# Limoncello - how long will it keep?



## crabjoe (Jan 28, 2020)

I'm thinking about making some Limoncello, but I'm not sure how much to make because I don't know how long it might keep.

I keep reading that limoncello only keeps for 1-3 months in the fridge and up to a year, if kept in the freezer.

How can that be when most Limoncellos have an ABV of 15-20%? I'm confused since it's got more alcohol then most wines and they're saying it has to be kept in the fridge... Why is that? Why can't I make Limoncello and just keep a bottle on the shelf for year or more?


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## cmason1957 (Jan 28, 2020)

crabjoe said:


> I'm thinking about making some Limoncello, but I'm not sure how much to make because I don't know how long it might keep.
> 
> I keep reading that limoncello only keeps for 1-3 months in the fridge and up to a year, if kept in the freezer.
> 
> How can that be when most Limoncellos have an ABV of 15-20%? I'm confused since it's got more alcohol then most wines and they're saying it has to be kept in the fridge... Why is that? Why can't I make Limoncello and just keep a bottle on the shelf for year or more?


I have bottles in my basement that are approaching 3 years, just as good as the day they were bottled. Mine might be a touch higher in ABV than 15%. But probably only around 25-30%. Never spent the time to figure it out.


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## crabjoe (Jan 28, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> I have bottles in my basement that are approaching 3 years, just as good as the day they were bottled. Mine might be a touch higher in ABV than 15%. But probably only around 25-30%. Never spent the time to figure it out.



Thanks.. I was thinking what I was reading was wrong. I did find a few posts stating there was no issues with keeping it at room temp, but those never gave any time frame. 

I'm going to try and make some.. probably in the 20-30% abv range and just keep it stored on the shelf somewhere... if it goes bad, which I doubt, oh well, lesson learned.


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## NorCal (Jan 28, 2020)

I’ve got a batch in the works now. I shoot for 30% abv, so I can keep it in the freezer. I know at that abv it will keep for years, but never lasts that long.


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## jumby (Jan 29, 2020)

1-2 years easily in the cellar. Probably longer then that due to the high ABV. On a side note I use 195 proof Everclear, not vodka.


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## winemanden (Jan 29, 2020)

Limomcello does NOT have to be kept in the fridge or freezer. The reason for doing that is for drinking it very chilled. Some people even put their glasses in the freezer just to make sure it stays cold. Don't worry, keep it cool and the alcohol will preserve it. They were making and drinking Limoncello in Italy God knows how many years before fridges and freezers were invented. Make it and enjoy it, it's wonderful stuff.


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## NorCal (Jan 29, 2020)

winemanden said:


> Limomcello does NOT have to be kept in the fridge or freezer. The reason for doing that is for drinking it very chilled. Some people even put their glasses in the freezer just to make sure it stays cold. Don't worry, keep it cool and the alcohol will preserve it. They were making and drinking Limoncello in Italy God knows how many years before fridges and freezers were invented. Make it and enjoy it, it's wonderful stuff.


I only have the bottle we are working on in the freezer, the others are patiently waiting their turn in a nice dark cool place.


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## Kraffty (Jan 29, 2020)

The issue is not that the limoncello goes "bad" but that the flavor can lessen over time as the strength of the zest flavor diminishes. Having said that, I have bottles up to 4 years old now, stored in varied conditions and they still taste fine.
Mike


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## cmason1957 (Jan 29, 2020)

One thing I do differently than the bottles pictured above, I put mine in a regular wine bottle, with a wine cork in them. Next one to be consumed goes in the freezer.


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 29, 2020)

NorCal said:


> I only have the bottle we are working on in the freezer, the others are patiently waiting their turn in a nice dark cool place.



Same. One in the freezer, the rest in the basement with the wine. Except for the bottle that my sister made with my recipe and gave me back in May. That's still in a kitchen cabinet. Not the least bit worried about it, as the ABV is so high.


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 29, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> One thing I do differently than the bottles pictured above, I put mine in a regular wine bottle, with a wine cork in them. Next one to be consumed goes in the freezer.



I use the 'flip top' bottles like the ones on the right in that pic. At some point, I'll have to replace the gaskets, but they've all been good for several years/batches so far.


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## robert81650 (Jan 29, 2020)

Can anyone give me the receipt for the product?


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## robert81650 (Jan 29, 2020)

Recipe ???????


