Strawberry Lemonade Infusion

Strawberries are being picked right now throughout Ohio and West Virginia, and we thought we’d try some of the many recipes using grain alcohol, or moonshine, that’s become pretty popular lately.

After searching a bit it seemed that the “Strawberry Lemonade Moonshine” got the better rating among the strawberry recipes and was re-posted on a number of web and blog sites. I’m not sure where the recipe originated from, but the one posted on “The Moonshine Recipe Library” ranked high on Google so I figured this would be the one to reference. I modified the recipe slightly, so I’ll post the original and then explain my modifications.



Ingredients

• 4 Cups of Sugar
• 12 Cups of Water
• 4 Cups of Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 1⁄8 Pints of Strawberry Purée
• 5 Cups of Everclear (190 proof preferred)

Instructions

•  Place a pot on low heat and pour in water and sugar.
• Stir until sugar is completely dissolved.
•  Let cool to room temperature.
• Mix in strawberry purée and lemon juice.
• Next add in Everclear and stir well.
• Strain mix making sure to remove all pulp.
• Pour mix into a jar and let sit in refrigerator for a few weeks.
• The more time jar sits in refrigerator, the better it will get.
• This should yield six quarts and one half pint.
• I prefer to make half a pint to taste, therefore I do not have to open a quart jar if it is not ready.
• Use from 3 to 5 cups of Everclear depending on desired alcohol content.

The first thing I changed was to add more strawberries. Since we had so many strawberries I bumped it up to 3 cups pureed. Second, I cut back on the lemon juice to 3 cups. After 24 hours the drink is not too tart and I think if I added another cup might have been. The last change I made was to use two different alcohols, one being from barley and other from corn. There’s no great reason other than that’s what we had on hand. But I have to say, going with 190 proof  Everclear might have you howling at the moon a little sooner in the evening...or maybe before the moon actually comes out.

Well after 24 hours of chilling in the refrigerator I think it’s turned out well, but the bulk of it will sit for 2 weeks as described in the recipe, so we’ll let you know how turned out.