I love the name. I have a feeling that I will enjoy the beverage. It is basically lemon juice and sugar fermented out. Do not confuse this with hard lemonade though, those are malt beverages with a wimpy 5% ABV. We used champagne yeast slurry from a batch of sparkling wine I will attempt to make in the methode champanoise, but I digress. This little insect excrement should close out around 10%, and pack a mammoth wallop. Back to the pee. I found the recipe online, compliments to the author and contributor at http://www.skeeterpee.com/. I started it last week, and pitched the yeast on Friday. There was a short lag, but using a wire whisk, a little elbow grease, and a healthy dosage of yeast nutrient, we have a rolling ferment going now. OG was 1.068, and as of Sunday was down to 1.060, so progress is happening.
The website and most sources of recipes call for it to be a still beverage, but I want to take things to another level. We are going to carbonate this. And the best part is that it will be ready in time for the beach trip (hopefully).
Once the gravity it down closer to 1.000, we can transfer it to the carboy for clearing and bottling prep. The key here will be timing, so as not to add too much food at bottling and creating glass grenades. But this wouldn't be as much fun if there weren't some element of danger and risk involved.
If all goes as planned, next year there may be a lime version making its debut. And no, I am not waiting for radioactive mosquitoes to go number 1.
On Saturday the 20th, we finally bottled the skeeter. I added 1/2 cup of sucrose for carbonation. Initial tasting at bottling showed maturation from what it was during the transfer. Nose is that of a very young wine, but the flavor is that of fresh lemon. Not bad at all. I will be interested on how it tastes after a week carbonating in the cellar.
Update: Specific gravity is down to 1.030 as of yesterday. I added 5 scoops of yeast nutrient, whisked it a bit, and then tossed in the remaining lemon juice. Once gravity reaches less than 1.000, I will transfer it to let it start to clear.
ReplyDeleteI find that the taste is best with a bit of residual sugar in the finished beverage. If you carbonate using the champanoise method, I would dose it with an excess of sugar, let it ferment to the correct pressure, and then immediately chill it. Chilling will stop the ferment and leave you with a sweet, yet carbonated beverage. The down-side is that you cannot store it at room temp or it'll start fermenting again.
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