Learning How to Make Limoncello | Shakespeare Distillery 

nice video, as you said, the lemon juice is useless in the limoncello recipe. Try dissolving the sugar directly in the water you are using to dilute the liquid, instead of using industrial simple syrup, you'll get a more artisanal taste. In Italy our homemade limoncellos usually have around 30% abv and quite sweet taste. You can also make something similar with bitter oranges, it tastes great, you'll love it! We have a tradition of making these kind of products called amaro, using all kinds of herbs, a bit like the ones you use for distilling gin.

Fascinating 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

This is probably the best "how to" lemoncello video that I've came across . And I'll tell you now,when done correctly, lemoncello is always worth doing

Coming late to this party and this idea may not work well for a distillery, but you might use the lemon juice to make a lemon wine: I use about 100 fl oz of lemon juice with about 10 lbs of table sugar to make added to spring water to make 5 gallons (US) of must. You will need to add pectic enzyme to break down the pectins, and yeast nutrient to feed the yeast (Fermaid O or a UK alternative). I like Premier Blanc as my yeast for this. You will want to add tannin to give this wine a spine. Now lemon juice is VERY acidic, so you may want to feed the wine with the juice over a few days, perhaps adding 25 fl oz each day until you have used up all the juice. Distillation, in the US is prohibited for home wine makers, so I have never tried making a lemon aqua vie, but as a wine at 12-13% ABV , this is a knock out summer drink. And here is one other thought: rather than make a simple simple syrup, you might FIRST strain out the lemon zest and add the zest to the sugar water that you are turning into a syrup. The heat and the sugar will tend to extract some more flavor from the zest and you will have extracted different flavors from the zest than the alcohol can do as a solvent. I often use that process to flavor the syrup when I am making liqueurs such as coffee or pistachio or chocolate.

I saw a video that used a technique I had never seen before. The lemon peel was extracted like normal in 95% grain alcohol over several days, and when it came time to make the syrup, they removed the lemon peel from the alcohol and added it to the just-off-boil sugar/water syrup and covered it with a lid and allowed it to cool. While most of the lemon oils and color had already been extracted, this extracted a small amount more and flavored and colored the sugar syrup yellow. This syrup was then strained and added to the alcohol. Thanks for posting the various experiments. I had ruled out adding juice, but it was nice to see you and your team confirm that.

you're so great! Please keep showing me more recipes/experiments...I learn so much. I made a orangecello , made the same way as this and WOW! what was cool about it is how it changes into that bright orange color when proofing down from the clear 'orangey' maceration

Thanks for putting this video together. I enjoyed the experimentation and I'm currently making my own lemoncello as I type this. Can't wait!

I picked up limes today for 10/$1.00, I wasn’t sure what I would do with them. I was thinking about Bearded’s Limecello when RU-vid magically popped up your Lemoncello video. I enjoy revisiting your posts. Very well done, Brewbird!Congratulations on your successful experimentation. I hope Shakespeare is still using your formula. Slainte!

Very good!

OMG, you have to get yourself a proper zester/grater for this job! Looks like a cheese grater but very fine blades with a handle. This will prevent white pith from being grated. You'll end up with much smaller zests but the positive is that it's much faster to infuse (3-5 days) and much easier than with your knife there. Love to make this drink!

Love it. I am going to try your Limoncello Recipe later, sometime in Summer for a special occasion. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks Miss Brewbird. Enjoyed your video as usual.

I've seen it where lemon juice is added at the end to adjust acidity.

DARN!! I last week put on a batch of lemonchello using Everclear and the juice from the lemons. I’ll be fixing it up with simple syrup with equal amounts of water and sugar, which will be twice as much sugar than I use normally. for sure that only my tastebuds will judge.

Well done! For limoncello I use a micro plane zester to speed things along. I use 151 proof neutral spirit since you can purchase it easily at retail (Everclear). I dilute down with sugar syrup in equal volume which gives me a 35% ABV liqueur. This also works well with Mandarin oranges which can be peeled by hand quickly and do not have a bitter pith. Bottle and store in the freezer.

I've never tried it, it looks delicious!

I only use the peels and 10 lemons per liter. I let the infusion go for 14 days before I add the simple syrup. I sweeten it depending on who I am giving it to because not everyone likes real sweet. Great Information on your page. I am looking into opening a distillery in the future, but I want my recipes to be spot on first. Thank you for your knowledge.

