Black Viking Rose Seltzer Test Batch.
Brewed 3/24/2022
OG 1.047
FG 1.005
ABV 5.5%
On brew day started with 5 gal distilled water. Heat up 2 gals to 180 and added 1oz pack of White Labs Seltzer Max nutrient pack (link below). Combine that back with the other 3 gal and chill if needed down to 90 degrees, then pitch yeast. For this batch I used reused lutra yeast so yeast count is not precise, used about 3 spoonfuls worth of slurry.
At high krausen added the fruit, which was store bough frozen berries, thawed and blended in the blender into a puree.
Overall, fermentation went slower than expected, it took about two weeks before I called it done at 1.005. Normally seltzers should finish at 1.000 but I am assuming the fruit had some residual sugars/gravity causing it to not ferment all the way down. The high FG and slow ferm could also possibly be from a low pitch rate. Also some colleagues messaged saying it could possibly be caused by a pH imbalance (did not take any pH readings). Another colleague said to use more nutrient than recommended by White Labs.
The rose water extract (link below) is really strong and can come across as soapy if overdone. I tested drops in the glass off the tap and determined one drop per 16oz pour was about right. Added 30 drops to the keg before canning. I realize this is very imprecise especially for scaling. It registered as 0g on my scale and imperceivably small volume in my measuring cup.
Carbonation was also not measured well, just added co2 until it seemed right. I think standard for seltzer is between 2.8-3.0 volumes.
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