Ginger beer for australia day + info on kegging it

[racer]

Hey people,
Havnt done a ginger beer before, and as I am only a K&K type man im in need of some info for brewing a nice low alky ginger beer for Australia day.
1) what is the time frame of brewing to drinkable brew?
2) gas preesure in keg?
3) to add sugar at kegging? ( for sweetness)

Dont want to over power the relo's with being to srtong with additives, but should I add some cinimum(spelling) stick & cloves?

[Kevnlis]

The way I would do it is:

1.5 kilo Liquid Amber Malt can
1 kilo or so of Ginger Root (this is best if aged for a month or so)
1-2 Cinnamon sticks in the boil for 10 min with the ginger and a bit of the malt
500g Lactose for body and sweetness

As for gas pressure, whatever you use for beer will be fine. You could add a bit of sugar (to taste) dissolved in water the night before, if you are confident it will get drunk rather quickly.

[racer]

Thanks for the reply Kevin,
Can I replace the liquid malt for dry light malt (coopers) as its at my local supermarket & easier to get?
What % alc does this come out?
Is lactose available at supermarket?
How long to ferment?

[Kevnlis]

The light dry malt will not add much sweetness, but you could certainly use it if it is all you have access to.

2.3% ABV or there abouts with the dry extract in a 23L batch.

Never seen Lactose in my supermarkets.

Ferment for 1 week, then check the SG and test again in 24 hours, if it is the same, go ahead and put it in the keg and get it on the gas.

[drsmurto]

You after a ginger flavoured beer or a nice quaffing ginger beer a la bundy ginger beer?

If its the first then Kevs recipe is on the money.

But, if you want something very light in body, almost soft drink like then you can either make it with raw sugar up to about 5% abv and dilute it with lemonade as you pour (to make it sweet) or make it to 2-3% and add lactose. 1 cinnamon stick boiled with the ginger and up to 10 cloves for 30-60 mins. I use 2 kg raw sugar for something in the order of 5% so halve that. You will need 500g lactose and make sure you dissolve it properly. It needs to be boiled for the best part of 15 mins in quite a decent quantity of water as it is not very soluble (compared to dextrose).

Cheers
DrSmurto

[racer]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but being impatient & not realy knowing what the taste should be like, I went and bought a kit.
One question of what would be better to boost the ginger taste,its been fermenting since monday and a taste it seems low on ginger kick.
Should I dry hop some chopped up ginger or buy powder ginger & add that way.

PS next one will be fresh ginger as recomended.

[drsmurto]

You could make up a ginger tea by boiling a heap of fresh ginger, say 500g in as little water as possible. Strain and cool to brew temp and then add to the fermenter.