Fiery Ginger Beer

[TRXnMe]

Hi Guys,

I am new to Home brew so please forgive me if this is a really obvious question,

I want to make a batch of this (who wouldn't) but here is my question....

My farther can't have anything fizzy due to having surgery on his gut, can i make a batch of this and leave some bottles flat when bottling, if so do i need a stabilizer for it ( ie will it start fizzing in his guts if he has some sugar after :lol:

your help would be great

many thanks

I'd think that the acid in his gut would kill the yeast off quite rapidly, but we have some far more knowledgable folk on yeast than myself :)

You can ake it flat, but it doesn't taste quite right to me, better to go for a ginger wine (more sugar, leave it longer to mature) which does taste quitre good flat :)

 

[JhnMcK]

Just started this from the recipe on the first page. As soon as I saw it I wanted to give it a shot. Smelt bloody good when it was simmering in the pan. OG was 1.044 so, hopefully, it should be around 6%. Once its finished fermenting, I'll strain it into a another FV (which I'll have to buy as I only have the one) and then leave it for a couple of days before bottling.

 

[abssm]

I would like to get this on.

Are you all happy with the original recipe or would you advise any tweaks?

 

[Cheshire muzz]

I followed the original recipe and made a batch last Xmas. Drunk most of it through the summer, but found half dozen bottles of it when clearing out my homebrew stash in the cupboard. Forgot how nice it was.

I skinned the ginger before grating them. Some people have said the skin can make it a bit bitter.

I'd recommend leaving it a while too. Although drinkable from the off, mine definitely improved with age. I'm going to make some more now in time for summer!

 

[abssm]

Thanks Cheshire, i shall get on with it then :thumb:

If i wanted to only make half the amount would i still use the whole sachet of yeast or try and split it in half?

 

[Kinleycat]

2013s 20 ltr batch was very nice so 2014s version was a tweaked 2 x 25 ltr affair.
Per 25 litre batch:
1.1 kg peeled and grated root ginger
3 lemons, 3 limes & 3 oranges squeezed of juice then chopped and added to the mix.
2 teaspoons dried ginger
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
(All soaked overnight in 200ml dark rum and enough water to cover)
Boiled for 30 minutes then drained, all solids added to FV.
Retained liquor went back into the pan.
1 kg light DME
1 kg Demerara sugar (batch 1 x 25 ltr) 1.125 kg dark brown sugar (batch 2)
Dissolved and added to FV
2 teaspoons cream of tartar.
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient.
Tannin from 6 Yorkshire tea bags
Topped up to 25 litres with water
Yeast pitched at 20c
Batch 1 OG 1038, Batch 2 OG 1032
Both brews should get down to 1000ish so should yeald 5.1% and 4.3% respectively.
All for bottling 500ml with 3 sweetex for back sweetening and 1 teaspoon of sugar for priming.
Can't wait for summer!!!!

 

[abssm]

If 2013 batch was nice why did you tweak it?

Can't stand Sweetex, i can always taste it. Is there a more sugar like alternative? Does it need sweetening?

 

[Kinleycat]

If 2013 batch was nice why did you tweak it?

Can't stand Sweetex, i can always taste it. Is there a more sugar like alternative? Does it need sweetening?

If anything it was a bit thin so I've tweaked the things that will benefit that and also upped the ginger a little and added tannin for a bit of bite.
There's always room for improvement.
If the flavour is better and it's still a bit thin this year it will probably just be a reduction in volume, also with too slightly different batches it will give me choice for next year.
Never had a problem with a sweetex taste and I've used it on numerous occasions, I've got some TC in the shed which is (according to my friends and family) just like cidre, they didn't believe it was HB TC, certainly no funny flavours in that.

 

[TRXnMe]

I made up a 20 litre batch today.

4 kgs of root ginger
4 tea spoons of ground ginger
2 tea spoons all spice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tea spoons cream of tartare
4 kilos of sugar
900 grammes of honey
4 cloves
8 juniper berries

It's cooling now, I'll pitch the champagne yeast tomorrow morning.

I like the sharp edge that leaving the skin on the ginger gives so the ginger went into the food processor, got zapped, then added to the pan with sugar, water, ground ginger etc and boiled for 90 minutes.

I then cooled the stuff in the sink for little while before pouring it into a FV and topping up with cold tap water

I'm looking forwards to this being ready in a couple of weeks time :party:

 

[Kinleycat]

I made up a 20 litre batch today.

4 kgs of root ginger
4 tea spoons of ground ginger
2 tea spoons all spice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tea spoons cream of tartare
4 kilos of sugar
900 grammes of honey
4 cloves
8 juniper berries

It's cooling now, I'll pitch the champagne yeast tomorrow morning.

I like the sharp edge that leaving the skin on the ginger gives so the ginger went into the food processor, got zapped, then added to the pan with sugar, water, ground ginger etc and boiled for 90 minutes.

I then cooled the stuff in the sink for little while before pouring it into a FV and topping up with cold tap water

I'm looking forwards to this being ready in a couple of weeks time :party:

Wow, that will be very gingery!!! :electric:
I put 700g and 2 tspoons into 20 litres last year and that had a great gingery bite.
Wouldn't mind trading you a bottle or so come bottling time :thumb:

 

[TRXnMe]

I made up a 20 litre batch today.

4 kgs of root ginger
4 tea spoons of ground ginger
2 tea spoons all spice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tea spoons cream of tartare
4 kilos of sugar
900 grammes of honey
4 cloves
8 juniper berries

It's cooling now, I'll pitch the champagne yeast tomorrow morning.

I like the sharp edge that leaving the skin on the ginger gives so the ginger went into the food processor, got zapped, then added to the pan with sugar, water, ground ginger etc and boiled for 90 minutes.

