Original Skeeter Pee Recipe

[cmason1957]

Thankyou so much! What is the "amount" of yeast slurry to be used?

I never use a yeast slurry. I always get my ec1118 going really well outside of the fermentation bucket and add that. Never had a problem.

 

[Ty520]

I have been very eager to try this, but with honey, but I have heard skeeter pee is finicky and can turn out not so great. Some have attributed this to adding the juice in primary making the ph too low for optimal healthy fermentation, and suggest adding it in secondary instead, which can offer a"fresher"citrus taste?

Thoughts, suggestions, tips?

 

[hounddawg]

I have been very eager to try this, but with honey, but I have heard skeeter pee is finicky and can turn out not so great. Some have attributed this to adding the juice in primary making the ph too low for optimal healthy fermentation, and suggest adding it in secondary instead, which can offer a"fresher"citrus taste?

Thoughts, suggestions, tips?

start with every thing but use only 1 bottle yeast, when winding down use the rest of you lemon, i've never had trouble, and i have never used a slurry nor yeast starter, i just add both my dry sugar and dry yeast and stir with drill
Dawg

 

[CheerfulHeart]

I haven't made Skeeter Pee in quite a while but I thought I'd try a batch and substitute Ruby Red grapefruit juice for lemon since I have it in the pantry. I'm hoping this will turn out nicely.

 

[Fencepost]

I haven't made Skeeter Pee in quite a while but I thought I'd try a batch and substitute Ruby Red grapefruit juice for lemon since I have it in the pantry. I'm hoping this will turn out nicely.

@CheerfulHeart - I was thinking about trying the same thing with fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Please keep us posted. I was also either going to add some grapefruit zest or grapefruit extract (I did an extract on the zest using grain alcohol) to give it a little more grapefruit flavor. Not sure why it would not work. I did try a straight grapefruit wine and it has not worked out as well as I would have like at this point... it is still aging and improving with time.

 

[CheerfulHeart]

@Fencepost : Will do. I'm not sure how this will go. I have to use a brew belt to keep the temperature steady this time of year and we just had a 48 hour power outage due to high winds. We shall see how it does.

 

[Fencepost]

@CheerfulHeart sound good. I have juiced 7 quarts of ruby red grapefruits... so if this turns out I will be following your lead... but I may have to cool it rather than heat it! I heard one member say he did a grapefruit wine and it came out very close to a chardonnay... as you say... we shall see... and that's what makes this hobby enjoyable (in a number of ways!) Just be ready because the ruby red grapefruit juice I did turned a beautiful golden color upon fermenting and clarifying... no red or pink left!

 

[CheerfulHeart]

@Fencepost : Thanks for the heads up about the color change. I don't mind as long as it tastes good It's good to though. Thanks!

 

[CheerfulHeart]

A Ruby Red update: The bottled juice worked like a charm. Very pleasanly surprised how nicely this turned out in terms of color and taste Gravity down to .099. Wonderful sweet grapefruit fragrance and taste. Pretty pink color. It's very nice even dry. Definitely going to sweeten just a bit though. I think I would do this again.

 

[Robert R]

I just discovered this thread and have a question about yeast slurry. I have a Gewurztraminer fermenting currently, which would probably add a nice flavor profile, but don't have anything else needed for the skeeter pee. Is it possible to freeze the slurry for later use? The yeast is QA23.

 

[Old Corker]

I’ve only made SP twice but one was with slurry from a Pinot Noir batch. I also was still gathering ingredients when the slurry came available. I put it in a bottle in the fridge for I think 2 days. It actually worked very well, letting it come to room temp before adding to the must. The SP came out with a very nice pink color.

 

[cmason1957]

I just discovered this thread and have a question about yeast slurry. I have a Gewurztraminer fermenting currently, which would probably add a nice flavor profile, but don't have anything else needed for the skeeter pee. Is it possible to freeze the slurry for later use? The yeast is QA23.

That need for a yeast slurry is greatly exaggerated. I have made skeeter pee probably 8-10 times, never used a slurry. Always add two bottles of lemon at the start, make a nice starter of ec1118, works like a champ, the family loves it. I don't drink it.

 

[Rembee]

I agree with @cmason1957, I am presently on my 5th batch of SP and I have never used a slurry either. I use 3 - 32oz bottles of lemon juice per 6 gals and adjust my SG to 1.100.
I also adjust my ph from somewhere around 2.8 in the beginning to 3.2 - 3.4 using potassium bicarbonate. Then I pitch EC-1118. I add half the amount of nutrients up front then the rest of the nutrients once I reach 1.050. I have never had a problem doing it this way.

 

[Ivywoods]

My first two batches of wine are to the "aging" stage, so I am eager to start another batch of wine. I've decided to try to make Skeeter Pee. My only hesitation is the slurry. I don't have any. I want my batch to turn out great. I'm trying to weigh my options. Should I just make slurry with sugar water and yeast nutrient? If so, how much water, how much yeast and sugar? I have a few quarts of peach syrup left over from canning peaches this fall. Should I use that? If so, how much? Once I make this decision I should be ready to start. I have the EC-1118 yeast packets.

