubble for every 8-12 seconds. Not much at all. But I'll check it tomorrow or maybe Monday for a sg reading. Just an update of where I am at with my skeeter pee


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## TABITHARL (Jan 9, 2012)

You know, I have a brew belt to put around my primary and I think it makes a huge difference in rate of fermentation. If you have the money, I highly recommend it!


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## rosa6329 (Jan 9, 2012)

TABITHARL said:


> You know, I have a brew belt to put around my primary and I think it makes a huge difference in rate of fermentation. If you have the money, I highly recommend it!



I put a blanket around the bucket to warm it up. I think it's because it's not warm enough. I hope this helps!


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## rosa6329 (Jan 9, 2012)

I started my skeeter pee on the 5th and I checked the sg today and I am down to 1.060. It cant hurry faster enough to reach 1.050 so I can add the remaining ingredients and be on my way ugh! When did you guys rack it? when it reached .999 or .995?


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 10, 2012)

Just keep checking your SG. It will take a while to finish. Mine made it down to .990. You are going to backsweaten anyways so I would let it ferment dry. Once the SG gets down and stays there for a few days then you can transfer to carboy and add the stabilizers and clarifier.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 10, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> Just keep checking your SG. It will take a while to finish. Mine made it down to .990. You are going to backsweaten anyways so I would let it ferment dry. Once the SG gets down and stays there for a few days then you can transfer to carboy and add the stabilizers and clarifier.



Anythinh special that you did to back sweeten? I want it out of my primary as soon as possible because I have a cab sauv kit waiting to be made. I don't wanna buy another primary bucket cause they are expensive for only being plastic.


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## Sammyk (Jan 10, 2012)

go to a grocery store that has a bakery and ask for a frosting bucket. They will give them to you. I only bought one bucket and then got several more just for asking.


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## Arne (Jan 10, 2012)

rosa6329 said:


> Anythinh special that you did to back sweeten? I want it out of my primary as soon as possible because I have a cab sauv kit waiting to be made. I don't wanna buy another primary bucket cause they are expensive for only being plastic.



Rosa, a few more days and it will be down to 1.020. You can rack it to your secondary then. Make sure you leave plenty of headspace as racking it can make the ferment really take off. Put the extra in another bottle or two and when they ferment down, you can top off the secondary with that wine. THen when it is fermented to the 0.99's you can rack it again, stabalize it and let it clear or put a clearing agent in. Just watch it if you rackit with that high of a s.g. as it can give you a reason to get out the mop and cleaning bucket. Arne.


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## milbrosa (Jan 10, 2012)

Sammyk said:


> go to a grocery store that has a bakery and ask for a frosting bucket. They will give them to you. I only bought one bucket and then got several more just for asking.



I thought those were only 5 gallons. Does frosting come in larger bucket? 

For 6 gallon kit wines, you need at least 8 gallon primary. I use 10 gallon Rubbermaid Brute trash cans. The grey, yellow, and white ones are NSF certified for food. Restaurant supply stores usually sell them. I just bought two more for $13.99 each and $4.99 each for the lids. 

The lids are not air-tight, but that doesn't matter for primary. It keeps the dust and bugs out.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 10, 2012)

Arne said:


> Rosa, a few more days and it will be down to 1.020. You can rack it to your secondary then. Make sure you leave plenty of headspace as racking it can make the ferment really take off. Put the extra in another bottle or two and when they ferment down, you can top off the secondary with that wine. THen when it is fermented to the 0.99's you can rack it again, stabalize it and let it clear or put a clearing agent in. Just watch it if you rackit with that high of a s.g. as it can give you a reason to get out the mop and cleaning bucket. Arne.



Wait I am confused. When it hits 1.050 I have to add the last bottle of lemon juice and yeast energizer and nutrient according to the recipe. Now it's ok to rack it into a Carboy when it hits 1.020? And what wine do I top it off with if it's skeeter pee?


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## Sammyk (Jan 10, 2012)

The biggest one they gave us was 7.5 gallons and then they gave us some assorted smaller sizes. All had screw down lids.

You can buy a grommet at wine supply stores to add an airlock.


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## Arne (Jan 10, 2012)

rosa6329 said:


> Wait I am confused. When it hits 1.050 I have to add the last bottle of lemon juice and yeast energizer and nutrient according to the recipe. Now it's ok to rack it into a Carboy when it hits 1.020? And what wine do I top it off with if it's skeeter pee?



If you rackit at 1.020, you will probably have some left over in the primary as you do not want to fill the secondary too full at this time. Put the leftovers in another bottle or two and after the ferment settles back down, you can top off with this. Racking this early can add lottsa oxygen to it and it can really ferment heavily, leaving more headspace in the secondary until it settles down if it gets to fermenting heavy will give it room to expand some and will not erupt out of the airlock. 
If you wind up with 5 gal. buckets to use for primary and they are not big enough, split your batch in two and use two buckets. Especially when using fruits you will find your primaries can get too small as the fruit takes up a lot of room. Good luck with it, Arne.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 10, 2012)

Arne said:


> If you rackit at 1.020, you will probably have some left over in the primary as you do not want to fill the secondary too full at this time. Put the leftovers in another bottle or two and after the ferment settles back down, you can top off with this. Racking this early can add lottsa oxygen to it and it can really ferment heavily, leaving more headspace in the secondary until it settles down if it gets to fermenting heavy will give it room to expand some and will not erupt out of the airlock.
> If you wind up with 5 gal. buckets to use for primary and they are not big enough, split your batch in two and use two buckets. Especially when using fruits you will find your primaries can get too small as the fruit takes up a lot of room. Good luck with it, Arne.



