Ginger Beer recipe

[drsmurto]

I'd do a GB again. I found that even 750g of root ginger wasnt enough of a ginger 'bite' in 15L of water. I'd use the lactose again as it did give it a bit of sweetness. I'd maybe use half and half demerara sugar and light spraymalt to give a bit of smoothness. I'd use the ale yeast again to combat the 'dryness'. The muscovado sugar gave it a really dark hue but I'd use 500g rather than a kilo next time.

Ginger bite depends on the age of the ginger. Serioulsy. I now 'age' at least 1/3 of the ginger for a brew by leaving it in the fridge for at least 2 months. It loses a lot of aroma but gets much bitier. So by using approx 500g of old ginger and 0.75kg of fresh ginger i find i can get both aroma and the ginger bite.

And yes, that is 1.25kg of ginger for a 20L batch. Like you booldawg i love the ginger bite. Here's hopping my latest batch has the balance i am after. I still shy away from lactose and am trying to add sweetness in other ways.

Cheers
DrSmurto

[booldawg]

I'll try the root ginger in the fridge for next time! I've just cracked opened a bottle, the first for 2 weeks. Its cleared really well not cloudy at all and improved so much in taste.

I was under the impression that it didnt need maturing but the 10 points of OG per week as you do with beer seems to apply!

[grumpysod]

Bottled my brew tonight and got just over 6 litres @ 6.1% ABV, however the taste of lemon almost overpowers the ginger, though I did get a nice ginger aftertaste.

I'll leave it for a couple of weeks to see if it improves any, at worst, if it carbonates well, it'll do for Moscow Mules

[grumpysod]

Tried a bottle tonight and the lemon flavour has nearly gone.
It's still very rough, but the ginger flavour has started to dominate - I'll leave the rest to Chrimbo, so it'll have a chance to carbonate and mature

Looks like a good result

[drsmurto]

All this talk about GB inspired me to do another trial. So on Sunday i put this down

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh, 0.5kg of old ginger for some added bite)
1 kg LDME
1.5 kg raw sugar
0.5kg caramalt
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
1 lemon, 1 lime - finely sliced
champers yeast
20L

Bottled this beast on the weekend. It finished at 1.010 unlike the all sugar batches which finished at 1.000. Its got more body as youd expect and a nice sweetness thats subtle but enough to not call it dry. Will let you know who it is in a few weeks after its carbed up and then chilled down.

I have another 5L experimental batch almost ready to bottle. Was planning on using wheat extract but my HBS didnt have any so i got wheat malt instead. Mashed 800g. Boiled up the usual spice combo - 250g ginger, lemon, a few cloves and 1/2 a cinnamon stick. Smelt damn nice.

Calling it ingwerweizen!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[booldawg]

Sounds like its going to a cracker! How does champagne yeast differ to ale yeast in terms of temperature required to ferment and how long it takes to ferment out?

[drsmurto]

The champagne yeast is cleaner than an ale yeast so wont impart any flavours that you find when using an ale yeast. I generally brew around 16-22 for this yeast but make no effort to control it within that range.

It also has a higher alcohol tolerance altho i havent tested it out since i want my GB to be drinkable! I find its a bit slower than most ale yeasts but it does tend to drop out like S-04 and leave a lovely clear beer.

I have only ever used the champagne yeast to date - i am trying to make subtle changes each time so i can understand how each thing i do differently affects the end result. A scientific approach if you will......

[drsmurto]

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh, 0.5kg of old ginger for some added bite)
1 kg LDME
1.5 kg raw sugar
0.5kg caramalt - steeped
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
1 lemon, 1 lime - finely sliced
champers yeast
20L

Finally chilled a bottle of this and tasted it. Its still a touch on the dry side but has a lot more body to it. The ginger bite is amazing. I like it a lot. My partner prefers the all sugar version mixed with a bit of lemonade but i suspect thats cos this is moving towards beer.

Man i love ginger beer!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[booldawg]

I read somewhere that malt can make the ginger beer smooth and creamy. I may give that a go for the next batch. I made this up last night;

1.1kg root ginger
2 Lemons
1 Lime
4 cinnamon sticks
16 cloves
3 kg granulated sugar
250g Golden syrup
Ale yeast (Safale 04)

25L, OG 1044.

I froze the ginger overnight and thawed out on the day. It really does help release the juices from the root ginger.

As my muslin bag fell apart I jugged the ginger beer out of the pan and used a sieve, squeezing the juice out with a spoon. I felt this was better than using the bag, just hope enough of the flavour came out of the ingredients as I wasnt able to steep it in the FV. I need to invest in a proper nylon grain bag!

[Brewmonster]

looks like you may have a winner there booldawg. I used 3 kg of sugar and 2 kg of sultanas and after fermentation I have an SG of about 990!!! Turns out the champagne yeast that I was given was actually one of those 20% alcohol turbo yeasts. I am bottling it tomorrow and I am going to let it condition for a couple of weeks. I guess this one is going to be a mixer. It smells lovely though, like fresh gingerbread. I also left the ginger mush in my brew for 3 days and then transferred the fluid to another brew bin whilst using a sieve. I will know in a week or 2 if my idea worked.

[drsmurto]

Turbo yeast? Like the ones used for distilling?

I hope thats not true as these dont only produce ethanol, they produce just about every variant under the sun including some fairly unpleasant phenols. Which doesnt matter too mcuh if you are going to distill the product. Careful distillation can remove 99+% of the unwanted alcohols.

How quickly did this ferment and at what temp?

[Brewmonster]

How quickly did this ferment and at what temp?

2kg of sugar and 2kg of sultanas fermented away in a week so I added 1kg of sugar and that finished fermenting on wednesday. All told about a week and a half. It fermented at between 19-25c (temp fluctuations are not ideal I know). I am moving the whole operation into the closet on the landing where the temp is a constant 24c thanks to the hot water tank in the closet next to it.

I hope thats not true as these dont only produce ethanol, they produce just about every variant under the sun including some fairly unpleasant phenols

Oh crap!! I am going to go blind!!!

I used Gervin Yeast Strain GV26 (High alcohol, fast ferment). I specifically asked for a champagne yeast at the homebrew shop and that was what I was given. Doing a little research, in hindsight I should of used either Gervin No.3 Yellow Label or Gervin C Gold Label.

I am going to go blind arn't I?

[drsmurto]

Ok, so after a bit of searching it appears you have a wine yeast which is designed to be faster than the champagne yeast i normally use.

Turbo yeast is a distillers yeast and not for brewing beer.

Youll be fine.

[Brewmonster]

I dunno Drsmurto,

This stuff actually leaves a warm feeling in your gullet after you take a sip. Its not from the ginger, I can tell you. It does have quite a bite though. I guess I would definitely leave the ginger in for the first three days of fermenting again and then strain it off into another barrel for the rest of it's fermentation. Next time I will use 1 or 2 kgs of just plain dried malt and see how it comes out. The sultanas just made it taste too "winey"

[Blu3nose]

Just seen there recipes an went out shoppin an bought ginger lemons an glucose to give it a bash. I pitched the yeast about 3 house ago an nothin seems to be happenin. . When I pitch the yeast on my beer kits I can see it workin after about an hour. Should I be worried?