Ginger beer

[monego]

Had a crack at making some ginger beer, didnt think it was fermenting but I re pitched it yeasterday and it looks like its bubbling away. Did an sg read and it came up finished for beer, is this likely to be right? Forgot the initial read so I dont have a comparison.

Tried a bit and it quite lemony but not very gingery, I want to chuck more ginger and sugar in to extend the brew time and give it more flavour, will this be ok?

Complete newby to this so would appreciate and advice

 

[Fil]

you can add a tablespoon of dry ginger to the fv ok, nuke it in some water and let it cool first to sterilise.

adding extra sugar could be a problem depending on the yeast, a champagne yeast with a higher alcohol tolerance should be OK but do you want something stupid strong? if its for sweetness add lactose(about 1/2 as sweet as sugar w/w) or artificial sweetner which wont ferment.

with less complex sugars as found in malt its likely your Gingerbeer will ferment out a lot lower than the 1010 general beer end point, so dont go by the target gravity your used to rely on a steady reading for 3 days to confirm you have fermented out.

you can just leave the beer for a week or two undisturbed to steep the extra ginger addition without adding any sugar, you have to leave beers on yeast for a long time before its a problem.

 

[monego]

Thanks for the advice

Put 1kg of sugar in 5 gallons, read elsewhere this will come out at 3% so would like to make it stronger, main thing is the flavour, its quite weak, I was after something a bit more fiery

Im using champagne yeast, dont think I have much room in the fv to a lot more so I might go for powdered, might chuck a few chillis in for good measure! Will keep you posted

 

[Fil]

carefull with the chilli.. i made one with fresh ginger (1kg) and the local hbs owner suggested a TEASPOON of chilli powder to add spice, i mis remembered the advice and added a level tablespoon. It was so hot that your lips tingled after a single sip, and drinking a pint was an eye watering experience. mixed 50/50 with grapefruit juice, Lovely, but not ginger beer tho.

Aye more fermentables are needed, have you considered dme for body and a malty base? i would draw off some gingerbeer use 1/2 to boil/sanitise any sugar/ginger additions without impacting on the volume too much, (let it cool before adding ) then you can top up with the rest of the initial draw off if needed.

 

[monego]

Thats a cracking idea, im going try and stick to fresh so bought another 700g of ginger and ill whack another kilo of sugar and 6 fresh chillis in. Will keep you posted! Can post you a bottle if its any good

 

[Fil]

the brewing software like beersmith and brewmate(free) have the calculators built in but the info is also out there if u google it
so you can target the strength (original gravity) of your brews

ps keep any drawings off you take from the brew for topping up the volume after the sugar addition well covered so nothing nast drops out of the air into it.

 

[monego]

Well, smashed another kg of sugar in it with the ginger and tried some last weekend. Crikey it's dry! Nice on the nose and aftertaste but very sharp on the tongue. Think it will age better or should I sweeten it in a barely?

 

[monego]

Barrel should I say...

 

[monego]

Well it's getting better with age, keep sampling the odd half from the fv, got a barell coming tomorrow and I'll prime it. Will popping a syphon in every now and then sampling it cause much harm? Wary that air is getting in each time I draw some off