Alcoholic ginger beer - recipe suggestions for first batch

engrish? · 23-08-2012 8:54am

BeerNut wrote: »

I'd give it another day or two and then check the gravity if i still looks like nothing's happening.

Hey,

So I checked it again this morning, nothing has changed. Og is the same and there is no visible fermentation.

I was playing it over in my head - the only thing I can think of is that I could have incorrectly washed the jug I mixed the yeast in. I had washed it with a spray bleach mix and water and rinsed it thoroughly - but maybe I didn't wash it enough? I smelt it before I used it and it had no aroma of bleach.

I gave it a stir this morning to get the sediment up from the bottom, just to see if that did anything. What do you think I should do? Should I pitch another sachet of yeast?

BeerNut · 23-08-2012 9:47am

If nothing's happening still that's probably what I'd do.

engrish? · 24-08-2012 10:14am

BeerNut wrote: »

If nothing's happening still that's probably what I'd do.

I put in another pack of champagne (wine) yeast last night and there was still nothing by this morning. I tried to bring the temperature up a bit before I left to see if that makes a difference.

Is this a dead brew? Its such a pity because it smells amazing

BeerNut · 24-08-2012 10:16am

What's your OG?

engrish? · 24-08-2012 10:29am

BeerNut wrote: »

What's your OG?

Cant recall - will have to check it when I get home tonight. It looks the exact same as when I put it in though, no head, no marks on the side etc. Do you think it could be happening anyway?

BeerNut · 24-08-2012 10:47am

Yes. The only way you know for sure if fermentation is happening or not is whether the gravity changes. Are you saying you don't have a gravity reading from day 1?

engrish? · 24-08-2012 10:51am

BeerNut wrote: »

Yes. The only way you know for sure if fermentation is happening or not is whether the gravity changes. Are you saying you don't have a gravity reading from day 1?

I didnt take one on day 1, completely slipped my mind. I'll come clean and say I havent taken one at all. The fv I'm using doesnt have a tap and my brewferm christmas brew was spilling out of the airlock so I had to turn my siphon into an airlock to allow the overflow come down into a pot.

engrish? · 26-08-2012 8:35pm

Bottled the Christmas brew earlier so I was able to use the siphon to take a gravity reading - I think you were right, it seems to be fermenting slowly. Its currently at 1.015. Would adding the extra yeast have damaged it? It smells amazing.

BeerNut · 27-08-2012 9:31am

engrish? wrote: »

Would adding the extra yeast have damaged it?

Doubt it. Let it run for a while and take a gravity reading every three or four days.

Tube · 28-08-2012 1:17am

I think it's unnecessary to get carried away when rehydrating dried yeast. Fermentis recommends the following

Sprinkle the dry yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or wort at 27C ± 3C (80F ± 6F). Once the expected weight of dry yeast is reconstituted into cream by this method (this takes about 15 to 30 minutes), maintain a gentle stirring for another 30 minutes. Then pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.

OR this

Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20C (68F). Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration.

However, in reality commercial brewers will rehydrate in a saucepan of warm (previously boiled) water for maybe 10 minutes before pitching.

engrish? · 30-08-2012 9:41am

Update - fermentation seems to have stopped. I think I added too many lemons as the strongest taste is lemon! Its fairly bitter. I was thinking of throwing 20g of cascade in there, then bottling on Sunday.

Is there anything I can do to lessen the lemon taste or should I just go with it and see how it tastes in a few weeks after conditioning?

engrish? · 20-09-2012 7:03pm

engrish? wrote: »

Update - fermentation seems to have stopped. I think I added too many lemons as the strongest taste is lemon! Its fairly bitter. I was thinking of throwing 20g of cascade in there, then bottling on Sunday.

Is there anything I can do to lessen the lemon taste or should I just go with it and see how it tastes in a few weeks after conditioning?

So I tried it tonight - yay it was fizzy! But nayyyy it was basically just lemon juice with a hint of ginger. Going to try again this weekend.

