Fiery Ginger Beer

[CharleyFarley]

Hi
I bottled my second batch on Tuesday. Finished the last bottle of the last batch this week - it definitely improves with age - my husband said that it tasted 'unpleasant' when I first made it. I added fifteen tablespoons of Splenda after straining it. This time bottled it all with a teaspoon of Demerara sugar (as I did a few with it last time and it added something).
Definitely worth a go folks!

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I left it about a month, it was ok if you mixed it with a splash of lemonade. Seven months on its much much better. More rounded taste, nicer ginger flavour, a great improvement. Well worth leaving alone for as long as possible!

 

[MartinHaworth]

First ever ginger beer.....really doing it for SWMBO as she likes Crabbies.

Recipe as per page 1:

1kg Fresh grated ginger
5tsp Dried ground ginger
1tsp Cream of tartar
2 lemons
2 limes
2.5kg Sugar
2tsp Yeast nutrient
1 sachet champagne yeast

Got the ginger at our local Lidl for a couple of quid....all in under a tenner...can't be bad!

As my last few brews have been AG, it was a treat to brew from base ingredients in 90 minutes.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. SG 1042

Thanks for all the help from this thread + the forum.

Cheers

Martin

 

[MartinHaworth]

40 grolsch bottles filled tonight. 150g caster sugar in the bottling bucket and 1 sweetening trash in each bottle. Pretty clear already.

 

[Jamjar1982]

If it helps anyone, I only use unrefined brown sugar. I believe it helps with the flavour. I'm just about to do another batch and was checking my recipe. It seems I ferment dry then back sweeten with more brown sugar to 1.010 and bottle condition. It doesn't say how much yeast I used but I guess it can't have been a lot. Saying that, I use screw top P.E.T bottles so I can regulate the pressure inside. Helps with a small batch but not much good on the wrist if you've got 5 gallons!

Two questions..
1) I usually use lalvin ec118 champagne yeast but fancy something different. Any suggestions?
2) I'm going to substitute some of the brown sugar for LME for the first time. It's a 3 gallon batch. How have you guys got on with it? Any tips? How much should I add? I'm just looking to add a bit of /body/? to it.

Thanks very much

 

[MartinHaworth]

Still haven't tasted my batch - only 12 days in the bottle so far. The 2 PET bottles are hard, suggesting that carbonation will be OK. Will post again on Friday, when I plan to drink the first pint.

Cheers

MArtin

 

[Aiseant]

I made this one two weeks ago, the airlock doesn't seem to calm down. How long until the first fermentation is finished ? It'll need racking, and I need my FV back :-?

 

[IainM]

I made a version of this and it is seriously good. For 1 UK gallon:

280g grated ginger (after removing the knobbly bits)
1tsp dried ginger
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lemon + 1 orange (juice and zest)
270g sugar
450ml home-made amber candii syrup (equivalent to 450g sugar)

All the above was simmered in 2L of water for 30 mins. I then added a muslin bag which I had been using to steep cracked coriander seed (22g) and dried bitter Curacao orange peel (31g) for making a wheat beer. This infused the liquid with a lovely orange flavour. I topped up to 4.5L and added 1tsp glycerine, 0.5tsp pectolase, 1tsp super wine yeast compound and 1tsp yeast nutrient. Pitched at 21C. Racked after 17 days, and topped up to 4.5L again, then bottled, with FG of 1.000, with 1tsp sugar per 330ml bottle. Now, two weeks later, this really tastes nice with a bit of honey and ice. Packs a real ginger punch which really works well with the orange and candii undertone.

 

[ScottE75]

I made a version of this and it is seriously good. For 1 UK gallon:

280g grated ginger (after removing the knobbly bits)
1tsp dried ginger
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
1 lemon + 1 orange (juice and zest)
270g sugar
450ml home-made amber candii syrup (equivalent to 450g sugar)

I was going to ask about ratios for 1 gallon, but you beat me to it :thumb:
I've got all the stuff cheap as chips from ASDA in their world foods section. Ground ginger is �£0.60 for 85g by Rajah, instead of �£1.24 for 24g by schwartz.

I notice you're not using cream of tartar. Not sure what it brings to the party.
Also can I use lemon juice or powdered acid? If so, how much?

 

[IainM]

I notice you're not using cream of tartar. Not sure what it brings to the party.
Also can I use lemon juice or powdered acid? If so, how much?

No idea about the cream of tartar. The lemon juice I've seen in tesco has preservatives in which would inhibit the fermentation, so I avoid them. I suppose you could use powdered acid, but lemon goes so well with ginger that I wouldn't substitute it. If you do, then 1/2 tsp of citric acid is the equivalent of 1 lemon.