 

[BernardSmith]

I suspect the idea of using a slurry is because you know you have a very large and viable colony of yeast that has acclimated to a fairly acidic environment and an environment that contained a great deal (relatively speaking) of ethanol - so the yeast is robust, but if you pitch an active starter then you are more than half way home. On the other hand a slurry might contain a weakened colony of very stressed yeast if the wine it came from was not made using good practice. I strongly agree that a good starter is a good way to make SP.

 

[cmason1957]

I make SP probably yearly, sometimes more often, it depends how often I see the family that loves the stuff. I've probably made 10 or more batches of it. never have used a yeast slurry. I always mix up a double or triple batch of yeast, let it get really started fermenting some sugared water. I've never had a stuck batch or an issue with it starting. I think the first time, I may have even just pitched the yeast right into the must. If you add the two bottles of lemon (or just one) and wait until about half way through fermentation to add the rest of the lemon juice, I don't think you will have any issues.

 

[Fencepost]

I followed @cmason1957 and @Johnd guidance of just using EC-1118 (no "donor" yeast) and adding the lemon juice step wise, one initially with the sugar, one a few days later when it is fermenting good and the last a day or two later. After experience a stuck fermentation because of too much acid, I have done it like this twice and it works - no problem. Also keep the temp up a little between 75 and 80F... when starting.

 

[Ivywoods]

The skeeter pee I posted about last March was a failure. It didn't ferment and I ended up dividing it and adding it to some other batches. One turned out ok, one was terrible and one was darn good! I started my second batch of skeeter pee this week. I think I have learned a few things during my first year of winemaking. This batch is going like crazy! I am making 5 gallon batch with a slurry from some blueberry wine I just made. It will be ready to rack into a carboy tomorrow. I started with a SG of 1.070 as was suggested in the first post on this thread. I'm wondering if I should have run it a little higher, 1.090. I'm planning to share this batch this summer.

 

[hounddawg]

The skeeter pee I posted about last March was a failure. It didn't ferment and I ended up dividing it and adding it to some other batches. One turned out ok, one was terrible and one was darn good! I started my second batch of skeeter pee this week. I think I have learned a few things during my first year of winemaking. This batch is going like crazy! I am making 5 gallon batch with a slurry from some blueberry wine I just made. It will be ready to rack into a carboy tomorrow. I started with a SG of 1.070 as was suggested in the first post on this thread. I'm wondering if I should have run it a little higher, 1.090. I'm planning to share this batch this summer.

if it is still fermenting , you can still , just add sugar, but you can go as you please, most everybody knows my row boat only has one oar, hehe,
i learnt back a ways to take 6 gallon water and 1 QT lemon, my starting SSG of 1.040, then adding yeast nutrients and yeast energizer, and as my SG would fall,, I add more sugar back up to my OSG, now my numbers is my preference, you know what taste you like so use the SG that suits you,
that is step feeding till she stalls at you taste FSG, each time you add sugar, you add more yeast nutrient and yeast energizer. lemon and pineapple
both hide the taste of alcohol very very well, when you get what you want i then add 5 more bottles of lemon, then rack to new carboy, keeping the extra for topping off, all my extra jars have 38-400 threads pint, quart, half gallon, so all can be airlocked using a drilled 6.5 bung, as well a small universal bung turned upside down to airlock a wine bottle, as for me after i reach enough alcohol to kill EC-1118 yeast, then when ready to bottle i have a 6.5 carboy that i put K-meta and sorbate, the i pour a fifth of 180 proof pure grain alcohol also known as ever clear, then i rack my cleared
and degassed skeeter pee into my 6.5 carboy, as for me every thing i bottle goes thru that 6.5 carboy, both for racking and bottling, that means each rack,, is racked twice, i rack out of my 6 carboy, then clean that carboy and then rack back into it, .. that system works for me, and i have a all in one vacuum pump, so it is not hard on me, lol,,, i could put mine in a pitcher, and you'd think it was a kids drink, till you stand up and find yourself eating my floor, and yup I've seen it, the scariest time, this row crop farmer that has 8000 rice ground and five business's to boot, i don't bring people into my lab, but i did once and only once, we drank a couple glasses each, the next second he was laying on 7 or 8 full carboys that was aging, i just knew a carboy would break and he would die in there, god was i scared, but all i had to do was pull bungs that were flush , and replace with more bungs and more airlocks,
LESSON LEARNT
Dawg

 

[Ivywoods]

LOL Hounddog! Yes, I'm wondering what my final ABV will be. I read it should turn out somewhere around 10%. I've always had wine that was somewhere around 12% so it sounds a little weak to me. Not having had any Skeeter Pee before I'm not sure what taste I will want to end up with. I don't particularly like it very sweet but lemon is lemon and if it's too tart I'm not against back sweetening it. I'm unsure about adding Everclear to boost the alcohol. How much does that affect the taste? I thought I read somewhere that being distilled from grain it can adversely affect the flavor. If I decided to go ahead and use it how much would I use without having wine that would knock me on my A$$ when I tried to stand up. I don't think I would want it over 14 or 15%.