I then cooled the stuff in the sink for little while before pouring it into a FV and topping up with cold tap water

I'm looking forwards to this being ready in a couple of weeks time :party:

Wow, that will be very gingery!!! :electric:
I put 700g and 2 tspoons into 20 litres last year and that had a great gingery bite.
Wouldn't mind trading you a bottle or so come bottling time :thumb:

I was planning to put it into a cornie, but if I have a bottle spare when it's ready I'll put on up for you, always assuming the on set of old age doesn't lead tome forgetting this like damn near everything else of late

It will be VERY gingery, it's how I like it, when I do ginger wine I add 50% more sugar and 25% more ginger to boost the booze level and allow for flavour loss while conditioning :)

 

[Kinleycat]

I made up a 20 litre batch today.

4 kgs of root ginger
4 tea spoons of ground ginger
2 tea spoons all spice
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tea spoons cream of tartare
4 kilos of sugar
900 grammes of honey
4 cloves
8 juniper berries

It's cooling now, I'll pitch the champagne yeast tomorrow morning.

I like the sharp edge that leaving the skin on the ginger gives so the ginger went into the food processor, got zapped, then added to the pan with sugar, water, ground ginger etc and boiled for 90 minutes.

I then cooled the stuff in the sink for little while before pouring it into a FV and topping up with cold tap water

I'm looking forwards to this being ready in a couple of weeks time :party:

Wow, that will be very gingery!!! :electric:
I put 700g and 2 tspoons into 20 litres last year and that had a great gingery bite.
Wouldn't mind trading you a bottle or so come bottling time :thumb:

I was planning to put it into a cornie, but if I have a bottle spare when it's ready I'll put on up for you, always assuming the on set of old age doesn't lead tome forgetting this like damn near everything else of late

It will be VERY gingery, it's how I like it, when I do ginger wine I add 50% more sugar and 25% more ginger to boost the booze level and allow for flavour loss while conditioning :)

Just sampled my batches from the trial jar and they are very very gingery, so yours will be classed as hazardous I would imagine!! :lol:
13 days in the FV and still quite a way to go.

 

[TRXnMe]

I know what you mean :)

Thing is I like it gingery, really gingery and I've a couple of friends who are the same way, so when this stuff is finally ready it's going to be in serious danger of rapid consumption

 

[JhnMcK]

Finally getting round to bottling this. My question is though, what's the best way to carbonate? A tsp of sugar in each bottle and just siphon onto it or batch priming then siphoning into bottles?

 

[TRXnMe]

Finally getting round to bottling this. My question is though, what's the best way to carbonate? A tsp of sugar in each bottle and just siphon onto it or batch priming then siphoning into bottles?

Batch prime if you have a secondary FV, otherwise you can't stir the sugar in without stirring up the sediment on the bottom.

I've successfully bottle primed several batches of my ginger beer :)

 

[JhnMcK]

I've ended up priming it in the bottle. Hopefully, it should carbonate. I put a tsp of sugar in each bottle. My only worry is that I may have left it a little too long before bottling. It's been sat in the secondary for over a month. I had to wait to collect enough bottles so I could bottle it. Didn't smell or taste like anything was wrong so that's a good sign

 

[TRXnMe]

I've ended up priming it in the bottle. Hopefully, it should carbonate. I put a tsp of sugar in each bottle. My only worry is that I may have left it a little too long before bottling. It's been sat in the secondary for over a month. I had to wait to collect enough bottles so I could bottle it. Didn't smell or taste like anything was wrong so that's a good sign

Don't worry, I've had stufff in demi johns for 6+ months and it's started to ferment when given a little more sugar

Give your booze at least 2 weeks in the warm before putting moving to the fridge prior to drinking.

 

[phildo79]

I started another post about doubling the ABV of a coopers ginger beer kit but now I'm starting to think I should give this a blast instead. Couple of questions though:

1. When adding a sweetner like splenda, how many of those little tablets should I add to a pint bottle?
2. What sort of time frame are we talking before this stuff is ready to drink?

Cheers

 

[TRXnMe]

I started another post about doubling the ABV of a coopers ginger beer kit but now I'm starting to think I should give this a blast instead. Couple of questions though:

1. When adding a sweetner like splenda, how many of those little tablets should I add to a pint bottle?
2. What sort of time frame are we talking before this stuff is ready to drink?

Cheers

I don't add sweetner to the bottle, just a bit of sugar for carboination.

When it's poured I might add sweetner depending on who is drinking it, or my personal mood. This is because I sometimes like my fiery ginger beer 'bitter', sometimes a little sweeter, also my friends have varied preferences, they are now used to this being drunk with a jar of sweetner on the table between us for each to sort out the ginger beer to their own taste :)

 

[phildo79]

I started another post about doubling the ABV of a coopers ginger beer kit but now I'm starting to think I should give this a blast instead. Couple of questions though:

1. When adding a sweetner like splenda, how many of those little tablets should I add to a pint bottle?
2. What sort of time frame are we talking before this stuff is ready to drink?

Cheers

I don't add sweetner to the bottle, just a bit of sugar for carboination.

When it's poured I might add sweetner depending on who is drinking it, or my personal mood. This is because I sometimes like my fiery ginger beer 'bitter', sometimes a little sweeter, also my friends have varied preferences, they are now used to this being drunk with a jar of sweetner on the table between us for each to sort out the ginger beer to their own taste :)

Well that is another option. I'm just concerned a little by the earlier post that say how dry it turns out. And I don't want to add too much in case I don't like it. It's not like I can remove it afterwards.

One other thing; the original recipe had cream of tartar in it. I can't find this in the supermarket. Is it really that important? And if so, is there something I could use as a substitute?