2014 Six Gallon Skeeter Pee by Beggarsu

[beggarsu]

For: Gal US batch = 22.71 litres = 30 bottles

Basic Ingredients:
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1 Cup Rose (Black) Tea for Tanin
116 oz Lemon Juice = 3 bottles Walmarts Juice + 20 oz from 4th bottle)
Slurry (2 cups) form Rocking Raspberry Mist Wine) - thus changed colour
Sugar to 1.84 SG ( I wasn't keeping track - 2 cups a pound - a pound per percent alcohol)
3.5 G pectic enzyme - (1 + .7 Tsp).
EC-1118 Yeast in yeast starter
Yeast Nutrient (added over 8 days) 2 TSP to start

 

[beggarsu]

Walmart's Lemon Juice cost 2 dollars a bottle It's 946 mml which is 32 oz pretty exact. I used a measuring cup with oz's marked to get the last 20 ounce from the fourth bottle.


The slurry changed the colour so I will make it prettier by adding Cherry Kool-Aid later as per Lon's ideas.

It seems a little slower to ferment than other fruits and box kits but it finally went down to .994 last night.
I kept adding nutrient near the later days to keep it going - surprised to see it still foaming on day 7 & 8.
Total nutrient - stuff in yeast starter + ..total 4.75 Tsp which is more that I usually do for non box kits.

In retrospect I did not need the slurry. I splash stirred the initial mix and left the lid askew to get rid of sulphides (aeration) and the yeast starter took off like crazy (in the small pop bottle where it was starting) when after 12 hours I added the lemon mix to the yeast starter it foamed up so it like it. Put in the yeast starter in about 24 hrs not 48 hours as it was quick and obviously having no problem with the lemonade mix.

I believe I can ferment just about any store bought stuff (juice, concentrate, whatever) - the sulphides they use are weak and they get diluted in the water used and splash stirring and splash pailing (10 times splash from primary to another pail and back again) works really well to get rid of sulphides (tried and true by me).

The SP is going to a a 5 Gallon carboy with 2 packages Cherry Koolaid + a one Gallon glass wine jug (carboy) which will be spiced with ginger.

 

[beggarsu]

The primary in it's special place.

 

[beggarsu]

It's been racked to carboy -looks reddish muddy, the small slurry really changed the colour..

Actually there were 1.7 litres more than 6 gallons by accident at the beginning so so I threw 5 extra ounces lemon juice above the recipe.

Now I have it in a 5 Gal carboy + 1 gal wine jug + 1.7 litres in various size pop bottles. Total 6 Gal 2 litres.

(Actually there was slightly more more in these containers as said - I have the measurements marked precisely in ml- both the the standard mark and the extra to fill to a good ullage).



I'm going to cherry kool aid the 5 Gal (as per Lon) and ginger spice the 1 gal + dross. I got some old but potent chopped ginger pieces,

I think I know how to figure out the amount - I'll ginger a cup of hot water and taste to tolerance, to figure out what amount of ginger to use.

 

[chasemandingo]

Very interesting. I have a three gallon batch in secondary as we speak. Im gonna rack it on to two cans of Minute Maid lemonade concentrate to up the lemonade taste and add sugar. Might try the ginger eventually.

 

[beggarsu]

I found the sparkloid very difficult to use and now I remember how difficult it was to use last summer. You have to boil it first and it all sticks to the pot no matter how careful and how small a pot you use - you have to wait til it cools because you can't put boiling substance in wine and I end up having to slosh the little pot with wine to get it out and that probably oxidizes that little bit. And at that the pot has to be scrapped and scrapped with a spoon to get the stuff. And when it's in how much gets distributed into the wine even after a electric stir?

Maybe I should just put the stuff direct into the wine?

I'm going to use bentonnite from now on at the beginning before fermentation and maybe also use sparkloid later - just to help.


Anyway it's all waiting to settle in one five gallon carboy and one gallon jug that has ginger - two heaping teaspoons of dried small chunks (not so much with the spaces) that were boiled down to a small extract and the 2-3 tablespoons of liquid and chunks thrown in.

