coopers gingerbeer sugar help

[jazsam]

ok I have a can of coopers gb laying about ,Ive read a few post saying how crap it is
but I've decided to give to give it a crack anyway.
I know what ingredients I want to use but my main problem is with sugar.
I have a 1kg of raw sugar laying around and 1 kg of dextrose.
Ive read on other posts where fellow brewers used 2 kg sugar with the kit
Can I substitute my raw sugar and dextrose with the coopers kit?
I've never used raw sugar or dextrose before so I'm unsure of there strength/ratio.
also do Istill need to prime the peta bottles with the usual 2 carb drops?
any thoughts/changes appreciated

my recipe

23 litre brew
Coopers GB can
1kg raw sugar
1kg dextrose
juice and rind of 4-6 lemons
500g of fresh grated ginger
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean
3 cloves

[Bum]

I've recently put down a similar brew. One main difference though is that I've used a kilo of raw sugar and a kilo of dark brown sugar. The ferment is basically irrevocably stuck at 1024. No amount of swirling and heat applied will get it restarted. I'm thinking such a large amount of dark brown sugar is the culprit but you may want to back off on your fermentables just in case. It'd be the dex I'd back off on, leave in the full amount of raw sugar.

Prime as usual but remember that GBs generally take longer to carb than beer.

[jazsam]

thanks mate, I wasn't to sure with the dextrose.
I might reduce it 500g .

[jazsam]

ok just an update and a question.
I've put the gb down and it's been bubbling away nicely.
my question is
it has now been 13 days since I started fermintation and it's still bubbling( my temp 21-22), do I leave it until it stops
or should I look at bottling soon.
and is it worth taking a reading while it's still bubbling?
and can you ferment for too long?

[Bizier]

Take a reading if you want, but if she is bubbling, I'd be leaving it. I honestly have not had anything but better beers when I have left them for 2-3 (sometimes 4) weeks. The yeast autolysis boogieman is not going to get you in this kind of timeframe AFAIK.

[jazsam]

i thought as much, thanks for the advice

[Bizier]

And besides, I would much prefer a beer with off flavours from autolysed yeast to a hand grenade that will send you to hospital for microsurgery.

[Bum]

And besides, I would much prefer a beer with off flavours from autolysed yeast to a hand grenade that will send you to hospital for microsurgery.

Or worse - smash the rest of the bottles in the crate!!!

Only bottle when you've got steady hydrometer readings for 3 consecutive reads (and even then make sure it is low enough rather than just stuck).

For what it is worth my GB picked up again and ended up getting down to 1010 (OG 1055!). Gonna be crazy stuff, I think.

[jazsam]

thanks guys I might take a reading just so I can compare for later on.
My hydrometer broke before I put the gb down and I didn't get one in time to take the first reading

[Bum]

The first reading is not essential. You can just use that to work out alc level. The FG readings are pretty important though. You should replace the broken hydrometer asap. Unless you wanna know why people call them "bottle bombs". You can get little ones from Brigalows at most kmart/big W shops but I'd go to the local LHBS for a bigger one. Never heard anything good about the brigalow ones.

[EDIT: reading between the lines you might have already bought one? Disregard if so.]

[Anna]

I made up a brew of GB similar to Jazzsam on the weekend. Ingredients were:

Can Coopers GB
2 kgs raw sugar
100 gms brown sugar
1.5 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
Juice from 5 lemons
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
8 shakes Allspice

Question: I didn't know whether to crush the cinnamon stick or just leave it? In the end I just broke it up a bit. I boiled everything except the canned extract for 20 mins and then strained it into the fermenter and added the extract and the yeast, at 22 degrees C. Also, should I have strained it, as most of the recipes on this forum don't mention straining, but I was worried that the bits of lemon pulp, cloves, etc. would gum up the tap and bottler? OG is 1.054.

[Bum]

I think you would have been right to leave them in but it won't hurt at all having strained them. Personally, I'm not sure you're going to get much extra bite out of such a small piece of ginger and such a short boil - not to worry the Coopers kit is fairly gingery when made up to 19l or whatever the tin suggests. Might be a bit light on if you went up to 23l. That's all personal taste, of course. Should be nice enough either way.

