malt beverages

[thewiz]

I have several friends that like the Smirnoff Ice type drinks and I was thinking of trying a batch, but I'm not sure where the sweetness comes from since any sugar would be fermented (right?). Anyhow, I found the following recipe online and have a couple of questions....(from www.thebrewhut.com)

"I was skeptical about this, as I'm sure any self-respecting homebrewer would be, but thought I would give it a try for all those friends who are into the citrus drinks these days (like Mike's Hard Lemonade, Smirnoff Ice, etc.) Well it's quick and easy, and surprisingly good; refreshing and not very sweet. I received kudos from beer drinkers and non-beer drinkers alike. I'd recommend trying it out at least once...

5 gallon batch:
2 lbs unhopped dry malt extract
2 lbs corn sugar
2 lbs honey
6 cans of 12oz frozen lemonade concentrate (some have tried swapping out a can or two for a can limeade, strawberry, and raspberry.)
Yeast (I've tried Coopers but I'm sure others could give this a unique touch)

After bringing about 1.5 gallons to a boil, take off the heat and stir in the DME, corn sugar, and honey. Bring this back to a boil for 10 minutes or so. Cool, put in the fermenter and add water to the 5 gallon mark, then add your yeast. Let it ferment a week, then put the (thawed/liquefied) concentrate into the secondary and rack the brew onto it. Another few days fermenting and its ready to go to the keg. "

Q1: Why is the lemonade concentrate put in the secondary and not the primary?

Q2: I understand they say 'go to keg', but I'm going to bottle.... should I use the standard 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime?

Q3: Any yeast recommendations?

Q4: Has anyone tried (or have an alternate recipe for) this type of drink - any successes or failures?

Thanks all.....

[evilredlight]

the lemonade may be to acidicand interupt fermentation

also be aware that some corn sugar (if you are buying fromsupermarket) have preservatives, and that too will interupt fermentation.

You have to give that yeast a fighting chance!

Wait to find out more from others, I only assume that the acidity will kill yeasties, but you may not be able to carbonate naturally if that is the reason, and so you will either drink flat girly drinks, or have to keg.

[Tweek]

My guess as to why they have you put the concentrate in the secondary is that most concentrates have sulphates in them which will kill the yeast. What I would do is find a brand without sulphates or preservatives and add to the primary with the rest of the stuff.

You might want to try a wine or cider yeast with this. As far as priming for the bottle goes that should work just fine assuming you get your gravity in the appropriate range first

[davesarman]

Friends don't let friends drink alcopops! Turn them on to real beer! :cool:

[thewiz]

Originally posted by davesarman
Friends don't let friends drink alcopops! Turn them on to real beer! :cool:

I knew the purists would chime in 8-)

I was thinking about making a cider instead.... but then I thought that if I was able to make a good light base, I would have something pretty darn easy to experiment with.... whether it be hops, lemon, lime, cranberry, etc....

[Herb Ninja]

Make Some Real Alcoholic Ginger Ale, Then Bottle It And Send Me A Case. :) *heh*

I think your malt beverage idea is worth trying, regardless of how good it may be.
Peace, HN-

[toneyc]

I think one of the other reasons to put the flavoring in secondary or at bottling time is because the fermentation process strips some of the flavor from the fruit or flavoring extracts.

:)
Toney.

[fretlessman71]

If you do it at secondary, you could probably experiment a little bit more as to just what you want this to taste like. I just brewed a sweet stout and added 4 oz. lactose during the boil, and I plan to add at least another 4 oz. to the secondary. We'll see what happens when I get that far!

[YamahaXS]

sounds like this owuld be worth a try... some of those beverges are good to have around from time to time.

edit: thanks Fretless! i wonder how long i can keep it at 500....I will just edit previous posts. bwauaahahaha

[fretlessman71]

Congrats on your 500th post Yamaha! Well done! :D

[Fast_Eddy]

Just a little FYI on this - somewhere I read an article that explained about the difficulty for a homebrewer to produce similar tasting drinks to the "malted beverages" that are popular. IIRC, the biggest problem is that they are produced from nearly tasteless fermentables(large rice component) and then they filter the hell out of them and then add flavoring. So they are able to start with essentially a flavorless base liquid to flavor.

[thewiz]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
So they are able to start with essentially a flavorless base liquid to flavor.

I'm kind of under the impression that using the honey, corn sugar and light unhopped DME will make more or less a flavorless base, which means I'll have a lot of experimenting I can do at secondary and beyond...

I was thinking of adding flavoring prior to bottling also.... anyone have any opinions about the bottling question? I think I'm going to end up using 3/4 cup corn sugar and storing in the garage or some other relatively harmless place until I'm sure the bottles won't explode.....

thanks...!

[davesarman]

In one of my apple beers I added extract to the bottling bucket just as I was to begin bottling and it worked just fine.

[kgaugler]

I would think you would not want to add the extract until the secondary so that you don't actually ferment the sugars out of it. This would just leave you with a sour flavor and not lemonade like you are looking for.

You want a lightly flavored (or unflavored) alcohol base to add the lemonade flavor to.

Just my 0.02

[essentrik1]

Just looking through old recipes and saw this. Did anyone try it? My wife doesn't like beer, but likes those malternatives, but thinks they are too sweet (get's sick of them before finishing one). If this turned out well, I may try it for her.

[dparsons]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
Just a little FYI on this - somewhere I read an article that explained about the difficulty for a homebrewer to produce similar tasting drinks to the "malted beverages" that are popular. IIRC, the biggest problem is that they are produced from nearly tasteless fermentables(large rice component) and then they filter the hell out of them and then add flavoring. So they are able to start with essentially a flavorless base liquid to flavor.

Yep. Instead of letting the yeast create the flavor, you take cheap alcohol and flavor it with ... lemonade ... or whatever. A fruit beer, a flavored mead, or Herb Ninja's idea of a ginger ale are (to my understanding) genuine brews that seem to fit the same flavor niche. Perhaps the realness will impress your friends. Of course, some people go back to McDonalds even after having a real hamburger.