 

[beggarsu]

Bottled it two days ago. 32 bottles

Filtered it all through a whole house filter (1 micron) though it was pretty darn clear from settling. Then bottled.

5 Gallons Skeeter pee ( coloured red with 2 pkgs cherry kool aid - can't taste cherry it much)
+ 2 bottles (reserve not colored with kool aid)
+ 1 gallon ginger -skeeter pee - added about some chopped ginger after stabilization - and I forgot to write down how much 2 Tbsp or 2 Tsp.)

Final ABV = 12.2.

ABV by SG before adding wine conditioner was 12.5 after adding 420 ml wine conditioner, by Beggarsu ABV calculation formula ABV = 12.2

Gave some to my neighbor today , he said he'd drink a barrel of it.

Yesterday when I opened it it seemed very sour couldn't taste the wine conditioner/back-sweetener at all. Today after I poured from same bottle - smooth as silk and could taste the softener. I may have had too much sulphide in it or it just needed time to aerate.


Can't believe basic cost of this was 7 dollars of lemon juice plus sugar.

I just hand wrote labels on it calling it "Cherry-Lemon Wine" and put little stickers of sharks (from a sticker set) on the labels next to or around the title - it looks cool.

 

[Arne]

Check out your sparkaloid instructions. I believe mine say to add to the wine hot. I always get it warmed up on the stove, downstairs, put a funnel in and dump it in. Give it a stir and it clears pretty fast. Good luck with yours, Arne.

 

[beggarsu]

Check out your sparkaloid instructions. I believe mine say to add to the wine hot. I always get it warmed up on the stove, downstairs, put a funnel in and dump it in. Give it a stir and it clears pretty fast. Good luck with yours, Arne.

I've been letting it cool- I'll try that.

 

[beggarsu]

Check out your sparkaloid instructions. I believe mine say to add to the wine hot. I always get it warmed up on the stove, downstairs, put a funnel in and dump it in. Give it a stir and it clears pretty fast. Good luck with yours, Arne.

Yes, and now I found out that I have been following the instructions wrong in all regards - it has to be boiled a long time at least 20 minutes which I haven't been doing. I got a couple of special little ladle pots - 2 3/4 inches wide at bottom to 2 1/4 wide at top with spout and ladle which I use now on the electric element to boil the sparkoloid - so there is very little wastage as in large pots.
It's working better now.


But when this supply is gone, I will move over to SuperKlear.
---

The Ginger Skeeter Pee is a roaring success - for some reason the ginger instead of making it harsh takes the edge off and makes it really tasty and smooth!

I'm going to suspend-delay bottling my latest 12 litre skeeter pee and gingerfy it , even though it should have been added earlier in the must, it is still not too late.

 

[wineforfun]

Sparkloid only needs to boil for 5 minutes, per instructions on label, and then it gets added immediately.

 

[beggarsu]

Sparkloid only needs to boil for 5 minutes, per instructions on label, and then it gets added immediately.

All the instructions I read say 30 minutes as per the label on many websites from the manufacturers/distributors as well as forums and that was a lot as I researched it thoroughly. - but most people on forums say they do 20 minutes which is what I do.

Whatever, I was doing it far too short because when I applied it a lot of it stuck to the pot the soon etc and would not remove - now when I apply it it all pours out or seems too - actually there always is some dross stuff i ca scrape out that is first not apparently seen.
but it's better now with my new method

The thing is , this stuff will seem to want to stick to anything rather than go in the wine, which is why you have to put it i hot - I don't even use a spoon to stir anymore , just a needle thin knife and even it wants to stick to that and thus my use of the small 2 inch wide pot with ladle so there is the absolute least minimum surface area for this stuff to stick to and be lost.
.
It's very difficult stuff to use. I will switch over to SuperKlear when my current supply is used up - and be glad to be done with it. I like things that work precisely - not this uncertainty as to how much of the power got processed properly and properly distributed into the wine instead of coagulating.

2. In a pan bring the appropriate amount of water and Sparkolloid to a simmer for 30 minutes. Stir often. Do not allow the mixture to burn. Add more water if necessary.

http://www.eckraus.com/2-oz-hot-mix-sparkolloid.html