Skeeter Pee fruit variant

[wbhutchins]

Hi all! I started a new batch of Skeeter Pee and decided to add 3 pounds of pineapple, mango, peach and strawberries to the mix. This got me thinking that maybe I should reduce the amount of lemon juice to enhance the fruit flavors. So far I have kept the recipe the same as I am just at the beginning, only adding the fruit in a filter bag to this point. Just debating if I should only add the nutrient and energizer without the additional bottle of lemon juice when the S.G. drops to 1.050.

Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[winemaker81]

Some recipes for SP call for adding additional lemon juice post-fermentation. If it were me, I'd ferment it out, let it clear a couple of weeks, then taste test. Add more lemon juice if it seems to need it.

 

[wbhutchins]

I'm planning to treat it the same as DB and squeeze the fruit bag daily. Based on my previous SP batch, it only took about a day to drop to S.G. 1.050, but I guess it makes sense to just taste test it to see if the flavor is what I'm expecting.

 

[wbhutchins]

I hope someone sees this reply to my own post, but now I might have an issue. I started my "Tropical Skeeter Pee" because I was expecting my dragon blood to go stable and be ready to rack today. Well, the best laid plans... the S.G. keeps going down. It hit 0.986 today, so I think that it where it ends and I can rack on Tuesday using the yeast slurry in my SP.

I started the Tropical Skeeter Pee on Friday, expecting to add slurry today.

My question is:

1. How long can I wait to pitch the yeast slurry into my skeeter pee before I risk some other wild yeast taking up residence in my wine?
2. Would it be better to pitch yeast in fresh?

It smells so good with all the tropical fruits added to two bottles of lemon. I would hate to have it go bad because of a timing issue.

 

[cmason1957]

I always use fresh yeast when making skeeter pee, dragons blood. I have never used a yeast slurry, so my vote is too make a good yeast starter and use that.

Are you absolutely certain about that sg reading. I've never had one go much below 0.992 or 0.990.

 

[meadmaker1]

It will be a quite interesting color.

 

[wbhutchins]

I always use fresh yeast when making skeeter pee, dragons blood. I have never used a yeast slurry, so my vote is too make a good yeast starter and use that.

Are you absolutely certain about that sg reading. I've never had one go much below 0.992 or 0.990.

I don't have any reason to doubt my hydrometer, but I don't have a second one to test against to see if I get the same reading on both. I'm not sure of the reasoning behind using yeast slurry, but the author of the skeeterpee.com website is pretty adamant about using that versus picking a fresh starter.

Maybe it's the yeast I'm using in my dragon blood that is allowing for such low readings. I used Lavlin Wine yeast EC-1118. I used it because that is what I used before. Now you have me thinking I should buy a second hydrometer to see if it reads the same. But by the time it gets here it will be too late for this batch. (UPDATE): Amazon has an option for same day delivery, so I ordered one.

Now I have another thought. If I pitch a fresh starter, would it be beneficial to then pitch the yeast slurry in a couple days later?

 

[wbhutchins]

It will be a quite interesting color.

I'll post a picture later today.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* the reason for a slurry is to get a fermentation going fast, ,, it also provides yeast nutrient, ,, the yeast in skeeter pee have self selected so there is better acid tolerance, ,, prior to 1910 with commercial yeast yeast slurry was more likely to work than just waiting for God to magically provide good yeast, ,, racking now will not kill the ferment on the old batch but it will slow the rate, ,, at 0.989 the old batch is basically done, ,, yes there is risk of infection the longer you wait BUT if you read the new Settlement Cookbook from 1905 that’s how everybody did it/ if I read grandpa’s from 1938 waiting for nature is how it was done.
* I inherited several hydrometers last fall, they vary by 0.006 (must have ten readings to choose from now), ,,, Mom’s was the first so that is the reference / gold standard/ what I grew up with.

 

[Arne]

Check your hydrometer in distilled water. Should read 1.000 Arne.

 

[QuiQuog]

If you made your DB with EC-1118 you probably won't have to worry if another yeast takes up residence. The 1118 will out compete and eliminate the wild yeast. I don't believe another day or two will be an issue. As a matter of fact, if you haven't already done so, you can throw in some pectic enzyme to help break down the fruit for those couple of days.

 

[wbhutchins]

If you made your DB with EC-1118 you probably won't have to worry if another yeast takes up residence. The 1118 will out compete and eliminate the wild yeast. I don't believe another day or two will be an issue. As a matter of fact, if you haven't already done so, you can throw in some pectic enzyme to help break down the fruit for those couple of days.

I hadn't yet, so I will add Pectic Enzymes now while I wait. Thanks!