The Lost Keg...of Hard Lemonade

[homebrewer_99]

Today is kind of slow so I decided it's time to clean up some empty kegs and get them ready for refills (15+).

I currently have 7 kegs in the keezer, 1 sitting next to the keezer, and 8-9 batches of brew in primaries and secondaries.

Lo (and Behold) I found a keg of Hard Lemonade that I "fermented in Feb 2012 and kegged in Oct 2012.

So, I tapped it for a sample...WOW! Pretty smooth and sweet (not quite as sweet as a sweet tea). It comes in at 11.156% ABV.

RECIPE

10 cans of Lemonade Concentrate
1.5# Corn Sugar
yeast nutrient
Topped off to 5.5 gallons

Yeast: Red Star Premier Cuvee (Blue Pkt)

OG: 1.083
FG: 0.098


I used potassium sorbate and backsweetened it 2 days later before kegging.

Backsweetening:

3 cans of Lemonade Concentrate
2# Corn Sugar

Purged keg, gassed it up to 30 PSI...and apparently, forgot about it. Who knows how many temperature changes it went through in the garage? (Rhetorical)

The current gravity is 1.030...so the backsweetening and new FG may have skewed the ABV%.

I'm enjoying my second glass right now.

Later...

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I make almost this same recipe every summer for the Texas heat, its a big hit! Also, we do sometimes mix it half and half with tea! Enjoy your lost keg!

 

[bfish]

haha. Similar experience here. I left a keg in my friend's walk-in cooler (growler store) for 2 years. Just recently, he told me to get it out of there. I didn't remember what it was. Turned out it was an old batch of skeeterpee. Which it disappeared quickly once in my keeper (I blame my neighbor, but it was mostly me )

 

[JKC]

Purged keg, gassed it up to 30 PSI...and apparently, forgot about it. Who knows how many temperature changes it went through in the garage? (Rhetorical)

Is it ok to store lemonade/beer/wine in a pressurized keg like this?
I'm new to this and assumed it needs to be refrigerated to keep it from continuing to ferment.

 

[ForsbergFotos]

Is it ok to store lemonade/beer/wine in a pressurized keg like this?
I'm new to this and assumed it needs to be refrigerated to keep it from continuing to ferment.

Usually you take the time to stablize with sulfates and sorbates to prevent a refermentation, unless you are bottle carbonating using the remaining yeast. Which you don't need to do with a pressurized keg system

Clear as mud?

 

[ForsbergFotos]

double post

 

[JKC]

Usually you take the time to stablize with sulfates and sorbates to prevent a refermentation, unless you are bottle carbonating using the remaining yeast. Which you don't need to do with a pressurized keg system

Clear as mud?

The OP said the keg was just left in the garage. I was just wondering if this is OK to do if the Keg was charged with C02 or does it need to be refrigerated.

 

[LedBoots]

I think this is the next recipe to go in my fermenter

 

[homebrewer_99]

Interesting comments. The keg was initially gassed up to 30 psi and disconnected. It remained disconnected the entire time.

 

[bonebrews]

Well I goofed.. In my excitement I just dumped the sugar into the keg with the post fermented lemonade and I doubt I will be able to get that sugar to dissolve now. I should have reduced it on the stove to make sure it dissolves. Any tips on how to get this all dissolved now? 2 pounds is a lot to dissolve in 5 gallons!

 

[jgmillr1]

Well I goofed.. In my excitement I just dumped the sugar into the keg with the post fermented lemonade and I doubt I will be able to get that sugar to dissolve now. I should have reduced it on the stove to make sure it dissolves. Any tips on how to get this all dissolved now? 2 pounds is a lot to dissolve in 5 gallons!

That is only like a 5% sugar addition. I do that addition all the time for my sweet wines and I only dissolve it in a little water before addition. So, it isn't too much to get dissolved into your keg. I'd just shake up the keg real well a few times and I bet it will be dissolved without any trouble. If you dumped dry sugar into the keg though, make sure the sloshing is enough to get the wet goopy sugar into solution.