Any ideas on brewing a beer cooler?

Grains, malts, hops, yeast, water and other ingredients used to brew. Recipe reviews and suggestions.

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dalew
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2003 12:28 pm
Location: Virginia Beach, VA, US

Any ideas on brewing a beer cooler?

Post by dalew »

Ever since I began homebrewing my wife wants me to brew something for her. Unfortunately, she doesn't like beer. I think she just doesn't like things bitter, she won't drink coffee either. She wants something similar to a wine cooler, but all wine cooler kits I've come across require force carbonation and I don't have or currently want a kegging set-up.

So I'm thinking of trying a beer cooler. Wheat DME, very little hops, and lots of raspberries pasteurized and placed in the fermenter. Has anyone tried anything like this, or have any pointers, recipes, etc., that can help me brew up something she'll like? She thinks ciders are too sweet. Any help would be appreciated.
StranegBrew
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 4:21 pm

How about this

Post by StranegBrew »

I know that you stated that you didn't want a kegging system, but there is a little thing that attaches to the top of 2 liter bottles called "the carbonater". Basically it allows you to hook up a bottle of C02 to the 2 liter for force carbonation. Not sure how much the bottle & regulator would cost, just some food for thought.
jlervine
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 02, 2003 7:41 am

Not raspberries, but you could always sub...

Post by jlervine »

One of my fiance's (and my friend's) favorite beers that I make is a blackberry honey wheat.

6lbs wheat DME
1lb honey (I've used orange blossom honey and clover, but prefer the orange blossom)
.5lbs carapils
1oz Saaz @ 60 minutes

OG comes out around 1.060 - 1.065. Ferment using your favorite yeast (I've used White Labs hefeweizen mainly). Rack to secondary onto 5-10lbs of mashed/pureed blackberries. I prefer the frozen blackberries since they still have a good crisp tartness that canned and processed blackberries lack. To pastuerize the berries, place them all in a large pot or casserole dish and put it in the oven on low heat for a bit.

After hitting the blackberries, fermentation starts right back up and continues on for a week or so. Fermentation is complete when the gravity doesn't change for three days in a row. Prime, bottle, and let sit for a week or two. Tasty from the get-go, but gets even better after about 6 weeks.
Kilerclown
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2002 1:31 pm

Wine cooler recipie...

Post by Kilerclown »

Somewhere I have a wine cooler recipie using kool aid mix ...I will dig it up for you. If she doesnt like beer then Id stay away from a wheat beer with fruit combo...if thats the case throw some strawberries in a dirty pair of sweat socks and soak them in water for her to drink...
Kilerclown
Light Lager
Light Lager
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2002 1:31 pm

Found it...

Post by Kilerclown »

Here is the wine cooler recipie

4lbs extra light DME
48oz corn syrup
1lb. maltodextrin
1 package American ale yeast
10 packages unsweetened Kool Aid (any flavor)
3/4 cup sugar for priming

Boil 1 gallon and add DME and maltodextrin, stir till disolved, add corn syrup and boil 30 min. Add to fermentation bucket and top with 4 gallons of water. After fermentation is complete mix corn sugar and 1 pint of boiled water to the fermented liquid along with the packets of kool aid. Careful, the mix will foam with the addition of the acidic mix. Carefully dissolve and bottle.
fitz
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:36 am

Hard Lemonade?

Post by fitz »

I have a recipe that I can dig out for you for hard lemonade, I think I also have a wine cooler recipe. They haven't been tried by me, but I got them off of a site a few years ago and the recipe originator raved over them.
Wine making and beer making are very similar, but if you are going to step into the realm of winemaking for use as a wine cooler, do yourself a favor, and use juice that doesn't have preservatives. Juicy Juice in the can would work well. the pulp of the real fruit takes too long to filter out. That is why winemaking last 6 Mo to a year.
dalew
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2003 12:28 pm
Location: Virginia Beach, VA, US

Yes please

Post by dalew »

I would welcome your recipes, if it isn't too much trouble. Thanks. And thank you to everyone else for their suggestions.
fitz
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:36 am

Lemon Wine

Post by fitz »

These recipes are for Lemon Wine to make the fizzy, hard lemonade, add priming sugar when you bottle. The nice thing about the "lemon winecooler" is that lemonade is already cloudy, so the yeast sediment will go unnoticed.
I still have to dig out the "winecooler" recipe, but I though this would be something for you to read or try. As I said before, use lemon juice, or you'll have to wait for the pulp to settle, and you'll have to keep racking it into clean carboys.
LEMONS


Lemons are very acidic and therefore require a great deal of dilution to make a palatable wine. Unfortunately, this very dilution strips the finished wine of both body and character. To overcome this weakness, one must either add a body-building ingredient to the wine or make a thinner wine that tastes like lemon. The first recipe below adds the body. The next two recipes simply add the taste.



Lemon Wine (1)
8 large lemons
10 oz can of white grape juice concentrate
2 lbs granulated sugar
6-1/2 pts water
1/4 tsp grape tannin
1/4 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Chanpagne wine yeast
Boil water and dissolve sugar in it. Grate the zest from 3 lemons into primary. Juice all lemons and add juice to primary. Add grape juice to primary and add sugar water. Cover primary and set aside to cool to room temperature. Add tannin, yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. After 12 hours, add yeast. Ferment until specific gravity drops to 1.020 (about 8 days). Rack into secondary, top up if required and fit airlock. In 4-6 weeks, check specific gravity. Rack when S.G. is 1.000. Top up and refit airlock. Age 6 months, checking water in airlock periodically. Rack into bottles and age additional 6 months before tasting. [Author's own recipe]



Lemon Wine (2)
6 medium-sized lemons
2 lbs finely granulated sugar
7-1/2 pts water
1/4 tsp grape tannin
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Champagne wine yeast
Put water on to boil and dissolve sugar in it. Meanwhile, grate the zest of 3 lemons and peel the lemons. Remove all white pith from lemons and break lemons into segments. Place segments and zest in nylon straining bag, tie bag closed and place it in primary. Mash the segments and add boiling water to primary. Cover until cooled to room temperature. Add tannin, yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. Twenty-four hours later add yeast. Squeeze bag daily to release juice for 8 days. Drain bag and allow to ferment 3 more days. Rack into secondary, top up if required, and fit airlock. Rack in 3 weeks and again 3 weeks later. When wine had fermented to dryness, taste. If too dry, stabilize and sweeten to taste. After 10 days, rack into bottles. Age 6-12 months. [Adapted from Terry Garey's "The Joy of Home Winemaking"]



Lemon Wine (3)
6 medium-sized lemons
2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
7-1/2 pts water
1/4 tsp grape tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Champagne wine yeast
Grate the zest of 1 lemon into primary. Add juice of lemons, sugar, water, tannin, and yeast nutrient. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Wait 12 hours and add yeast. Ferment 2 days and strain into secondary, top up if required, and fit airlock. Rack every 30 days until specific gravity reaches 1.000. Stabilize, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Age 1 year. [Adapted from Leo Zanelli's "Home Winemaking from A to Z"]
fitz
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 442
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:36 am

Follow up Winecooler

Post by fitz »

I finally found the recipe, but it only says to add a squirt of lemon juice and to add sprite or ginger ale. If it were me, and I wanted to make a keg of winecooler, I would use a wine recipe I like, with a yeast that IS NOT alcohol tolerant. ferment it until the yeast dies off(make sure the yeast is dead!) place the wine 75% to 25% wine versus soda(made with soda extract) in a corney keg, and then presurize slightly. As I said before, use a juice to make your wine, otherwise you'll be waiting for a year for that winecooler.
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