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## BernardSmith (Jan 29, 2020)

I am sure that there are dozens of ways of making this but I might zest a dozen lemons (no pith) and cover this with the contents of a bottle of vodka. Allow the zest to steep for about a month, agitating the container (which you have sealed to prevent the alcohol from evaporating) every day or so. I would then make a simple syrup with sugar dissolved in water and add this by taste to get the sweetness I want (it might be 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water) or 1.5 cups of that syrup or ??? You might make the simple syrup with the juice of those lemons rather than water but if you do I would freeze the juice after you zest the lemons 'cause the juice won't taste fresh by the time you come to make the syrup.


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## robert81650 (Jan 29, 2020)

Thanks, I really appreciate the directions.......


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## Kraffty (Jan 30, 2020)

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/limoncello-take-2.56325/

This is a limoncello thread I started a while back, lots of people chimed in with additional info, hope it helps.
Mike


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## winemaker81 (Jan 31, 2020)

I've had limoncello last as long as 3 years -- the shelf life would have been longer than that, had the batch been larger.



As with wine, ABV level affects shelf life. Stronger batches will last longer.

My recipe uses 2x 1.75 liter bottles of vodka (80 proof) and the zest of 10 # lemons. I put this in a 1 gallon/4 liter jug and cap it. I shake it daily for a week, weekly for a month, then let it set another 2-5 months. I strain the lemon base through coffee filters -- depending on the sediment from the zest, this can take a lot of filters. But the result is crystal clear, so it's worth it.

[I run the naked lemons through a juicer, add bentonite, and store in the fridge for a week, then siphon off the sediment. The resulting juice is milky, but very tasty.]

For myself, I use 1 cup sugar syrup (Bernard's ratio is what I use) with 3 cups lemon base. The result is about 60 proof/30% alcohol. I bottle in 375 ml bottles and cork 'em.

For others, I make it sweeter, as much as 2 cups syrup to 1 cup lemon base (NOT my taste, sickly sweet IMO).

I tried making Lime-oncello about 5 years ago. I used lime zest instead of lemon. It smelled fantastic, but had almost no taste. I did a small batch as an experiment and produced 5x 375 ml bottles. Two ended up on a back shelf and ignored for several years. I spotted them and decided to use them up.

Wow! The taste developed during aging, not what I expected. Unfortunately I only had 2 bottles remaining ...

If the ABV is at least 12%, I recommend NOT storing under refrigeration. Store the limoncello at room/cellar temperature. Flavors may develop during aging.


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## robert81650 (Jan 31, 2020)

Thanks winemaker 81. I’m gonna try and see what happens. Thanks for you info


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## cmason1957 (Jan 31, 2020)

As another recipe (they are all very similar) I put two big bottles of CostCo Vodka into a 3 gallon carboy, I don't recall how big the bottles are, but they filled it more than half way so maybe they are 3 liter bottles. Added the zest of 3 bags of lemons. Let sit for 40 days and 40 nights, shaking every so often. Strained out using coffee filters to another 3 gallon. Then added 2 :1 sugar water and let sit for another 40 days and nights. Filtered using a gravity filter and then bottled. We got 15 bottles from the result. Oh so very tasty. Probably a bit lower in alcohol than some of the others, but a nice sipping liquor, that sneaks up on you. Have had many friends leave with someone else driving.


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## sour_grapes (Jan 31, 2020)

cmason1957 said:


> I put two big bottles of CostCo Vodka into a 3 gallon carboy, I don't recall how big the bottles are, but they filled it more than half way so maybe they are 3 liter bottles.



I like how you roll!


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## olusteebus (Feb 2, 2020)

I tried to make it once. Turned out way too sweet for me. Is it suppose to be that way?


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## winemanden (Feb 2, 2020)

olusteebus said:


> I tried to make it once. Turned out way too sweet for me. Is it suppose to be that way?


A Limoncello recipe, like any other recipe- wine, cooking, whatever, should only be used as a guide. Your taste is not the same as the person who wrote the recipe. Use your own taste as a guide. If what you made is too sweet, use less sugar next time. Whatever you do, don't give up on it, you'll be missing one of the good things in life if you do.


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## winemaker81 (Feb 5, 2020)

There's 2 ways to make limoncello that I know of -- steep the lemon zest in alcohol, strain, and add sugar OR steep the zest in alcohol + sugar, then strain.

I use the first method and recommend it. Once you have the lemon base, you can easily experiment with how sweet you want it.


