Ginger Beer

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Thursday Dec 14, 2006 12:07 pm

Had a tin of Brigalows GB and a tin of Tooheys Draught no one wanted so have chucked the whole lot in the spare fermentor with 1kg dex and 1 kg raw sugar and all the yeast and feeder topped to 22 lts

Boy.. is it goin to town

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Thursday Dec 14, 2006 12:16 pm

Rocket fuel anyone?

reckon that will be a potent brew Longrasser and not surprised it went nuts.

Did you taste it before pitching the yeast?

Cheers
DrSmurto

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Thursday Dec 14, 2006 2:29 pm

Wasnt game ter taste it hopefully it turns out malty GB with a bit of OOOMMPPH !!

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Sunday Dec 17, 2006 1:30 pm

Man O man day 5 and its still bubblin like crazy...

corks · Post by **corks** » Monday Dec 18, 2006 8:32 am

and it'll keep going for a while yet.
hmm might try that myself, just for kicks.

geoffclifton · Post by **geoffclifton** » Tuesday Dec 19, 2006 10:00 am

I have a batch of Tooheys draught that was one of my 'newbies'. Got too warm (before fridgemate) and hardly carbed up. I also have the Coopers (artificial) ginger beer which, after a month on a 400g raw sugar prime, hasn't exploded but is very active. So we mixed 'em 1 longie of beer to one stubbie of GB and it's a bloody good drop. Me mate went home with a wobbly boot

.

Cheers, Geoff.

WSC · Post by **WSC** » Tuesday Dec 19, 2006 12:15 pm

Has anyone else done a beer kit like a blonde or mexican with a ginger beer kit and no other fermentables?

I am keen to do this to try and mask the artificial sweetner taste from the ginger kits I can get.

I want it to be nice and dry with a big ginger bite.

Any suggestions?

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Dec 19, 2006 12:55 pm

Wouldnt it be a lot easier to make a beer and add ginger to the boil rather than pay money for a kit that is nothing more than ginger extract and artificial sweetener???

I dont really understand why people pay money for the GB kits - you get nothing for your hard earned cash. At least with beer kits you are getting malt and hops.

The simplest way to avoid the artificial sweetener taste is to not use it in the first place..... not exactly rocket science

BenH · Post by **BenH** » Tuesday Dec 19, 2006 10:01 pm

...or you could do what i did and be opportunistic and find the brig kits on clearance at bi-lo for $3.99 each

WSC · Post by **WSC** » Tuesday Dec 19, 2006 10:15 pm

The simplest way to avoid the artificial sweetener taste is to not use it in the first place..... not exactly rocket science

As I'm clearly not a rocket scientist or even a regular aeroplane one what recipe would you suggest to ginger up a regular kit beer so it tasted like ginger beer.

I'm not convinced the ginger beer from scratch thing is my cup of tea.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Wednesday Dec 20, 2006 8:18 am

WSC

Ginger flavoured beer rather than ginger beer. My guess (and its a guess since i have never thought to cross a normal GB with a normal beer....) is to boil up some finely chopped ginger with the hops and the kit plus whatever additional sugar you add. May also be nice to add some lemon rind/juice. Take a look at this thread for GB recipes and add however much of the spices etc added to your normal beer.

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... .php?t=332

Cheers
DrSmurto

p.s. sorry for the rocket science comment - i get fired up over the use of artificial sweeteners...... you may have noticed.....

geoffclifton · Post by **geoffclifton** » Wednesday Dec 20, 2006 9:26 am

Below is my recipe coddled together from many after a search for something other than a GB plant and NO KIT.

A couple of things I learned and changed were to boil the sugars until well dissolved before adding other ingredients as I had a lot of crystals. The tartaric acid is questionable. I did it in a carboy which will not bubble tho the SG's say it did ferment. I'm also not confident about the carb yet but have just put 2 in the fridge for a 1 week taster. I was surprised when bottling that there was bugger all residual sweetness. I was going to prime on only 100g because of the amount of undissolved sugar when I put it down but went to 200g. Here's hoping.

Cheers, Geoff.