So I took a reading today and I swore I saw it at 1.050 So I went ahead and added the remaining yeast energizer and nutrient and 1 bottle of lemon juice. Stirred up pretty damn good and put the lid back on the bucket. I went back to the hydrometer and realized it read 1.054/1.056. Whoops!! I hope this is ok! I Decided wait until it hits 1.000 or .995 to rack it into my secondary. Is that okay??


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## Arne (Jan 11, 2012)

rosa6329 said:


> So I took a reading today and I swore I saw it at 1.050 So I went ahead and added the remaining yeast energizer and nutrient and 1 bottle of lemon juice. Stirred up pretty damn good and put the lid back on the bucket. I went back to the hydrometer and realized it read 1.054/1.056. Whoops!! I hope this is ok! I Decided wait until it hits 1.000 or .995 to rack it into my secondary. Is that okay??



You shouldbe fine, just keep stirring a couple of times a day, sit back, have a glass of wine, watch the airlock. The first wines always seem to take longer when you are waiting and wanting it done so you can try it. Arne.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 11, 2012)

Arne said:


> You shouldbe fine, just keep stirring a couple of times a day, sit back, have a glass of wine, watch the airlock. The first wines always seem to take longer when you are waiting and wanting it done so you can try it. Arne.



When do you recommend I should rack it?


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 13, 2012)

So, my first batch-o-pee has been clearing nice for a little more than one week. At first glance it is sparkling clear but if you turn out the lights and shine a beam through it from back to front you can see some suspended particles. At first I thought it was sediment on the glass so I gave it a couple twists. Couple days later I still the suspended particles but again only with the small flashlight. Should I add more sparkolloid? Seems if I let it keep sitting those suspended particles won't settle. If you watch them close some actually float up in the carboy, not sink down. Will adding the sugar and more sorbate after racking help to clear any? I also tasted it and am still not sure I will like it after I sweeten. Suggestions???


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## Minnesotamaker (Jan 13, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> So, my first batch-o-pee has been clearing nice for a little more than one week. At first glance it is sparkling clear but if you turn out the lights and shine a beam through it from back to front you can see some suspended particles. At first I thought it was sediment on the glass so I gave it a couple twists. Couple days later I still the suspended particles but again only with the small flashlight. Should I add more sparkolloid? Seems if I let it keep sitting those suspended particles won't settle. If you watch them close some actually float up in the carboy, not sink down. Will adding the sugar and more sorbate after racking help to clear any? I also tasted it and am still not sure I will like it after I sweeten. Suggestions???



First off.... in my experience, Sparkolloid will continue to drop light sediment for a couple of weeks. I like to give my SP 3+ weeks before bottling. If you're seeing particles moving up in the carboy, it could be that you still have dissolved CO2. Or if the temperature is uneven, it might be slowly flowing inside the carboy based on temperature density. Or if you have a real slow ferment still going on, that too could cause particles to move. I think I'd give it a couple more weeks to settle. If you have a vacuum pump, you could try to pull any residual CO2 out of suspension.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 15, 2012)

My pee is at 1.005 right now I think by tuesday it should drop below 1.000. Cannot wait to rack it into my secondary!!


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 15, 2012)

Went out of town for a few days. Conveniently I managed to stop by a few winerires. 

One of the first things I did when I got home was check on the sleeping little carboys. The skeeter is clearing nice. Still has a few floaters but less than before I left. Guess I will keep waiting. On the bright side I gave it a taste test (had to find something to play with) and it is much improved. Not loving it but think I might end up with something I can drink. Good deal since I will have 30 bottles In a few weeks!


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## rosa6329 (Jan 15, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> Went out of town for a few days. Conveniently I managed to stop by a few winerires.
> 
> One of the first things I did when I got home was check on the sleeping little carboys. The skeeter is clearing nice. Still has a few floaters but less than before I left. Guess I will keep waiting. On the bright side I gave it a taste test (had to find something to play with) and it is much improved. Not loving it but think I might end up with something I can drink. Good deal since I will have 30 bottles In a few weeks!



How long has it been since you first started to now?


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 16, 2012)

rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!

Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).

I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.


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## rosa6329 (Jan 17, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!
> 
> Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).
> 
> I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.



Am I able to back sweeten at anytime after it ferments dry? Also the instructions on skeeterpee.com says when back sweeten slowly add 6 cups of sugar into the Carboy while stirring. Wouldn't that cloud it back up?


