topkeg
Junior Member
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2013
- Messages
- 47
- Reaction score
- 17
View attachment 14223
My first batch is complete. I worked with three different mixes. I used Lon's recipe (skeeterpee.com) pretty much exactly, except I used fresh picked lemons; Ponderosa's and Meyer's. I tested 1 gallon each without any starter lee's using EC1118. It worked just fine. Next I made 2 gallons of plum, and used the lees from the primary to first secondary racking as a kick starter for a 5 gallon batch of ponderosa. The batch with the lees from the plumbs fermented a little faster, catching up with the other non starter lee batch which was about two weeks ahead.
The 2 gallons which didn't have the benefit of starter lees I couldn't quite get to ferment dry, started at 1.070 and finished at 1.000 for the Meyer and 1.003 for the Ponderosa. The larger batch of Ponderosa with the plum lees went all the way down to .995. All batches used the EC1118. Both batches are pretty good, the plum based is REALLY good.
A recommendation for using fresh lemon: matching Lon's recipe lemon volume one to one provided a smoth, not real lemony kick. Doing it again, I'd maybe increase the juice by about 10%. But I'm I big lemon flavor guy.
As a side note here, when I started the plumb wine batch, I kind of "messed" up the mix and added a LOT of sugar. Starting SG of 1.140! It's now fermented to 1.013 after five weeks and appears to have stopped. But hey, that's close to 17% ABV, fairly sweet, and after only five weeks it goes down really, really nice! I was afraid after punishing the yeast they may not be able to handle the slam of the lemon juice. But I tell you, those 1118 guys can rock! Going to be real interesting to see where this batch goes at six and twelve months in the bottle.
Sent from my iPad using Wine Making
My first batch is complete. I worked with three different mixes. I used Lon's recipe (skeeterpee.com) pretty much exactly, except I used fresh picked lemons; Ponderosa's and Meyer's. I tested 1 gallon each without any starter lee's using EC1118. It worked just fine. Next I made 2 gallons of plum, and used the lees from the primary to first secondary racking as a kick starter for a 5 gallon batch of ponderosa. The batch with the lees from the plumbs fermented a little faster, catching up with the other non starter lee batch which was about two weeks ahead.
The 2 gallons which didn't have the benefit of starter lees I couldn't quite get to ferment dry, started at 1.070 and finished at 1.000 for the Meyer and 1.003 for the Ponderosa. The larger batch of Ponderosa with the plum lees went all the way down to .995. All batches used the EC1118. Both batches are pretty good, the plum based is REALLY good.
A recommendation for using fresh lemon: matching Lon's recipe lemon volume one to one provided a smoth, not real lemony kick. Doing it again, I'd maybe increase the juice by about 10%. But I'm I big lemon flavor guy.
As a side note here, when I started the plumb wine batch, I kind of "messed" up the mix and added a LOT of sugar. Starting SG of 1.140! It's now fermented to 1.013 after five weeks and appears to have stopped. But hey, that's close to 17% ABV, fairly sweet, and after only five weeks it goes down really, really nice! I was afraid after punishing the yeast they may not be able to handle the slam of the lemon juice. But I tell you, those 1118 guys can rock! Going to be real interesting to see where this batch goes at six and twelve months in the bottle.
Sent from my iPad using Wine Making