Can I ask, how long do you boil the ginger for?

engrish? · 02-10-2012 10:33am

engrish? wrote: »

So I tried it tonight - yay it was fizzy! But nayyyy it was basically just lemon juice with a hint of ginger. Going to try again this weekend.

Can I ask, how long do you boil the ginger for?

Some good news (I am really keeping this thread going.....) I tried it at the weekend and it is down to 1.016 and it tastes lovely.

I'm thinking of throwing in 20gm of cascade this weekend and leaving it in the PF for the next two weeks before bottling. Has anyone hopped this with good results?

sharingan · 03-10-2012 7:18am

engrish? wrote: »

Some good news (I am really keeping this thread going.....) I tried it at the weekend and it is down to 1.016 and it tastes lovely.

I'm thinking of throwing in 20gm of cascade this weekend and leaving it in the PF for the next two weeks before bottling. Has anyone hopped this with good results?

Get your gravity closer to target before you go dry hopping, or fermentation gas will carry away the aroma.

But yeah, I have hopped ginger beer with cascade (during the boil though) and it worked out really well.

engrish? · 03-10-2012 9:53am

sharingan wrote: »

Get your gravity closer to target before you go dry hopping, or fermentation gas will carry away the aroma.

But yeah, I have hopped ginger beer with cascade (during the boil though) and it worked out really well.

Yup - I'm waiting until this weekend to do it. The fermentation has slowed right down now, havent taken a reading since the weekend but I'd say its right down. Will dry hop at 1.010.

engrish? · 05-10-2012 8:42pm

engrish? wrote: »

Yup - I'm waiting until this weekend to do it. The fermentation has slowed right down now, havent taken a reading since the weekend but I'd say its right down. Will dry hop at 1.010.

Sorry to keep annoying people with this thread but I just took a gravity reading and its .996 - I didnt know you could go less than 0! Fermentation has slowed right down now.

What have I created?

engrish? · 09-10-2012 3:59pm

engrish? wrote: »

Sorry to keep annoying people with this thread but I just took a gravity reading and its .996 - I didnt know you could go less than 0! Fermentation has slowed right down now.

What have I created?

This is turning into a blog - but I am stubborn so I am going to keep going. :pac:

Added 25gm Cascade hops on Saturday - the brew has turned from yellow to greenish. I'm hoping this is a green stage before finishing as a nice brown color. Either that or I have made a new St Patrick's Day Beer.

I read up on the low gravity reading, apparently this is common for wines.... With my OG of 1.034 and my FG of 0.996 I have an alcohol content of 4.99%.

Khannie · 09-10-2012 4:45pm

engrish? wrote: »

I read up on the low gravity reading, apparently this is common for wines....

Missed your previous post or I would have given you a heads up on that.

engrish? · 09-10-2012 4:48pm

Khannie wrote: »

Missed your previous post or I would have given you a heads up on that.

Oh my god - a person!

Cheers for that - I'm hoping it turns out well!

Khannie · 09-10-2012 7:00pm

Ah yeah, I felt a bit like that with my cider posting. People are out there.....

stuchyg · 09-10-2012 8:49pm

Right I bottled mine a week ago last saturday and added a teaspoon of ground ginger to each bottle. tasted it after a week and still very citrusy, will just leave it till xmas to mature I think

Ravelleman · 26-02-2013 3:16pm

I thought I'd revive this thread and share my results.

The batch I made using Degsy's recipe gave mixed results.

The day after pitching the yeast, the smell was absolutely delicious. It filled the whole house with a wonderful, sweet aroma. At this point fermentation was quite vigorous.

Once the initial fermentation finished, I left the brew to settle for a couple of days but it quickly began to develop an unpleasant 'farty' smell - excuse the term. I siphoned the brew into a secondary container and left it for a couple of weeks and the smell dissipated somewhat.

I went on to bottle it using dextrose as a primer and left it for a couple of months. The finished brew wasn't bad but there is a lot of room for improvement. I fear that some of the foulness remains.

