new newbie

[murphys law]

Hi guys
Im a newbie here. been interested in GB for a while even made a few batches of the "old feed the plant fo a week style"
a number of years ago now but lost the recipe.
Since stumbling across this site, my desire to brew has returned.
I have seen many recipes on here but they all seem to have this added and that added due to the brewers tastes.

What Im after is the most basic of basic recipes that I can start off with and then adjust for my tastes.
I could also use some info on the basics of brewing .

I have some brewing equipment such as a 20l(i think) brewing barrel, airlock, filling spout etc, from a kit i was given ages ago


Thanks in advance, any help will be much appreciated

Justin

P.S. dont wanna do the whole feed the plant thing again

[drsmurto]

Fill in your location details so we know where you are and can help point you to brewing shop that can help out.

The GB i make is simple enough.

1kg fresh ginger, chopped in a food processor.
2kg raw sugar.
i then add a lemon or 2 (just chopped up), cloves and cinnamon sticks and boil all this up in a big pot with a few litres of water for an hour and then strain into the fermenter and top up with cold water. I pitch a champagne yeast (available from most homebrew shops) once the temperature is down to 20C and let it go for 2-3 weeks and then bottle using 180g of dextrose per 23L of GB to prime the bottles.

Its very simple, doesnt require looking after a GB plant and produces very gingery very dry alcoholic GB at approx 4-5% depending on volume.

If you want to make the alcohol free version leave out the 2kg of raw sugar. The 180g of dextrose will carbonate your GB and give you approx 0.2 % alcohol.

Hope that helps
Cheers
DrSmurto

[murphys law]

Thanks thats just what i was after, just a few questions

1. "some cloves and cinnamon sticks" How many
2. (probably a total newbie question)"Pitch yeast" please explain

Thanks again for the help

Justin

[drsmurto]

dont have my notes on me but am sure the recipe is on this site somewhere.

8-10 cloves and 1-2 cinnamon sticks. i did use 2 lemons and just chopped them up but some ppl preach only the rind and the juice to avoid the pith but it seemed to work fine for me.

Pitch yeast just means sprinkle the yeast on top of the liquid in your fermenter.

Cheers
DrSmurto

[murphys law]

Thanks I will get started on it as soon as I can

[murphys law]

Would I be right in thinking that if I put in less than the 2kg of raw sugar the alcohol levels will be lower

[drsmurto]

Yes. For a rough guestimate of alcohol levels use this calculator - Link

[Boonie]

dont have my notes on me but am sure the recipe is on this site somewhere.

Cheers
DrSmurto

'Tis here Doc's Award Winning Recipes

Cheers

Boonie

[drsmurto]

AH, good times. Actually took out a few more prizes with a bunch of kit beers recently. Another best in show with an 18 month old aussie lager. I believe i had 1st and 2nd in the GB category, the one with added LDME and steeped caramalt pipped the raw sugar variety by 1 point.

Couldnt help myself - sash is the recent best in show win, trophy is last years best in show. Also have a 1999 runner up in the Coopers Club comp trophy sitting around. Got a tour of the old leabrook brewery for that result.

[murphys law]

Well i finally got around to starting this on monday just gone except i used an ordinary brigalow brewers yeast (hope it doesnt matter to much) so will see how it goes.

How long should i leave it in the bottle before drinking?

Thanks Justin

[drsmurto]

As long as it needs to carb up.

The longer you leave it the more the ginger flavour/aroma dissipates.

Cheers
DrSmurto

[murphys law]

Thanks drsmurto
Im guessing more than a few day though
I was hoping to have some on new years (my brew should be ready to bottle around the 29th)
But hey i might crack one anyway and see

Just another quick question
I dont have a 2nd fermenter so can i bulk prime in the one my brew is in or do i have to prime bottles individually?

Thanks again
Justin

[drsmurto]

You could but you risk stirring up the yeast cake.

Prob easier to just bottle prime individually.

I used to taste beers after 10 days in the bottle. Now i keg i dont have that issue as i can drink my beer 15 mins after it goes into the keg

[murphys law]

Will any container large enough to hold it all at once do for bulk priming?
I just found an old 25l warter container with a tap that i had lying around.
If not does a teaspoon per 750ml sound about right?

Thanks again for all your help
Justin

[drsmurto]

I bulk primed my case swap batch in a 25L cube that i generally use for lagering/ccing.

I did have a priming bucket which looked like a big mayonnaise bucket with a tap at the bottom, no lid.

The other way is to dissolve the sugar/dex up in a known volume of water and add and equal volume to each bottle via a syringe so that you are adding x grams of sugar per bottle.