1st time brewer; alcoholic GB

[DrZ0b]

Hi, I've never brewed beer before (or anything else for that matter).

I want to brew an alcoholic ginger beer that is sweet and tangy, not as sweet as Stones alcoholic ginger beer, but not a dull-lager tasting ginger beer like Bluetounge.

I thought about buying the Coopers Home Brew Kit because the fermenter got a good review and it's easily available. As I'm a complete beginner I was going to buy the Coopers Ginger beer concentrate and then boil up fresh and aged ginger, a couple of whole lemons, some cloves, cinnamon and some honey.

Is this a good idea?
Will I stuff everything up if I add too much honey?
Should I forget about the Coopers GB can and try to make my own recipe or is it more prudent to just use the kit to begin with?

[Bum]

Hey,

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you - except one GB further advanced. I was really underwhelmed by the Cooper's GB tin - really nasty chemical aftertaste. I'm currently making a GB from scratch (see here: http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewto ... =12&t=9024) and it basically seems about as difficult as all the extra stuff you were planning on doing to the kit.

I have the Coopers fermenter and have no complaints.

Good luck with it!

[DrZ0b]

Thanks Bum, I read your post, and actually your problems made me feel that I need to make the kit version rather than my own recipe in case I make a mistake. I was hoping that by adding more flavours to the Coopers Can I would get something ok but now I think I'll follow your brewing adventures and hope to learn from you success/mistakes.

[Bum]

That doesn't sound like any fun at all - get brewing!

I was thinking about doing a kit & bits version too but reading around here seems to suggest that there is nothing you can do to get rid of that nasty taste the kits tend to give. Maybe you can do the kit and let me know how that goes! This one doesn't seem to be going too badly, it just looks worse because I've still got a lot to learn - plus I'm a real stresshead.

[drsmurto]

The coopers kit contains artifical sweeteners.

If you want a nice sweet GB you will need the kit or a metric shedload of lactose.

If you are happy with a dry GB then following Bums current recipe is a good start.

[DrZ0b]

So let's assume I want a sweet ginger beer without artificial sweeteners, is a huge amount of lactose a possibility?

Also if I add honey to the coopers can will I be in danger of exploding bottles, if so how much is safe to add?

[Bum]

My understanding is that the PET bottles that come with the Cooper's fermenter are bottlebomb-proof.

[drsmurto]

Honey doesnt cause bombs, not sure where you got that urban myth from.

Honey is 100% fermentable, it will make your GB drier than if you use malt. If you want to taste the honey in your final product you need to use it as >30% of your total fermentables. Honey beers are over-rated IMO. Beez kneez is shite.

Bottle bombs arent caused by ingredients - they are caused by bottling before the fermentation has completed or occasionally, an infection. Over priming is another problem.

No bottle is 'bomb' proof. I've seen a coopers PET bottle in pieces.

Lactose isnt fermentable but isnt all that sweet. You will need >500g of it in a 20L batch to notice a difference. mare sure you warn any lactose intolerant mates and they prob wont be expecting a beer to be laced with lactose.

So if you want sweet GB then i would use all malt (3kg of LDME in a 20L batch), 500g lactose, the ginger and spices you mentioned and a good yeast such as Nottingham or S-04.

Forget the kit, its reconstituted ginger snot.

(Apologies gregb, cant be arsed being subtle today)

[DrZ0b]

What do people think of the Brewcraft Ginger Beer kit?

Edit1: Also the only reason I thought adding honey would make it explode is because I know virtually nothing about brewing and somehow got the impression that if I added too much sugar then that would cause explosions.

However I think I get the gist, don't worry about the kit. Make a recipe and use lots of lactose if you want sweetness.

Edit2: So I think my recipe will look something like this:

1.5-2 kg ginger
3kg LDME
500g Lactose
2 cinnamon sticks
6-10 cloves
4 whole lemons
Safale S-04

[DrZ0b]

Ok after much searching in this forum I'm far more informed and kinda confused.

The suggestion of using LDME for a sweet, alcoholic ginger beer seems good however will this result in a heavy, malty flavour rather than a light fresh beer?

I'm starting to think I need to change my recipe to replace some of the LDME with raw sugar and maybe add more lactose?

[drsmurto]

Sugar will give you a thin GB along the lines of Bundy GB but as dry as champagne.

LDME will add a malt flavour turning it in ginger flavoured beer but will retain some sweetness.

So if you dont want a malty beer then yes, you will need to find a happy medium between LDME, sugar and lactose.

So far, i know of noone who has achieved that minus a kit of snot bursting with the goodness of artificial sweeteners.

I make a nice dry GB using all raw sugar. Recently i made an all-grain GB using pilsner malt but that is obviously a ginger flavoured beer rather than the GB you are after.

Try the kit for the first attempt - you may like the result. Best to start out simple and complicate things once you get more brewing experience.

[DrZ0b]

Ok so I'm going to just use a kit to begin with but add spices etc. thanks for your advice Dr Smurto, however contradictory it may be (just kidding).

[Bum]

When I did my GB kit the last few bottles tasted much better than the first few bottles. I'd leave them for at least double the recommended period before cracking one.

The aftertaste is quite harsh though.

[DrZ0b]

I think I might try a different kit, maybe Beermaker's or Morgan's? I'll still add cinnamon, lemon, cloves and more ginger to improve the flavour.

One question; do the kits come with the sweetener separate, so I don't have to add it all?

[DrZ0b]

Ok, I've decided to take my chances and make the beer from a recipe and forget the kit.

It's going to look like the same recipe as above except 500g of LDME, 500g of wheat malt, 1kg of raw sugar and 500g of lactose (or something like that) and an ale yeast, hopefully lots of ginger and spices will ease the malty flavour.

The question I have now is do I need a heat pad or something to keep the fermenter at certain temp. or if I keep it in a cellar will the fermentation be enough on it's own?

[Bum]

Based on how my GB is tasting at the moment I've formulated a recipe for the next one which is very similar to yours above. Please let us know how it progresses.

[drsmurto]

Ok, I've decided to take my chances and make the beer from a recipe and forget the kit.

It's going to look like the same recipe as above except 500g of LDME, 500g of wheat malt, 1kg of raw sugar and 500g of lactose (or something like that) and an ale yeast, hopefully lots of ginger and spices will ease the malty flavour.

The question I have now is do I need a heat pad or something to keep the fermenter at certain temp. or if I keep it in a cellar will the fermentation be enough on it's own?

It depends on what yeast you use.

If you go S-04 as you suggested then around 18-20C. Ambient room temp this time of the year should be ok unless you live in the tropics.

[DrZ0b]

Bum: I still a few weeks away from actually putting this down as I don't have my own cellar and have to do it at my friends house, also my partner is 3 weeks away from giving birth so who knows when this will actually happen...

DrSmurto: Thanks again for your assistance.

[Bum]

Congrats! Although I can't help but think you should have started earlier - you could wet one baby's head with another!

[DrZ0b]

Well as the baby is due in 2-3 weeks if I put it down now I could be ready to birth and bottle at the same time