Skeeter Pee Round 1: Final Post

I am going ahead and just making a new post instead of continuing the updates on the original Skeeter Pee post.

So here is the run down on what happened.  I got a little....adventurous. Being the first time doing this recipe I was content with following the directions explicitly.  Well I did...but then I didn't, and the results are amazingly, smooth, balanced, fruity, and delicious.

I waited until my hydrometer read 0.096 and racked into TWO 3 gallon carboys.  One was going to follow the directions from the website, and the other was getting dry hopped. At first I was worried because I didn't have enough liquid to reach the neck of the carboys when separated, but after doing some research online it seemed not to be an issue with this wine due to its high acidity levels.  I am going to have to look into the chemistry of that sediment a bit more later, but I will admit that the wine does not taste in any way like it get oxygenated.  I had also bought a degaser wand and hooked that up to my drill.  I am thinking that helped to release a lot of carbon dioxide to create a blanket over the liquid.  I put a bung on right after degassing.

The degassing was done AFTER I stabilized the wine by adding potassium metabisulfate, which also works to remove oxygen from the wine, and potassium sorbate to halt any further fermentation when back sweetening. Since I knew that this wine was going to be served immediately once bottled and not last the summer or fall, I was okay with putting a shelf life on this wine by using the sorbate.  To top it all off, going for clarity, I added sparkolloid.

Ok, so I let that all sit for two more weeks.  The dry hopping was just done with 0.65g of Glacier hops that I got from Irish Rover, and those were added at the same time the Kmeta and Ksorbate were added.

Dry hopped batch.

Original recipe batch. Clear.

I got ready for bottling and went with a combination of glass and plastic screw top bottles from a Mr. Beer kit that a friend no longer wanted.  The intention of the plastic bottles was for my wife to take some of this on a float trip where glass was not allowed.

I just don't have time to remove the labels from all of my bottles...I am getting there.

All bottles were sanitized using Starsan, as well as the equipment.  Prior cleaning using an alkaline wash was done to remove any gunk from a previous batch.  PSA: Always check your spigots, and from time to time take them off and give them a GOOD cleaning.  Mine needed it, and got it.

Next came the tricky part of back sweetening.  I say tricky, because I was dealing with two factors.

1. The SP website gives sugar amounts for one 5 gallon batch.  I have two batches now, and they are not equal amounts, nor were they of the same taste with one being dry hopped.
2. The wife needed to approve.

So back sweetening with regular cane sugar, a cup to half a cup at a time, with taste testing between the wife and I was how I accomplished this task.  She likes it more sweet, I like it more tart...we met in the middle at a fantastic taste.

Original in all the brown bottles, SP caps were original, and SPH caps were the hopped ones.

I cannot say enough good things about this wine.  Everyone that has tried has really liked it.  My wife's friends on the float trip would agree, too.  The hopped version seems to be the overall winner.  It is not bitter hopped, it is a bit fruitier and the aroma has a bit of added citrus as well.  I am going to have to make 10 gallons of the next time(Round 2).  FINE BY ME!  Most likely I will split the batch at the secondary again, and do a 5gal hopped, 2.5gal with strawberries, and another 2.5 gal with grapefruit or cherries(cherry limeade anyone?).

Matuz