Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.

[MacStill]

Here's how I make my Lemon vodka for a 50L wash

Ingredients:

25L bucket of freshly picked very ripe lemons
1 table spoon DAP
2 crushed vitamin B tabs
2 table spoons of EC1118 yeast rehydrated (instructions on pkt)
10kg plain white sugar.

Method:

First off peel and quarter lemons and add to fermenter, you want to squash them to a really mushy pulp.
Add 10kg sugar and cover lemons & sugar with really hot water to about a 1/3 of the fermenter full, add DAP & vitamin B, then blitz it for a few minutes with a paint stirrer to aerate.
Top up to the 50L mark on the fermenter with cool water and add half a dozen quartered lemon skins.
Once your fermenter is at about 25c pitch your rehydrated EC1118.
Try to keep the ferment reasonably cool at around 25c for the duration.

The ferment due to acid content from the lemons will be pretty slow but I've never bothered with ph adjustment, it will take 2 to 3 weeks to ferment to dry.
Once it's finished the lemon pulp will generally sink to the bottom, if not gently scoop it out and you should have a nice clear yellowish wash ready for the boiler.

I distill mine once through 4 plates @ around 92% and get a pretty strong lemon flavour carry through, but once watered back to 40% it's very nice.

If I was to pot still this I would run it twice, you get a lot of flavour from this and may want to temper it back to your liking with some neutral.

Enjoy!!

Mac.

[Woodsy71]

This sounds most tasty and im keen to give it a go.

Its probably a stupid question,

but can i split the recipe between two 25 litre fermenters?

Cheers

[spit'n'shine]

Bloody legend for posting this Mac! I've been waiting in anticipation to see this recipie! Question though.. Does it need ageing at all?

[MacStill]

This sounds most tasty and im keen to give it a go.

Its probably a stupid question,

but can i split the recipe between two 25 litre fermenters?

Cheers

You can split it or double it mate, just keep the ratios the same :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

Bloody legend for posting this Mac! I've been waiting in anticipation to see this recipie! Question though.. Does it need ageing at all?

Just air it out as with doing your cuts and she's good to go :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[spit'n'shine]

Siiiick! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[1 2many]

Yeah this is going to the top of my agenda, sounds good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So what would a 25 ltr bucket of average size lemons be? 25-30 :think:

[MacStill]

Yeah this is going to the top of my agenda, sounds good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So what would a 25 ltr bucket of average size lemons be? 25-30 :think:

Yeah that'd be close mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[spit'n'shine]

I wouldn't waste the rest of the skins either.. I'll be using them to lemon cello!

Mac, when you peel the lemons, do you just do it like your eating a quartered orange? How critical is it to keep the pith out?

[MacStill]

try to leave as much pith as possible on the skins for the ferment, otherwise you'll get a real bitterness come through the still :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Andy]

I stripped this with a pot still, added some spent liquid (dunder?) back to the fermemter couple more lemons and DAP, adjusted the pH and stripped again, then did a spirit run. Seemed to work well

dont know if you have foudn this mac but i recall when airing this out the angels seemed to take far more then usual :-??

[MacStill]

No Andy I didn't notice excessive loss to the angels when airing this :think:

[benpandaae86]

Planing on doin this wash a mates droppin round a bucket of lemons but i dont have dap or know where tp get it is there something else i can use

[Urrazeb]

Just pick up some yeast nutrient from a brew store :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Failing that you could even use a dollop of tomato paste

[CyBaThUg]

Ok I changed it up a bit half lemon half lime it's wat was available but don't think this will work my ph was reading 3

[CyBaThUg]

Should I try increase it as I've only done it once before and I used bicarbonate soda and was told it gives off a bad taste so wat do the experts recommend

[Sam.]

Ok I changed it up a bit half lemon half lime it's wat was available but don't think this will work my ph was reading 3

Should I try increase it as I've only done it once before and I used bicarbonate soda and was told it gives off a bad taste so wat do the experts recommend

Is it not fermenting?

If it's going doing try and fix something that ain't broken :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Urrazeb]

Is it not fermenting?

If it's going doing try and fix something that ain't broken :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :text-+1:

I think this recipe will ferment at quite a low Ph. Give it a crack, if it doesn't start then start thinking about adjustments

[CyBaThUg]

All good doesn't look like much is going on but can hear it bubbling

[MacStill]

....if using a wine/champagne yeast ( EC1118 ) it wont be quick or bubble much towards the end, let it go and wait until the must/mash/wash settles, then run the vitamin B piss coloured stuff (clear wash) to the boiler :handgestures-thumbupleft: