This brewday was a couple of weeks ago, but now I can tell the whole story. I decided to try the fiery ginger beer recipe,but I had the idea that it would be particularly rich and delicious made with muscovado sugar. I don't have a big fermenter, nor a big enough pan for 5 gallons, so I scaled down to 1 gallon, with one exception. I thought that probably the lemon and lime were not significant flavours, given that it was one of each, so I left those the same. Error!
Boiled it all up
Added the sugar
Got myself a sample for tasting. Dark, and delicious!
Slapped it in a demijohn (that's a turbocider alongside). It seemed to ferment from the bottom more than the top, which was a surprise.
A week later, all was stable, so I bottled. Tasting at this point, it was too dry, so I back sweetened it with Cologran, from Lidl. Wasn't sure I'd gone far enough, but didn't want to ruin it. Also batch primed it. Tasting told me that it was more citrusy than I'd wanted, too, and less fiery, so I used about 1/3rd less lemon and lime, and twice as much ground ginger in the white sugar version I was brewing the same day (I'm trying to get a real handle on ginger beer before I attempt my mad idea, chocolate ginger beer).
Then, yesterday, I tasted it, after a week in the bottle.
Perfectly carbonated, there was a nice telltale whisp of CO2 as I opened the bottle, and it fizzed nicely as I poured. Tasting it; it's overwhelmingly bitter lemony! The citrus is overwhelming the ginger, and the sweetness, and just about everything else. It's pretty acidic, and not sweet enough, so having read about people here sweetening as they pour, I popped in a spoonful of sugar. Explosion! What an idiot; I knew that happened with Coke, and now I know it happens with other carbonated beverages too. So, now I had flat, but sweeter ginger beer, which was still too lemony. Am I right in thinking sugar syrup wouldn't have had the same effect? It's drinkable as is, but you'd want to sip it from a wine glass, not take slugs from a pint. I'm going to chuck the other 8 bottles in the loft, and leave them til perhaps May to see if it calms down. I suspect my second batch will also be too citrusy, but maybe better, and I know what to do different this time. I think my chocolate ginger beer (and trying that can't be far away) will be made without any lemon or lime; those flavours will really not work together!
Boiled it all up
Added the sugar
Got myself a sample for tasting. Dark, and delicious!
Slapped it in a demijohn (that's a turbocider alongside). It seemed to ferment from the bottom more than the top, which was a surprise.
A week later, all was stable, so I bottled. Tasting at this point, it was too dry, so I back sweetened it with Cologran, from Lidl. Wasn't sure I'd gone far enough, but didn't want to ruin it. Also batch primed it. Tasting told me that it was more citrusy than I'd wanted, too, and less fiery, so I used about 1/3rd less lemon and lime, and twice as much ground ginger in the white sugar version I was brewing the same day (I'm trying to get a real handle on ginger beer before I attempt my mad idea, chocolate ginger beer).
Then, yesterday, I tasted it, after a week in the bottle.
Perfectly carbonated, there was a nice telltale whisp of CO2 as I opened the bottle, and it fizzed nicely as I poured. Tasting it; it's overwhelmingly bitter lemony! The citrus is overwhelming the ginger, and the sweetness, and just about everything else. It's pretty acidic, and not sweet enough, so having read about people here sweetening as they pour, I popped in a spoonful of sugar. Explosion! What an idiot; I knew that happened with Coke, and now I know it happens with other carbonated beverages too. So, now I had flat, but sweeter ginger beer, which was still too lemony. Am I right in thinking sugar syrup wouldn't have had the same effect? It's drinkable as is, but you'd want to sip it from a wine glass, not take slugs from a pint. I'm going to chuck the other 8 bottles in the loft, and leave them til perhaps May to see if it calms down. I suspect my second batch will also be too citrusy, but maybe better, and I know what to do different this time. I think my chocolate ginger beer (and trying that can't be far away) will be made without any lemon or lime; those flavours will really not work together!
