Limoncello, my turn

[PitRow]

After seeing gracoman's thread on this I decided to try my hand at it.

2 750 mL bottles of 190 proof everclear, filtered through activated charcoal 5 times.

Zest of 20 organic lemons.

The two sat for just under a month and a half. I filtered out the zest tonight and added simple syrup to make it 30% alcohol. It's supposed to sit for another 45 days to mellow, but it's already way better than the $30 bottle I've had in the freezer to compare against.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1451874913.941306.jpg

Definitely something I'll do again.

[gracoman]

I used about 15 lemons per 750ml and I also filtered the zest 5 times before adding the simple syrup.

The product will change noticeably in just one week but it will continue to improve over time. If you can keep it around that long.

Try lime. It is everyone's favorite around here. Mine included.

[IrishChef]

I bet that will be good when the weather warms a bit, or, in a cup of hot tea with some honey until it does.....

[AJ]

Looks good. After seeing Gracoman's thread, I too am trying some. I only started with one bottle of EC 190 but split it one pint of lemon and one of lime. It looks great already. I filtered the EC with a Brita filter before adding the zest. We'll see how it works.

[PitRow]

Try lime. It is everyone's favorite around here. Mine included.

Lime is definitely on my todo list, just need to find them at a decent price.

[PitRow]

looking back on this I think I may have diluted mine a little more than expected. Anyone with a little more experience care to chime in on it?

I used the calculator at limoncelloquest to figure out how much simple syrup I needed to make 60 proof. Came out to 3.25 liters.

So, I used a ratio of 3:5 sugar/water to make simple syrup, but where I screwed up is I used 3.25 liters of water and added sugar to that which increased the volume, then poured the whole thing in. So now I'm thinking I've over-diluted my batch. It's still great, but I did think it was a tad on the sweet side.

I'm not really complaining, and I'm going to drink the crap outta this stuff, but I'm just curious how everyone else calculates how much syrup to add and what ratio sugar to water?

[HawgHeaven]

I'm no expert, butt I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express...

SeriousLEE, if it tastes good, drink it. If it don't taste good, send it to me for proper disposal...

[PitRow]

I'm no expert, butt I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express...

SeriousLEE, if it tastes good, drink it. If it don't taste good, send it to me for proper disposal...

Oh, I'm with you on that. No doubt this stuff won't last long.

[IrishChef]

Some quick mental math(which has always been a chore for me) says 1.5l of 95% ABV (190proof) diluted with 3l of water will get you 4.5l of 31.35%/62.5 proof liquor.

What did you come up woith for final volume?

[PitRow]

Some quick mental math(which has always been a chore for me) says 1.5l of 95% ABV (190proof) diluted with 3l of water will get you 4.5l of 31.35%/62.5 proof liquor.

What did you come up woith for final volume?

About 2.5 gallons. Two one-gallon mason jars, plus the original two 750 mL bottles. Comes out to about 9.5 liters. The rest of the volume is sugar, which was about 12 cups if I remember right.

[gracoman]

I think the basic recipe on limoncello quest is much to sweet. That said, there are different types of limoncello. Sweet, semi sweet, dry and extra dry I believe. I like it sweet but not lollipop sweet.

I used 2.2 cups of sugar and 4.5 cups distilled water per 750ml 190 proof grain alcohol. I may cut back a little on the sugar next time with the orange but the tartness of the lime and lemon made this about right for my tastes.

[IrishChef]

About 2.5 gallons. Two one-gallon mason jars, plus the original two 750 mL bottles. Comes out to about 9.5 liters. The rest of the volume is sugar, which was about 12 cups if I remember right.

Not sure what volume the zest contributed, but I'm guessing you are well below your goal of 30%/60 proof....guessing maybe 15%/30 proof at most but I'll let somebody else do the heavy lifting with the math....

[Slanted88]

will do this...Cheers! think mild sweet!

[PitRow]

Limoncello, my turn

Not sure what volume the zest contributed, but I'm guessing you are well below your goal of 30%/60 proof....guessing maybe 15%/30 proof at most but I'll let somebody else do the heavy lifting with the math....

Well the zest wouldn't contribute any volume since I added it to 1.5l of alcohol and then removed it. Though I suppose it probably soaked up some, and same with the charcoal, so I ultimately didn't end up with quite 1.5L.

I was thinking about this on the way home some more. I used this calculator: http://homedistiller.org/distill/dilute/calc
And it says I basically did it right, add 3.25L of water to 1.5L of 190 proof to make 60 proof. But that's just water, I added sugar on top of that, but does dissolved sugar affect ABV?

[IrishChef]

I will try and simplify the way I am seeing it. If someone else has a different viewpoint, I would love to hear it.

You take 1 measure of 100% ETOH, and add one measure of H2O. You double the volume, but reduce the concentration of ETOH by 50%. Add 2 measures, 33%.... I'm not exactly sure how that calculator arrives at the numbers it shows you, when you are getting 9.5 liters of finished product from 1.5 liters of ETOH.(Simplifying this a bit by converting the 95% everclear to a simple 100%)