A Step by Step Guide to Making
Lemon Wine / Fermented Lemonade
By Richard Clark (@RichardRClark)
Updated July 27, 2015
Adapted from the original recipe at http://www.skeeterpee.com.
Special thanks to Steve Hanmer and Randy Griesman for helping me through my first batch.
There are many ways to customize the base skeeter pee recipe. Below is my take on it. It’s worked well
for me, but feel free to change it to suit your tastes. If you find a variation you really like, please share!
Note: Although skeeter pee is technically a wine and is made using winemaking techniques, this guide
has been written from a homebrewer’s perspective. So I won’t elaborate on steps that should be
familiar to most homebrewers but will try to add more detail to wine-specific steps.
Ingredients for a 5 gallon batch
3 – 48 oz. bottles of 100% lemon juice (3 – 32 oz. bottles will also work, but it has less lemon flavor)
8 lbs. table sugar for fermenting
2 2/3 lbs. table sugar for sweetening
Approximately 5 gallons water
6 tsp. yeast nutrient
2 tsp. yeast energizer
1 packet of Lalvin EC-1118 dry yeast
1/2 tsp. potassium metabisulfite (“K-meta”) or 5 crushed Campden tablets
2 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate (“sorbate”)
5 tsp. Sparkolloid
Part 1
1. Add 8 lbs. sugar, 8 cups of water, and 1/3 cup lemon juice to a large stainless steel pot.
2. Heat to just below boiling (200-210 °F) while stirring constantly. It doesn’t have to be stirred rapidly.
Just enough to keep the sugar from caramelizing or burning on the bottom.
3. Hold at this temperature for 30 minutes while continuing to stir constantly.
4. At this point, the table sugar will have transformed into invert sugar. The solution should be clear
with a slight golden tinge. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
5. Add 4 gallons of water, 2 bottles of lemon juice, 3 tsp. of yeast nutrient, and 1 tsp. of yeast energizer
to a sanitized fermenter. If possible, use a wide mouth fermenter such as a bucket because it will
make some of the following steps easier.
6. Add the warm invert sugar to the fermenter and stir thoroughly.
7. Test the specific gravity (SG). Add enough water to bring the SG down to 1.070 (17 Brix), which will
result in a final product ABV around 10%. You can determine how much water to add using
calculators found within BeerSmith or online. Or, if you prefer to wing it, just top to a final volume
of 5 1/4 gallons. That should get you pretty close. If your SG is low, you can add more table sugar to
bring it up to 1.070.
8. Stir thoroughly to make sure all ingredients are well mixed.
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9. Vigorously beat the mixture with a wire whisk or degassing wand for a couple of minutes. This adds
oxygen to the mix and, most importantly, helps to purge the preservatives from the lemon juice.
10. Cover the fermenter with a fine elastic straining bag or clean towel and let sit for 24 to 48 hours.
This allows time for the preservatives to escape while keeping dust and bugs out.
Part 2
1. After 24-48 hours, vigorously beat the mixture again.
2. Rehydrate the dry yeast as follows:
a. Boil a few ounces of water and let cool to 104-109 °F.
b. Pour 2 oz. of the boiled water in a clean, sanitized container. A Pyrex measuring cup works well.
c. Sprinkle the yeast onto the surface of the water. Let it float. Do not stir it in.
d. Let stand for at least 20 minutes.
e. Gently stir to break up any clumps.
3. Let the rehydrated yeast cool until it is no more than 20 °F above the temperature of the fermenter.
4. Pitch the rehydrated yeast into the fermenter. The total rehydration time (steps 2.c through 4) should
never exceed 45 minutes or yeast viability will suffer.
5. You should see signs of active fermentation within a couple of days. EC-1118 yeast can tolerate a
wide range of temperatures, but it will perform best if the fermenter is kept at 70-78 °F.
6. If fermentation seems to be progressing slowly, you may need to occasionally whip in some
additional oxygen.
Part 3
1. Periodically check the SG.
2. When it drops to around 1.050 (around 6 days), add another 3 tsp. of yeast nutrient, 1 tsp. of yeast
energizer, and 1 bottle of lemon juice.
3. Vigorously mix them together.
4. If you can, add some oxygen at this time as well. This is a very acidic environment for the yeast, so
you want to give them all the help you can.
Part 4
1. Allow the skeeter pee to ferment completely – about 2-3 weeks. When finished, it will be very dry.
Final gravity should be between 0.998 and 0.995.
2. Rack into a clean, sanitized carboy.
3. Degas the skeeter pee by using a degassing wand or stirring it slowly with a whisk. Unlike beer, you
don’t have to worry about oxidation with skeeter pee since it doesn’t contain any hops.
4. Add 1/2 tsp. potassium metabisulfite (or 5 crushed Campden tablets) and 2 1/2 tsp. potassium
sorbate. These two ingredients will stabilize the skeeter pee so that any added sugar won’t restart
fermentation.
5. Wait 24 hours.
6. Add Sparkolloid per the directions on the package, which may vary by brand. For the brand I use,
the steps are as follows:
a. Heat 2 cups of water in the top of a double boiler to approximately 180 °F.
b. Stir in 5 tsp. of Sparkolloid until fully dissolved.
c. Simmer for 30 minutes while stirring constantly. It should have a creamy appearance.
d. Remove from the stove and slowly pour it into the fermenter. It must be added hot to be
effective.
e. Stir well and let sit undisturbed for one week.
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Part 5
1. After a week, the skeeter pee should be crystal clear.
2. Try a sample. You know you want to. It should taste like a dry white wine with a hint of lemon.
While the lemon flavor is subtle now, it will intensify once you add sugar. Now stop sampling and
move on to the next step. You’re almost done!
3. If kegging:
a. Rack into a clean, sanitized keg. Leave the white sediment behind.
b. While the skeeter pee is transferring, add 2 2/3 lbs. of table sugar to the keg.
c. Once filled and sealed, rock the keg back and forth a few times to ensure that the sugar is
thoroughly dissolved.
d. Chill and carbonate if desired.
e. Enjoy!
4. If bottling (I haven’t tried this myself, but this is what I’ve read):
a. A 2 2/3 lbs. of table sugar to a clean, sanitized carboy.
b. Rack the skeeter pee into the carboy. Leave the white sediment behind.
c. Stir to thoroughly dissolve the sugar.
d. Wait two weeks to be sure no new fermentation begins, then bottle.
e. Chill.
f. Enjoy!
5. If you’re impatient:
a. Mix with Sprite, 7-Up, etc. and serve over ice.
b. Enjoy!
Flavoring Skeeter Pee
Now that you’ve got the base recipe down, consider exploring the countless ways you can add your own
touch. Creating fruit flavors by adding fruit during fermentation or extracts afterwards is very popular.
Here’s an easy cherry lemon version that I created for my daughter’s wedding. I call it “Butterfly Kisses”
because “Skeeter Pee” just didn’t seem appropriate for the occasion.
Butterfly Kisses Cherry Lemon Wine
• While racking the lemon wine into the keg (part 5, step 3.b), add 2 oz. of natural cherry extract (I
bought mine from Savory Spice Shop) and 1 package of unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid. The
cherry extract is colorless, so the Kool-Aid is needed to give it an appropriate color.
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