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## BernardSmith (Feb 5, 2020)

Totally agree with you, winemaker81, for 2 reasons. The first is the obvious one - until you taste it you really cannot know how sweet this batch needs to be so adding X amount of sugar because that is what the author of the recipe needed to add to their batch is kind of silly. Add what you need - not what they needed. The second reason is less obvious: if you are adding the sugar as syrup then you are reducing the concentration of alcohol. No problem EXCEPT that you are using the alcohol to extract the flavors from the zest. Alcohol is a good solvent but weaker alcohol is a weaker solvent. You want a stronger solvent to extract the flavors effectively and efficiently. Add the sugar after you have strained out the zest.


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## olusteebus (Feb 6, 2020)

I was following a recipe and it said to do it all at one time.I will try again as suggested.thanks


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## crabjoe (Feb 10, 2020)

I picked up a 1L bottle of everclear (189). Anyone know how many lemons I should use? I'm planning on diluting it down to about 30% abv.


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## CDrew (Feb 10, 2020)

crabjoe said:


> I picked up a 1L bottle of everclear (189). Anyone know how many lemons I should use? I'm planning on diluting it down to about 30% abv.



25-30


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## Mike Parisi (Feb 11, 2020)

I use the peels from 2 pounds of lemons to each 750ml bottle of Everclear 190. 4 weeks on the peelings should be enough. Then I use 6 cups water and 4 cups shugar syrup to dilute it. I get about 3 1/3 750ml bottles of limoncello, which would be around 60 proof (30% abv).

So for a 1L bottle of Everclear, I would be using peelings close to 3 pounds of lemons, 8 cups of water and 5 1/4 to 5 1/2 cups of sugar.


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## CDrew (Feb 11, 2020)

winemaker81 said:


> There's 2 ways to make limoncello that I know of -- steep the lemon zest in alcohol, strain, and add sugar OR steep the zest in alcohol + sugar, then strain.
> 
> I use the first method and recommend it. Once you have the lemon base, you can easily experiment with how sweet you want it.




I agree. You can also use the calculators on limoncelloquest to get the alcohol concentration right. I aim for about 30% (60 proof) at the end, and my dilution syrup is 2 cups sugar per 5 cups water.


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## fsa46 (Feb 11, 2020)

Like whatever wine and "Cellos" I make I don't guess at the sweetness, once I decided how sweet my family, friends and myself liked it I checked it with a hydrometer to determine the specific gravity. Most of my wines are around SG 1.02 and the "cellos" between 1.06 and 1.08. 

Also, I might add, I tried many ways to zest whatever citrus I'll be using and some are better than others,but for me, I prefer putting the fruit in the freezer over night and use a good quality potato peeler. The zest comes of very thin without any pitch and a lot faster then other ways I've tried. I only take out a couple at a time when using this method.


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## Mike Parisi (Feb 11, 2020)

I actually had never tried to calculate the finished ABV, I just have made adjustments over the years to come up with a limoncello that we like. But this thread got me curious, so I looked up how to calculate it. It urns out that my recipse should be pretty close to 30% ABV.

According to the formula, 750 ML of 190 (95% ABV) proof Everclear contains 712.5 ML of alcohol. Dividing that by the desired ending ABV (30%) gives the amount of syrup you need to add. That comes to 1662.5 ML, or 7 cups. I have never measured the volume of the syrup I make (I use 6 cups water to 4 cups sugar), but it seems it should come out to around 7 cups. Does anyone know how to calculate what the volume of a syrup will be given different amounts of water and sugar?


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## sour_grapes (Feb 11, 2020)

Mike Parisi said:


> Does anyone know how to calculate what the volume of a syrup will be given different amounts of water and sugar?



I believe Fermcalc can handle that.


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## Mike Parisi (Feb 11, 2020)

Found the website. Couldn't figure out how to use it.


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## CDrew (Feb 11, 2020)

Mike Parisi said:


> Found the website. Couldn't figure out how to use it.



Here's a direct link to a simple calculator:
https://limoncelloquest.com/limoncello-calculators/limoncello-alcohol-percentage-calculator


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## Mike Parisi (Feb 11, 2020)

Thanks. But it doesn't calculate how much syrup you get from a 6c water / 4c sugar mix


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## sour_grapes (Feb 11, 2020)




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## Mike Parisi (Feb 12, 2020)

OK, thanks.

So My recipe results in 8 cups of syrup, which will result in somewhat less than 30% ABV.


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## fsa46 (Mar 25, 2020)




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