This leads me to a number of questions:

The ginger beer was incredibly sour. Is it worthwhile using lactose to sweeten it? If so, how much should I add to the wort?
Will I have more delicious results if I use spray malt? Maybe a mixture of glucose and malt would be best.
Could the odour have been created by bad sanitising or could it have been caused by the vast amounts of ginger pulp and half lemons that were floating around during fermentation? Perhaps I should have removed them earlier.
Should I try bagging the ginger pulp instead of pouring it in directly?

I'm going to try this again as it's nice and cheap, as well as being quite wholesome as an activity.

Also, cream of tartar seems like an important ingredient.

sharingan · 27-02-2013 12:10pm

Ravelleman wrote: »

[*]The ginger beer was incredibly sour. Is it worthwhile using lactose to sweeten it? If so, how much should I add to the wort?

Ginger can be really tricky. I am not sure if the sourness is intrinsic, or if ginger is a product that comes with a lot of bacteria that need careful boiling.

A classic ginger beer, made from a ginger culture, will typically include a lot of lacto-bacillis.

I panicked a bit when a ginger pale ale I was making was almost undrinkably sour at sampling time. However after another 2 weeks in the fermenter, that sourness has disappeared, suggesting that it is a volatile thing. You can try to sweeten it with splenda or the like.

Ravelleman wrote: »

[*]Will I have more delicious results if I use spray malt? Maybe a mixture of glucose and malt would be best.

Yes. Spraymalt all the way. It tastes like a beer, and you can consider the ginger to be a flavour addition in the same way that you introduce hops. I use a lot of ginger in my home brews, but I never use simple sugars any more - always malt, honey, or pure fruits.

Ravelleman wrote: »

[*]Could the odour have been created by bad sanitising or could it have been caused by the vast amounts of ginger pulp and half lemons that were floating around during fermentation? Perhaps I should have removed them earlier.

It is possible, but I like to leave the ginger in the fermenter too. See the comment above about sanitising. The ginger will need to be heated to sanitising temperatures for sure.

Ravelleman wrote: »

[*]Should I try bagging the ginger pulp instead of pouring it in directly?

I bag it in muslin. Makes clearing the beer a lot easier.

Ravelleman wrote: »

I'm going to try this again as it's nice and cheap, as well as being quite wholesome as an activity.

Also, cream of tartar seems like an important ingredient.

Well it is cheap as long as you use plain sugar. Once you start using malt & honey, it stops being as cheap. But the results are a lot better.

Ravelleman · 27-02-2013 5:41pm

Would you have a recipe using spray malt to share? Say for about 20 litres. I'm hoping to make something relatively middle of the road - with a good ginger taste but an underlying sweetness and freshness.

Also, will I need to use a different yeast if using spray malt?

sharingan · 28-02-2013 9:33am

Ravelleman wrote: »

Would you have a recipe using spray malt to share? Say for about 20 litres. I'm hoping to make something relatively middle of the road - with a good ginger taste but an underlying sweetness and freshness.

Also, will I need to use a different yeast if using spray malt?

Well if you want to make a straight ginger beer with spray malt, replace all your sugar with about x 1.25 times its weight with spray malt. You can go over if you like too.

I experiment a bit now with hops in the boil and some spice additions too, but I am terrible at not storing my recipes properly.

As for yeast, experiment with good ones.

Lovely Bloke · 17-04-2013 2:03pm

I'm going to do a Ginger Beer this weekend.

Looking at 2.5-3kg Ginger, chopped and boiled in a muslin bag in 3litres of water, mixed with about 2-3kg of "sugars" (some glucose and some DME), with about 6 limes also. Topped up to about 18-20 litres, and use cider yeast.

What is the cream or tartar for, and when should it be added?

I'm going to have to probably sweeten it with Splenda, or an equivalent

sharingan · 18-04-2013 1:03am

save yourself some money and use only about 500g - 1kg of ginger.