Awsome vid yet again👌never tasted it but am keen to make it next time I do a neutral,thank you

I love you experiment. I will try. Thanks

I just made one batch of limoncello with lemons and another with limes. I used 1L of 60% proof Everclear in California, USA as the neutral spirit. The first batch of lemons kept 9 days in alcohol and the 21 days for the lime batch. For the batch with the lemons I used 1.5 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar as the simple syrup. The initial tasting was a tad bitter but after a couple days in the refrigerator, the taste mellowed out but was not as sweet as I like. It was less sweet than store bought limoncello but I was hoping for a littler sweeter taste in my production. For the lime batch, I used 2 cups of water and 1.75 cups of sugar. I was much happier with the initial final taste. It was less sweet than a store bought version but sweeter than the first version. I’m curious about the length of time necessary for soaking the skins in the alcohol. You initial test suggested very little difference between 10 days and 20 days. However, a lot of home recipes push for a much longer period of soak. I’ve also seen a video in which the maker suggested only a 4 day soak was necessary and anything over that did not add any value. This maker had a couple of scientific studies to show that 4 days was optimal. What do you think is gained with the longer soaking period. My soaking period of 9 days vs 21 days is based on using lemons and limes. Both have different flavor profiles and I’m not sure my batches are a good comparison to use.

I just made my first limoncello too. I went with 150ml neutral grain spirit, and 150ml new make for whisky for my spirit, and then 400ml 1:3 sugar/water simple syrup to dilute. Turned out very nice and smooth, but maybe a bit on the sweet side for my personal taste. The new make came through with a very mild herbal/grassy touch and some extra fullness to the mouth feel, which I think worked well. Next batch I think I'll try with Norwegian honey from a friend's farm as the sweetener.

Great video. I really enjoy how you test so many different ways with the same ingredients. That truly allows for your best version to be found. I've also found a Sous Vide version. Instead of steeping for days or weeks, you heat in sealed containers for 2 hours at 135 degrees F. Also I find zesting vs peeling to be the best results. Happily, you can do this same recipe with Oranges, Limes, or Grapefruit if you are looking for something a little bit different. Cheers.

There's more control and speed with this process by breaking down its variables and processes. If the final product will be back sweetened anyway, you can expedite the extraction of lemon oil with the mechanical maceration of sugar -- oleo saccharum. It'll speed the extraction from 10 days to 1. Just consider the final sugar by volume you're looking for. Additionally, lemon juice is a 6% acid solution and is typically balanced in western cuisine with simple syrup at a ratio of 1:1. Alternatively, you could just consider the dry ingredients to be 60g of citric acid per 550g of sugar -- the aqueous volume is negligible and can be added however you see fit. If using the lemon juice, you can take x mL lemon juice, x(1.1) grams sugar, and add 3% citric acid and 0.5% sodium citrate of the final volume. This, of course, is based on the varietal of lemon used (Meyer lemons are less acidic, as an example).

I made a batch with the lemon juice included and as you said it was not that good, so rather than throwing it away I distilled it and produced an excellent lemon vodka which also made a great base for a gin.

This was such a cool video. I personally use Meyer Lemons. I love the recipe I found on RU-vid that uses the juice and honey instead of sugar. It came out so delicious! I don’t like Eureka lemons or their juice, so I’m not surprised your juice version wasn’t tasty. Try organic Meyer lemons if you get the chance. I think you’ll change your mind on the juice.

Brewbird always speaks my language. Though I haven't had a taste since I was in Rome

I have tried once to make lemoncello without success. I will have to try it again. Beaver DIY makes a lemon brandy on his channel, which would be a great use for all that lemon juice!

when i've made gin the lemon flavour really punches through in a column vapour stream, might be worth a try too

This is an excellent and meticulous video. Most scientific video I’ve seen yet. Only wish you could have shared the exact final ratios!

I didn't realise limoncello was so easy to make. It is definitely a drink that anyone can make at home. Has anyone else tried making their own limoncello before?

Great video and sharing your information is really appreciated. I do things like that at home in China. Mostly whisky 😁

If your looking for something to do with the lemon juice. Try skeeterpee

Next time I make it i plan to zest the lemon vs peeling. I think it will significantly cut down on time and grantee no bitterness. Should make for a fun experiment.

Use some semi sweet white wine together with the sugar water ... or a Riesling ... works well and refreshing - gives it a little more body too ... at least, that's my take ....

you could use the lemon juice for invert sugar

You could try making a alcoholic lemonade with the juice.

Wow, I love limoncello and would love to make some. Can you share weights of peel and how much simple syrup in the 500 ml of spirit please? Do you think it would work with vodka instead of your stronger spirit?

So what was your favorite recipe then?

Help me! Какое соотношение спирта, воды и сахара на 1 литр готового продукта?

I tried to make but it was very bitter, 30 days i let it steep, took the pith off skins, don't know what i did wrong. was a total flop. maybe you can enlighten me. Thanks

I like it with honey, but you lose the yellow color..but, to me, taste matters more than anything

you need a rinder