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## Arne (Jan 17, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> rosa...I started it on December 28. I don't remember the exact day I moved it into the carboy but it was on or around Jan 6. I guess it has only been clearing for about 10 days but I just checked it tonight and dang!!! She's amazingly clear!
> 
> Going to leave it until this weekend and give it a look again. maybe I will rack it off and backsweeten. Or maybe I will try to keep my hands off of it and wait until the weekend after (uuuggghhhhh...more waiting).
> 
> I had my doubts but I think it might turn out after all.



You can drink some of it right away, I know I would. But if you can save some of it, after just a couple of months it gets lots better. Next thing is, get another batch started, it is really hard to get ahead of this stuff. Arne.


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## Arne (Jan 17, 2012)

rosa6329 said:


> Am I able to back sweeten at anytime after it ferments dry? Also the instructions on skeeterpee.com says when back sweeten slowly add 6 cups of sugar into the Carboy while stirring. Wouldn't that cloud it back up?



Add the sugar as simple syrup. If you slowly warm the simple syrup up, it stays clear. If it is clear when you add it to it, it should stay clear. When adding it, I would add about half, stir it up good, taste it, then add more to taste.. Some folks like it without as much sugar, some need a little more. Make it like you like it. If others need a little more sugar, you can add it as you drink it. You can bottle it dry and just add sugar when you are ready to drink it too. Good luck with it, Arne.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 17, 2012)

Arne, I think I might bottle some dry. I actually have the batch split between two 3g carboys. I am thinking I might bottle 3g dry as it sits now, then sweeten the other 3g and let it sit and bottle that in a couple weeks. then I can see how the dry and sweet age a little in the bottle and be ready for sippin' this summer. Plus I figured if i have some dry skeeter laying around I can use it to blend in with other wines if I make a cranberry or blueberry or something.


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## Sammyk (Jan 17, 2012)

To my raspberry wine I add 2 cans of frozen Welch's white grape/raspberry juice to back flavor.

Now I know for sure I will add some of same to a gallon of SP. I will add one can and taste and then add the 2nd if needed. I will wait and add sugar if it needs it after I add the juice. Awesome flavor.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 17, 2012)

Sammyk said:


> To my raspberry wine I add 2 cans of frozen Welch's white grape/raspberry juice to back flavor.
> 
> Now I know for sure I will add some of same to a gallon of SP. I will add one can and taste and then add the 2nd if needed. I will wait and add sugar if it needs it after I add the juice. Awesome flavor.



Do you need to do anything special before adding the cans of concentrate before bottling or just mix it in? Do you let it sit for a couple weeks like you would if you sweeten? Ever have any problems with color change or anything if it sits on the shelf for a while?


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## Sammyk (Jan 17, 2012)

I put the concentrate in a pail and then siphoned to the pail. Then siphoned again to carboys. It mixed as it siphoned. I keep everything in 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon carboys. Then I capped the bottles with screw on caps.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 18, 2012)

I have pee in the bottle!!! I sweetened 3g with simple syrup and have it sitting. The other 3g I sweetened with a can of welches concentrate per gallon. I made some white grape/cranberry and some cran/raspberry. The rest I left dry and bottled. We drank a bottle of the skeeter/cran/razz tonight! It also happens to be our 9th anniversary and we spent it bottling skeeter pee. Good times! I went into this batch trying to follow the recipe and ended up with one batch and no less than 4 different flavors!


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## Sammyk (Jan 19, 2012)

That is what I love about the SP, you can flavor so many different ways. After much experimenting we have narrowed it down to our favorites.

I looked at a lot of different items in the grocery and tried a few, frozen strawberry bacardi, frozen peach bacardi, different kinds of jam (plum), jello, extracts. The first batch was a huge experiment with different types of flavorings. And because I used 1/2 gallon carboys we were not out a lot to throw out the ones we did not like.


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## hobbyiswine (Jan 19, 2012)

Have a couple of questions about backsweetened wine and ABV. My starting SG was 1.070 and final SG when fermented dry was .990. I sweetened to an SG of 1.008. How does this affect the ABV?

1) do I go by volume and since I added 12 ounces of sweetener to 1g (128 ounces) do I just reduce the total ABV by about 1%?
2) since the SG raised about 2% on the hydrometer did I reduce the ABV by 2%?
3) what % of "residual" sugar do I now have? 
* I did a little research and think my residual sugar is about 5.7%


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## Minnesotamaker (Jan 21, 2012)

hobbyiswine said:


> Have a couple of questions about backsweetened wine and ABV. My starting SG was 1.070 and final SG when fermented dry was .990. I sweetened to an SG of 1.008. How does this affect the ABV?
> 
> 1) do I go by volume and since I added 12 ounces of sweetener to 1g (128 ounces) do I just reduce the total ABV by about 1%?
> 2) since the SG raised about 2% on the hydrometer did I reduce the ABV by 2%?
> ...



Adding sugar won't really change your ABV. I guess "technically", it would change it slightly. ABV is a measure of alcohol by volume, so by adding sugar to a finished batch, the volume will change slightly while the total alcohol present will not change. Since the sugar won't change the volume of wine very much, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Measuring alcohol using a hydrometer isn't an exacting way to measure alcohol anyway.... close, but not exact. Adding sugar at the end won't change the alcohol content as long as you've stabilized your batch with sorbate and sulfite.


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