The shorter the fermentation, the less ginger you need.

Lovely Bloke · 21-04-2013 1:28pm

So, in the end we went for 2.1kg of ginger, 6 limes juiced, a kilo each of glucose and DME

Boiled the chopped ginger in a muslin bag and boiled for 15 minutes in 9 litres of water. Removed the ginger and added the fermentables, put the lime juice into the fermentation vessel, dumped the ginger mix on top, and topped up to 18 litres, then put the ginger back in. Pack of cider yeast.

OG is in the 1040s, happy enough with that - it tastes like Ginger Nut biscuits at the moment. Fermenting away nicely.

Lovely Bloke · 11-05-2013 7:52am

I was taking an IPA and an extract Brown Ale we made the same day as our Ginger Beer out for Dry Hopping last night, and I had a little taste of the Ginger.

It's really good, even from the fermenter - if not a little "limey" - next time I'll reduce the lime content. However, with a little bit of sweetener at bottling time, and the fizz from carbonation, I can see myself drinking a large amount of this at BBQs next summer.

I'd also left the muslin bag of ginger in it, until last night.

It starts off fresh and light from the limes, and finishes off nice and zingy with the ginger - it's not "in your face" like that Jamaica stuff you get in cans - more like a gentle ginger like Crabbies or Ginger Beard.

Happy with it, and I think it may even go to a competition.

Viper_JB · 13-05-2013 12:04pm

Hi All, about to start a coopers ginger beer kit (as soon as I rack and bottle to current batch of cider) and was considering adding something extra to make it a bit more spicy, I was thinking about 500 g's of pulped ginger root added in a muslin bag, would this be excessive/should I consider adding in anything else?

Lovely Bloke · 13-05-2013 12:16pm

I don't think that would be too much - make sure to boil it in the muslin bag for about 5-10 mins before adding it to the wort though.

Add the water from the boil too.

So, boil it in about 3 or 4 litres of water, meaning you leave about 3 or four litres out of the kit mix.

I wouldn't say there's much need to pulp it though, just chop it up into smallish pieces.

I left the ginger in my ale for about 3 weeks in the muslin.

Viper_JB · 13-05-2013 1:19pm

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

I don't think that would be too much - make sure to boil it in the muslin bag for about 5-10 mins before adding it to the wort though.

Add the water from the boil too.

So, boil it in about 3 or 4 litres of water, meaning you leave about 3 or four litres out of the kit mix.

I wouldn't say there's much need to pulp it though, just chop it up into smallish pieces.

I left the ginger in my ale for about 3 weeks in the muslin.

Cool will give that a bash, I might try mincing it for a bit in the food processor then boiling it for a bit...hmmm can't wait, this patience thing is hard

sharingan · 14-05-2013 12:11pm

Food processor is the way to go alright, and I have left the ginger in the fermenter for a while before.

500g is a fine amount, but many of the interesting ginger compounds are quite volatile, and the yeast will blow it out the airlock.

If you dont mind the beer being cloudy, you could batch prime with ginger juice.

ken bigley · 15-05-2013 6:45am

Degsy wrote: »

Easy Peasy.

The recipie i would use is as follows:

2kg of fresh ginger root

2kilos of sugar or malt extract

10 lemons

Champagne yeast

Chop and boil the ginger in 2 litres of water.

Dissolve the sugar in your fermentor in boiling water

Add your lemons

Add the ginger and boiling water

Top up to 20 litres untill the mixture is "blood temperature"

Pitch your yeast

Cover.

Leave it two weeks to ferment then strain it into a secondary vessel(preferably with a tap)...prime the mixture with sugar,leave it to settle a few days then decant it into bottles.

Simples!

What is the final approx abv please ?

Lovely Bloke · 15-05-2013 7:21am

2 kilos of fermentables in 20 litres of water will give somewhere around the 4.5% mark. Maybe less, maybe more.

Alcoholic ginger beer - recipe suggestions for first batch

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