What to put in with Ginger Beer... & Gravities for dummies

[MOFO]

Hi, I am going to put down a ginger beer today - but put in some LLME, or similar. Question is, I have 4 tins of Coopers PA - reckon I could use that instead? I also have a tin of Indian PA, which I dont know what to do with - so I could use that instead...

Reason I ask the first question is this also is the fact that I am not getting much bitterness in my brews so thought using an extract with hopping already in the tin, it might help me out a bit. After reading yesterday may have to do with the fact that I am only doing 5L boils... Can someone explain, in reallllly simple terms as to the science of this?

On a side note - I went to my newfound brew store which I really enjoyed, and found it is now a commercial cleaning store.... I checked their website and they have shut down. Gutted. I am now back to either supermarkets, or a brewcraft store (shhhiiiit). The only good option is going over the bridge to the North Shore and going to Daves Home Brew - they have everything... but a bit exy.

[Kevnlis]

I added a bit of raw ginger to an IPA once and it was gold!

As for your hop bittering efficiency, the higher the gravity of the boil (ratio of malt to water) the less bitterness you will extract from the hops. It is usually best to keep the gravity of the boil the same as the full recipe, then you can calculate the recipe as if you were doing a full boil.

[MOFO]

Excellent. OK - Well I will add in the IPA then.

Get the gravity issue now too thanks... I dont quite understand how it will stop the hops from imparting bitterness, but regardless I will be putting in around 20g of Cascade for 30 mins, and perhaps about 10g of Amarillo for 10 mins to 5L, so I will just put in around 500g of the IPA... as well as Cinnamon, Lemons, Oranges, Honey & Cloves...

Cheers Kev

[Kevnlis]

I know it reduces perceived bitterness when there is more malt, but as to why a higher gravity boil actually reduces the amount of IBUs in the wort I am unsure of. You would think just as much alpha-acid would be isomerised no matter the gravity but this does not seem to be the case. Perhaps it has to do with loss in fermentation rather than in the boil? Hopefully someone can fill us in