 

[Beginnerbre]

Hi all,

I know this is a very old thread....but I hope someone out there can help!

I started fermentation on sunday and has almost finished on the thursday...so four nights. This seems extremely short to me...I have only ever brewed wine and that usually takes a lot longer.

Does anyone know how long this recipe 'usually' takes to ferment? I know every batch is different but I'm just after some experience with this.

I'm going to take a gravity reading when I get back from work tonight to see what stage it's at with that.

Many thanks.

 

[Jamjar1982]

4 days is about right, :thumb: especially if you use a good yeast strain with low lag and a good temp from the start. Always use your hydrometer, they are unlikely to lie!

 

[Aiseant]

Well, I'm not a good example then : I racked it after like 20 days of airlock bubbling, and I can see there is still some pressure building inside the FV after 4 days, like a second fermentation.

 

[Beginnerbre]

4 days is about right, :thumb: especially if you use a good yeast strain with low lag and a good temp from the start. Always use your hydrometer, they are unlikely to lie!

Thanks for the reply. Just tested...started at 1070 and is now at 996. Shot down quite fast. Just racked it to the secondary and now looks a lot more like ginger beer!

 

[Jamjar1982]

Well, I'm not a good example then : I racked it after like 20 days of airlock bubbling, and I can see there is still some pressure building inside the FV after 4 days, like a second fermentation.

Well no two brews are the same in my opinion. Worth checking your gravity if you havnt already just to be on the safe side.

 

[Jamjar1982]

Thanks for the reply. Just tested...started at 1070 and is now at 996. Shot down quite fast. Just racked it to the secondary and now looks a lot more like ginger beer!

Good show! But does it taste like ginger beer!! Did you use white sugar? I only ever use light brown sugar. It helps with the colour and taste, especially as I've never been able to perfect sweet and fizzy! It's dry and fizzy.... But leaves some residual sweetness or something that just takes the edge off. Leave it bottled for a while. I find it gets better with age (although admitted, I've never followed this particular recipe). Enjoy!

 

[Beginnerbre]

Good show! But does it taste like ginger beer!! Did you use white sugar? I only ever use light brown sugar. It helps with the colour and taste, especially as I've never been able to perfect sweet and fizzy! It's dry and fizzy.... But leaves some residual sweetness or something that just takes the edge off. Leave it bottled for a while. I find it gets better with age (although admitted, I've never followed this particular recipe). Enjoy!

I used white sugar in my recipe...the colour looks beautiful. However the fizz has gone so I will be using carbonation tablets for bottling.

As for taste, it's quite sweet and fiery. I'd image it to be perfect on a hot day. The only downside is that is a tad watery, not sure how I could rectify that.

 

[IainM]

The only downside is that is a tad watery, not sure how I could rectify that.

Glycerine can help with the mouthfeel.

 

[Jamjar1982]

I know what you mean... I find I have the same problem sometimes with it tasting a bit thin but the brown sugar helps. I'm trying light malt extract this time round to try add a little something.... But glycerin you say?.. I have heard that mentioned before. Never got round to trying it though. May be next time.

As for the flatness... Did you bottle clear, prime and add more yeast or just bottle before it finished fermenting? Bottle fermenting something sweet is a bugger. Sounds like you didn't have enough active yeast in there, but then you might have ended up with fizzy but dry.. Something I've tried to balance for the last few brews. Think I'm gonna invest in a cornie keg which would solve that issue. But whatever, if it tastes good!

 

[Beginnerbre]

I know what you mean... I find I have the same problem sometimes with it tasting a bit thin but the brown sugar helps. I'm trying light malt extract this time round to try add a little something.... But glycerin you say?.. I have heard that mentioned before. Never got round to trying it though. May be next time.

As for the flatness... Did you bottle clear, prime and add more yeast or just bottle before it finished fermenting? Bottle fermenting something sweet is a bugger. Sounds like you didn't have enough active yeast in there, but then you might have ended up with fizzy but dry.. Something I've tried to balance for the last few brews. Think I'm gonna invest in a cornie keg which would solve that issue. But whatever, if it tastes good!

I think I may have been too careful on the amount of priming sugar, after reading about exploding bottles! 😝
I have another batch that I set back by a few weeks so should be bottling soonish. I was thinking about priming with brown sugar to give it a bit of a different flavour. Do you have any recommendations on how much priming sugar to add and how long it usually takes to get a good fizz?

Also, for priming, do you basically add the sugar, bottle it and then leave it in the cupboard until you wish to drink it? I only ask as I've seen people mention that they prime for a week at room temp and then refrigerate until ready to drink.

Thanks for your help people!