Geoff's Ginger Beer

Wash 1Kg fresh ginger and shred in food processor
Boil in 3 litres water-
1Kg raw sugar, 500g brown sugar, 200g ldme
When sugars are thoroughly dissolved add-
Fresh ginger
Zest of 2 lemons
12 small cloves
10c stick of cinnamon
8 heaped teaspoons ground ginger
6 teaspoons tartaric acid (?)
Into fermenter with 17 liters cold water.
Pitched 7g Coopers ale yeast
Fermented for 12 days
Filtered through mesh & stocking to racking container
Bulk prime with 200g raw sugar boiled in 500mL
OG 1034 FG 1002 54 stubbies
Could be looking at 5.3% here. Lookout!

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Wednesday Dec 20, 2006 9:58 am

It has to be said that if you do make a ginger flavoured beer or a true GB then if you avoid the artificial sweeteners you need to add some lactose to get some sweetness (bundy GB is slightly sweet).

geoffclifton · Post by **geoffclifton** » Thursday Dec 21, 2006 8:40 am

Geoff's Ginger Beer - update

The one week taster. Very little carb, semi sweet, lots of ginger and thin, lacking body.

Need to get the body and carb up. I'm thinking a can of pale malt but tell me about lactose. I've not seen it.

Is it a stupid idea to pour the stubbies back into a fermenter with a can of malt and a fresh yeast?

I was over confident with this one. Must reduce the volume of testers

Cheers, Geoff.

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Thursday Dec 21, 2006 10:05 am

If you're going to pour it back into the fermenter, why don't you just make another one!?

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Thursday Dec 21, 2006 10:33 am

Geoff

Ginger beer IS thin and very gingery....

So you need to decide if you are either trying to make an alcoholic version of bundy GB or a ginger flavoured beer.

Lactose (also know as milk sugar when making stouts) is a non-fermentable sugar. Can get it from your local HBS. It is harder to dissolve than dextrose so you need to boil it up for a good 30 mins to an hour to make sure it stay dissolved. 250g in your brew would be fine. Boil it with the ginger. If you want dry GB you may want to look at a wine/champagne yeast.

Accidentally saw one of my xmas pressies on the weekend - a new 30 L fermenter! Will be perfecting my GB in the new year. Top summer drink and the ladies love it!

Cheers
DrSmurto

p.s. prob best to just drink this lot and start again.....

Longrasser · Post by **Longrasser** » Friday Dec 29, 2006 11:14 am

Well just over 2 weeks in the primary racked to secondary, man watta lotta gunk and trub!
Pretty clear will rack for a coupla weeks started to bloop again this morning taste sorta ginger beer sweet with ale sorta finish dunno its a bit sweet yet nice reddy amber colour tho

Cortez The Killer · Sunday Dec 31, 2006 3:35 pm

Here is my crack at a ginger beer

1 can Coopers Ginger Beer
1kg Raw Sugar
200g Light Dry Malt Extract
100g Carapils
300g Honey
1 Lemon + Zest
20g Ground Ginger Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
4 Cloves
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
Re-cultured Yeast - SafAle S-04
Yeast Nutrient - Can Yeast

Notes here - http://www.hyperfox.info/beer01.htm#19

I don't mind it- but there is something in it that's just not right - i can't put my finger on it - could be the artificial sweetner - there is plenty of ginger though

I'm gonna look at doing it with out the can next time

Where do you buy lactose from? - Is it the same as malted milk?

Cheers

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Monday Jan 01, 2007 1:20 pm

I just got my lactose from the HBS. Definitely not the same as malted milk.

drsmurto · Post by **drsmurto** » Tuesday Jan 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Lactose is also called milk sugar - its not malted milk but simply a non-fermentable sugar. Any HBS will stock it.

My GB went down a treat over xmas/new years, so much so that i am putting on 2 batches this evening. We drank it 2 parts GB, 1 part lemonade as it needed some sweetness so tonight i will be doing the it again with slightly less sugar (it was 7%) and lactose. Tasted great, no probs with carbonation, altho i have never had a problem with carbonation....

Cheers
DrSmurto