Started me Ginger Beer Brew

[Mike '77]

well as we speak the pan is simmering very gently - its been on for an hour now and the ginger is about at the right consitency- as i only gently blended the ginger root to leave me with reasonable chunks (didnt want to blend as all i'm going do is make the brew more cloudy?). the chunks are nearly soft now so i am going to leave it to cool slowly.

The recipe so far is:

1.5kg of fresh root ginger
zest and juice of 5 lemons
2kg of normal sugar (will need to adjust to reach achieved SG)
4l of filtered water pre boiled to stew and steep ingredients

my next plan is to boil 19l of filtered water, seive the steeped juice - then pass the hot water through the seive. i dont want to use cold water as my cooking experience tells me that radical changes in temp seriously affects flavour. allow to cool to room temp and read gravity - and adjust sugar to get SG of 1080. then ferment............

[adm]

Is that 1.5Kg of root ginger after peeling it? Must have been a right pig of a job if it is....

Have you done this before and if so, how did it turn out? It sounds like it will be fiery and very strong......cool!

[Mike '77]

Is that 1.5Kg of root ginger after peeling it? Must have been a right pig of a job if it is....

Have you done this before and if so, how did it turn out? It sounds like it will be fiery and very strong......cool!

I started with 1.7kg of root - i washed and trimmed all the underisable bits off (lots of flavour in the skin, like most things) and ended with 1.5kg, only took 30 mins or so, so nothing major. this is my 1st go.......


small update - added about another 0.5kg of sugar and the ginger is still stewing (2 3/4hrs) very very gently. been tasting the juice regular and the flavour is getting better and the water still opaque. its very fiery - be a good cold remedy as it is! - but i'm imaginig it being diluted.

[Mike '77]

well i allowed the "stew" to gently simmer for 3 hours - my ginger still isnt mush but the mix is very fiery so i'm hoping for a good strong ginger hit. i've covered the pot with foil to slow the cooling and allow for some extra steeping. in the morning i'll strain the mix and pass the extra boiled water slowly through the seive mix before adding the ginger water.

[jason123]

well as we speak the pan is simmering very gently - its been on for an hour now and the ginger is about at the right consitency- as i only gently blended the ginger root to leave me with reasonable chunks (didnt want to blend as all i'm gona do is make i more cloudy?). the chunks are nearly soft now so i am going to leave it to cool slowly.

The recipe so far is:

1.5kg of fresh root ginger
vest and juice of 5 lemons
2kg of normal sugar (will need to adjust to reach achieved SG)
4l of filtered water pre boiled to stew and steep ingredients

my next plan is to boil 19l of filtered water, seive the steeped juice - then pass the hot water through the seive. i dont want to use cold water as my cooking experience tells me that radical changes in temp seriously affects flavour. allow to cool to room temp and read gravity - and adjust sugar to get SG of 1080. then ferment............

What does adding a 'Vest' do for the brew. Might make it a bit stringy

[Old Speckled Ben]

I'd be interested to know how this turns out, as I am one of the afore mentioned chaps who fermented there's to dryness and it tasted foul lol

[Mike '77]

well as we speak the pan is simmering very gently - its been on for an hour now and the ginger is about at the right consitency- as i only gently blended the ginger root to leave me with reasonable chunks (didnt want to blend as all i'm gona do is make i more cloudy?). the chunks are nearly soft now so i am going to leave it to cool slowly.

The recipe so far is:

1.5kg of fresh root ginger
vest and juice of 5 lemons
2kg of normal sugar (will need to adjust to reach achieved SG)
4l of filtered water pre boiled to stew and steep ingredients

my next plan is to boil 19l of filtered water, seive the steeped juice - then pass the hot water through the seive. i dont want to use cold water as my cooking experience tells me that radical changes in temp seriously affects flavour. allow to cool to room temp and read gravity - and adjust sugar to get SG of 1080. then ferment............

What does adding a 'Vest' do for the brew. Might make it a bit stringy

[Mike '77]

I'd be interested to know how this turns out, as I am one of the afore mentioned chaps who fermented there's to dryness and it tasted foul lol

fingers crossed. just hope i dont end up with bombs, but my outside fridge sits a 2 degree celcius so hopefully that should kill fermentation?

[Old Speckled Ben]

I think that should be fine....it's well under fermentation temperature

[Mike '77]

well i've not long pitched the yeast (allowed everything to cool natutally to 20 degrees).

so the first gravity reading i took was 1050, thats 21l with nearly 2.5kg+ of sugar. so in ended up dissolving a further 2kg of sugar to get my SG of 1072.

So i now have 23l of brew with a SG of 1072 - if i start to bottle at 1040 what ABV would that be? or even better tell me how i do the calculation

Thanks OS Ben - finger crossed this goes well

[taity]

hi use the calculator at the top of the page tis the dogs nads for finding out yer %
or this one http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/calculators.php#ABV

[Mike '77]

^^ thanks - but i'm not registered on there so cant view?

i found this on a winemaking site:

"The mathematics involved in the simple calculation are: Take the difference in Original Gravity and final SG, and divide this by the magic number of 7.36"

so from that if i bottle at 1040 it should be around 4.3%
1030 5.7%
1020 7.0%

so as recommended by thedeckking i'l need to bottle at different gravities, i generally like 5% in my drinks - 4% is too low for me(more pissing than drinking!) and i drink t much for stronger tackle

Do i need to stir the brew or just leave well alone?
What's the general concensus for bottle conditioning time - and not having any sulphates what's the shelf life?

[Mike '77]

thought i would add some pics...................

here'e the brew 6 hours after pitching the yeast....



the yeast seems to be well started

i checked again after another hour.....



the picture doesnt do it justice, but the surface has cleared and the brew is fizzing very well

smells amazing, was tasty (although very sweet) before i pitched the yeast too so i'm hoping on something drinkable - priming is the next consideration..................

suggestions most welcome

[thedeckking]

Do i need to stir the brew or just leave well alone?

Leave it well alone to do it's thing.

What's the general concensus for bottle conditioning time - and not having any sulphates what's the shelf life?

Ginger beer is traditionally drunk young so as soon as it's had enough time to get fizzy then you can start drinking it. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'd have thought that the ginger taste will get duller with time so I wouldn't plan on aging it like you would a beer.

- priming is the next consideration..................

suggestions most welcome

You won't need to prime it at all. As you'll be bottling it while it's still fermenting it's just a case of leaving the bottles in the warm (this is where plastic bottles come in handy as you'll be able to feel when the pressure's built up) and then get them in the cold to stop fermentation and to help the Co2 absorb.

[Mike '77]

Do i need to stir the brew or just leave well alone?

Leave it well alone to do it's thing.

What's the general concensus for bottle conditioning time - and not having any sulphates what's the shelf life?

Ginger beer is traditionally drunk young so as soon as it's had enough time to get fizzy then you can start drinking it. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'd have thought that the ginger taste will get duller with time so I wouldn't plan on aging it like you would a beer.

- priming is the next consideration..................

suggestions most welcome

You won't need to prime it at all. As you'll be bottling it while it's still fermenting it's just a case of leaving the bottles in the warm (this is where plastic bottles come in handy as you'll be able to feel when the pressure's built up) and then get them in the cold to stop fermentation and to help the Co2 absorb.

thanks a lot for your input - well appreciated

i have just took a sample and read the gravity - its down to just over 1050. i took a lil taste and it tastes very well, fizzy too so should be ready for some bottling tomoz.

i undersatnd what you say about priming but my thought was that the sugar i prime with, will be used in the carbonation process leaving me with pretty much the same gravity that i bottled........................