[barneyh]

Please do not comment on how bad Zima was/is.  I am looking for a recipe.  I found a vodka and Calpis recipe, but I doubt the authenticity.  Especially when you read all the haters' comments.  Zima is a malt beverage.  Using vodka, could classify as malt via distilling, but I'm skeptical.  My brief internet search found mostly haters.  The best post was a guy saying his wife liked it.  All he got in return were snarky/nasty comments.  My wife liked it to.  happy wife, happy life.  Any insight would be appreciated.  I'll try the vodka recipe, but if I am going to make her think I'm a genius, I need more.

[denny]

Zima starts as malt, but then is filtered so there's little but alcohol left. It is only a malt beverage in the strictest sense.

[fredthecat]

probably charcoal filters, whatever processes hard seltzers use. ive never had it but i guess its the granddaddy of hard seltzer

[reverseapachemaster]

I couldn't give an exact recipe but Zima was made by taking beer and filtering it through activated carbon and then flavored with lemon and lime. Coors made it under their brewing license so it definitely wasn't distilled.

Coors probably made it with something similar to a cheap version of one of their beers. You could experiment with trying to filter a Coors Light and then flavor it with a small amount of lime and lemon flavor extracts. It definitely had lemon and lime flavors but not especially pronounced. I might have been made with lemon and lime juices because it was kinda tart but the acidity might have been from the underlying beer. I'm not sure if you could just pour it through an activated carbon filter (like a Brita) one or more times, or if it needs to be forced through a larger filter to get it that clear.

If you land on something that tickles your fancy just brew a batch of similar light lager, filter, flavor and either force carb in a keg or bottle carbonate with a little priming sugar and yeast.

[MNWayne]

There are recipes out there for hard seltzer.  That might be a starting point.  Then back-sweeten (if needed) and flavor to taste.

[denny]

I couldn't give an exact recipe but Zima was made by taking beer and filtering it through activated carbon and then flavored with lemon and lime. Coors made it under their brewing license so it definitely wasn't distilled.

Coors probably made it with something similar to a cheap version of one of their beers. You could experiment with trying to filter a Coors Light and then flavor it with a small amount of lime and lemon flavor extracts. It definitely had lemon and lime flavors but not especially pronounced. I might have been made with lemon and lime juices because it was kinda tart but the acidity might have been from the underlying beer. I'm not sure if you could just pour it through an activated carbon filter (like a Brita) one or more times, or if it needs to be forced through a larger filter to get it that clear.

If you land on something that tickles your fancy just brew a batch of similar light lager, filter, flavor and either force carb in a keg or bottle carbonate with a little priming sugar and yeast.

AFAIK, it wasn't exactly made from beer since there were no hops involved.

[erockrph]

I couldn't give an exact recipe but Zima was made by taking beer and filtering it through activated carbon and then flavored with lemon and lime. Coors made it under their brewing license so it definitely wasn't distilled.

Coors probably made it with something similar to a cheap version of one of their beers. You could experiment with trying to filter a Coors Light and then flavor it with a small amount of lime and lemon flavor extracts. It definitely had lemon and lime flavors but not especially pronounced. I might have been made with lemon and lime juices because it was kinda tart but the acidity might have been from the underlying beer. I'm not sure if you could just pour it through an activated carbon filter (like a Brita) one or more times, or if it needs to be forced through a larger filter to get it that clear.

If you land on something that tickles your fancy just brew a batch of similar light lager, filter, flavor and either force carb in a keg or bottle carbonate with a little priming sugar and yeast.

AFAIK, it wasn't exactly made from beer since there were no hops involved.

Given that Coors uses corn as an adjunct I'd be willing to bet that the ferment looked closer to a bourbon wash than a lager beer.