Ginger beer

[Kinleycat]

Due to Mrs KC being as bit of a non-conformist and refusing to go to the supermarket for me some cream of tartar the brew has had to be delayed by 24 hours, so i decided to soak the the grated ginger in dark rum as suggested in an earlier post.
God only knows what its going to taste like but its gonna be interesting!! :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

Gone in the bucket 10 minutes ago.
Ended up brewing short to 20 litres as the ginger once grated and peeled only clocked in at 770g from the 1 1/4 kg I had - I was concerned it wouldn't have a strong enough gingery bite.
The final recipe 1.0 went as followed
770g ginger (peeled and grated.)
3 lemons and 3 limes (squeezed and chopped)
2 teaspoons ginger powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
(All soaked overnight in dark rum 200ml)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
(All ingredients put in a 4 litre pan topped up with water, brought to the boil and simmered for thirty minutes.)
When finished I poured half the liquor into the FV and then mixed 500g light spray malt, 1kg brew enhancer and 400g granulated sugar until dissolved and then added to the FV
Topped up to 20 litres with cold water.
Added two teaspoons of yeast nutrient and whisked like Billyo!!!
The OG was 1040 and if I can get it right down it should clock in at about 5.5%.
Pitched one sachet of cider yeast at 22c
Smells malty and gingery!!!
Plan to bottle with a teaspoon of sugar and two of sweetener.

Time for a pot of tea!!!!

 

[Kinleycat]

A busy few days, wherry at the back, raspberry TC on the left and ginger beer on the right. :

 

[Cheshire muzz]

Just tasted my FGB.

Tastes ok, but hardly any fizz. Used half a tea spoon in each 500ml bottle. They've been conditioning for a week. Is it worth opening them up and putting some more sugar in?

 

[Cheshire muzz]

Just tasted my FGB.

Tastes ok, but hardly any fizz. Used half a tea spoon in each 500ml bottle. They've been conditioning for a week. Is it worth opening them up and putting some more sugar in?

 

[Kinleycat]

Forty eight hours into the fermentation and it has developed a good froth the lid is bulging and it has gone very very cloudy.
Is this to be expected?
KC :?

 

[Cheshire muzz]

It's meant to be cloudy

 

[Kinleycat]

It's meant to be cloudy

Like a whitish creamish cloudy?
Somewhere between magnolia sunset and misty buff on the paint chart!! :whistle:

 

[Cheshire muzz]

Mines the colour of a lemon/lime cordial

 

[Kinleycat]

Mines this colour:
:wha:

 

[Kinleycat]

Will all the bits in this clog up my syphon (i was thinking i could cover the end with muslin but would this strain out the yeast too?), or should i sieve it first into a second bucket - prime then bottle?

 

[LeedsBrewer]

I just covered the end with muslin. You'd need a very fine filter to strain out the yeast (something like .5 microns or less) so you'll be fine.

 

[Kinleycat]

I just covered the end with muslin. You'd need a very fine filter to strain out the yeast (something like .5 microns or less) so you'll be fine.

Thanks again LB :

 

[LeithR]

I make this recipe regularly and have developed it to include:
6 oranges
6 limes
6 lemons

I also boil all the fermentables in a bag for 1hr, I then transfer the lot including the bag of fermentables into the FV. Once cooled pitch the yeast and ferment for a week before removing the bag and transferring into secondary FV. This approach keeps everything clean, easier to handle and I believe enhances the flavour.

This approach works a treat for me, I use King Kegs exclusively but transfer the last litre or so of beer into primed bottle(s) to keep for days of shortage.

I like the sound of Kinleycats suggestion to steep in dark rum, that should add a nice zing to the brew.

How did it work out?

 

[Kinleycat]

I make this recipe regularly and have developed it to include:
6 oranges
6 limes
6 lemons

I also boil all the fermentables in a bag for 1hr, I then transfer the lot including the bag of fermentables into the FV. Once cooled pitch the yeast and ferment for a week before removing the bag and transferring into secondary FV. This approach keeps everything clean, easier to handle and I believe enhances the flavour.

This approach works a treat for me, I use King Kegs exclusively but transfer the last litre or so of beer into primed bottle(s) to keep for days of shortage.

I like the sound of Kinleycats suggestion to steep in dark rum, that should add a nice zing to the brew.

How did it work out?

Not my idea stole it from second2none on page 1 of this thread.
Still in FV at present, looking forward to Summer though already and cracking a few bottles open!!

 

[LeedsBrewer]

cracked open my first ginger beer on Saturday. I was really happy with it. I did mine with oranges instead of lemons and limes. It came out really well. I normally can't stand GB but it was just what i was aiming for. Not too sharpe on the tongue (I sweetened with splenda type product at bottling time) but with a bit of fire afterwards. :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

cracked open my first ginger beer on Saturday. I was really happy with it. I did mine with oranges instead of lemons and limes. It came out really well. I normally can't stand GB but it was just what i was aiming for. Not too sharpe on the tongue (I sweetened with splenda type product at bottling time) but with a bit of fire afterwards. :thumb:

Bottling mine Thursday/Friday, looking forward to tasting this one!!

 

[danb]

set off 5 gallon of this last time using the same recipe as i have used to do 1 gallon and it hasnt started yet. temp is at a steady 20'c. theres no signs of bubbles around the top of the brew and it has usually started by now. anyone experienced a longer start time with 5g. thanks

 

[Kinleycat]

Been in the bucket two weeks at about 19c and has only gone from 1040 to 1014 - a measly 3.5%. Apart from the cider which got down to 1002 this seems to be consistent in all my brews.
Is it the yeast, the temps?
It tastes bloody lovely really sharp and gingery and given some carbonation I can imagine it will be very refreshing, just not very alcoholic!!
I'm gonna forget about it for another week see what difference that makes!!

 

[Kinleycat]

Bottled last night, got about 17 litres out of it.
330 ml bottles got 1 sweetex and 2.25g sugar and the 750 ml bottles got 2 sweetex and 6g sugar
Its really firey and once carbonate and sweetened it will be stunning, although maybe too firey for a session - more a hot summers day lightly sparkling refresher!!
Clocked in at 4.3% so im pretty happy!!
In secondary for a couple of weeks now and then conditioning until the sunny days turn up (minus the odd bottle for QC purposes).
Can't wait.