[jazsam]

alright i think my brew is ready to bottle, it's stopped bubbling.
I've taken two readings and they have both shown 1000, this seems a little to low to me?

Also I have had a little sample of the gb and I can taste the ginger but it's not as strong as I thought it would be.
and it's not as sweet as I thought it was going to be will it get over time like beer?
Is there anything I can do to give it a bit more bite and maybe a little sweeter before bottling?

Question: I didn't know whether to crush the cinnamon stick or just leave it? In the end I just broke it up a bit. I boiled everything except the canned extract for 20 mins and then strained it into the fermenter and added the extract and the yeast, at 22 degrees C. Also, should I have strained it, as most of the recipes on this forum don't mention straining, but I was worried that the bits of lemon pulp, cloves, etc. would gum up the tap and bottler? OG is 1.054.

I chucked everything in except the can(could I've chucked the can in?) in a pot including the used lemons and boiled for about 30min, then chucked it all in minus the lemons.
when I took my reading nothing was blocking the valve so I think you should be safe.

[Bum]

They do get better with time but I doubt it'll get more bite with time. In my (admittedly limited experience) they bite harder earlier.But they do get better with time. Perhaps a very small dash of Buderims Ginger Refresher or similar on serving will help?

The gravity does seem pretty low but I'm not aware of any way that can hurt (aside from making it drier, which some people are after). If you bulk prime, maybe consider adding some lactose before bottling? Perhaps the Buderims will add some sweetness if you go down that road?

[Anna]

Thanks guys! I must say it smells wonderful at the moment. My last brew of GB was just with the Coopers can and raw sugar and it was pretty good, but it did leave a bit of an after taste, like diet soft drinks. Sweet enough though. My big disappointment has been with my HBS Apple Cider (Country Brewery) - very weak and watery and nowhere near sweet enough for my taste. It's been maturing now for about 6 weeks and still no good. Wonder if that will improve with more time? Anna.

[Bum]

Ciders and GBs both need longer in the bottle than beer to smooth out. Moreso ciders. Just sit on them and they'll come good. As far as I can tell, those more experienced in cider making suggest than the 6 month mark is when they start hitting their straps. Not that any of my batches will make it that far.

[Anna]

That's good news Bum! Mine will definitely make 6 months, because it's just not worth drinking at the moment. BH won't touch it! If it does improve it should be just right for summer BBQs. Next time though, I'm going to follow the example set by some on this forum and use half apple juice instead of all water. Anna

[Anna]

I made up a brew of GB similar to Jazzsam on the weekend. Ingredients were:

Can Coopers GB
2 kgs raw sugar
100 gms brown sugar
1.5 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
Juice from 5 lemons
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
8 shakes Allspice

Just thought I'd post an update on my GB brew above - tasted after 3 weeks in the bottle. Yum! Not as spicey as I would have hoped, but boy does it pack a punch! I only had a stubbie last night and I couldn't talk (or walk) straight. BH accused me of hitting the spirits - wouldn't believe it was only ginger beer! Should last me a while at that strength. Next brew I think I would double the spices and maybe add some lactose as well for extra sweetness. Definitely enough ginger though - wouldn't want it any hotter.

Anna

[brewbeast]

mmm i might make something like this soon

i wonder how it'd go with a wheat yeast? some banana and clove might mix quite well...anyone had any experience with this?

[Shine]

I've poured out three batches of gb and its kind of annoying. In each of the batches, I got this really scuzzy looking bubbly scum across the top of the wort and it stopped fermenting; last reading 1.020. During the first batch, the scuzzy crap foamed out of the air lock and made the top of my nice clean fermenter look like a baby's nappy after three weeks of mashed carrots and green beans. I'm not quite sure what to do about this. Thoughts?

Last recipe:
Coopers can and yeast
1 kg raw sugar
100 g dark brown sugar

Are there any other decent kits out there. When I took my OG, I tasted it and you can taste the artificial sweetener. I don't need sugar free. I'm not on a diet! I want punch baby!