Ginger beer

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Thanks for the recipe Pittsy.
opened the first bottle of this last night, very nice and strong and it's only been in the bottles a week.
thanks again.
 
RobWalker said:
^ I hear head retention and mouthfeel, i'd just chuck some DME in myself :s

Would the addition of some DME not change the characteristics from beer to ale?

If it's a ginger ale your after, try this light and refreshing recipe. :thumb:

4 Kg's Pale Malt
300 g's Crystal Malt
70 g's Goldings (90 min's)
30 g's Ginger root (15 min's)

90 min's mash @ 67 C
90 min's boil
5 gallon batch should be about 3.5 % ABV

Regards Eddie.
 
TheMulleredMule said:
RobWalker said:
^ I hear head retention and mouthfeel, i'd just chuck some DME in myself :s

Would the addition of some DME not change the characteristics from beer to ale?

If it's a ginger ale your after, try this light and refreshing recipe. :thumb:

4 Kg's Pale Malt
300 g's Crystal Malt
70 g's Goldings (90 min's)
30 g's Ginger root (15 min's)

90 min's mash @ 67 C
90 min's boil
5 gallon batch should be about 3.5 % ABV

Regards Eddie.

yeah, but unhopped. You need to add sugar for ABV in ginger beer anyway, then all you hear about it how thin and boring it is and people start throwing all sorts of useless **** like lactose and sweetener in - DME would add sweetness, body, you could even get toffee flavour in there with crystal malt.

Sod it, i'ma try it next week.
 
Has any one tried this with so5 yeast?? Do you think it would work?
Thanks
 
Started a 4.5 Litre batch of this the other night (as per Pittsy's suggested recipe, although downsized) and then realised I had no champagne yeast so have used super wine compound instead...its fermenting like a good un still so think it will be ok, what effect will that have on the flavour do you think?
 
I have found that this has a sour sort of taste to it, so i added two canderel tablets (crushed) to a pint and it tastes a lot better. Not sure if i'm drinking it too early but it may improve with a bit more age to it.

:cheers:
 
Hey guys, noob question I'm afraid.
1. How much water roughly when you simmer up.
2. How long in the FV and how long in the bottle until its ready?
3. Will it be ok in a demijohn, And should it have a bubble airlock?
4. Any other advice gladly accepted
 
also - if I scale down to only 1 gal (DJ) - which ingredients do I reduce to a fifth, and which do I leave the same?
e.g. is 1kg of ginger way too much for one gallon? should it only be 200g?

I'm guessing that I'll still need a whole sachet of yeast. I'd only add 1tsp of nutrient though.
would 1 line and 1 lenon be too much, or ok?
obviously not putting 2.5kg of sugar in 1 gallon, but might still use a whole teaspoon of tartar.

any contradictions to this welcome before I buy the ingredients at the weekend.
 
personally , after brewing this twice i would say original recipe needs more ginger (fresh and powder ) half of sugar (if not more) should be replaced with light dry malt extract , maybe half of lemon and lime and add a few cloves and seven spice around 4 tsp for 23l brew, it will also need a long time to condition . It tastes like **** for a few months then gets better (but i bet after 6 months or so it will be good) I would also use an ale yeast next time as it ferments out too dry and lacks body (i used dme )
 
Here's how I prepared the recipe last night.

recaptured yeast starter made 24 hrs earlier with 1 litre AJ, 1tsp nutrient

400g of fresh ginger, finely grated into pan.
1 lime and 1 lemon, thickly sliced and squeezed into pan
1 tsp of cream of tartar.
boiling water added on top, up to about 4 pints - simmered for about 30 mins.
400g of sugar (mix of caster, light demerera, and dark muscovado), 100g of honey, 1 mug of well stewed 2 tea bag tea, 1tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, 4 cloves crushed, all added to ginger liquid, stirred to disolve all the sugar.
all this strained through muslin, into a big bowl, and left to cool.
at 30 deg C, poured into DJ, added yeast starter, and topped up to shoulder of DJ

SG reading was 1.054

currently fermenting at 78 bpm (bloops per minute). topped up this morning with filtered water, which stirred sediment, and increased the lava effect.
 
Hi Pittsy, I''ve just laid down a 5 gallon brew of your ginger beer recipe. How long should I leave it in the bucket before bottling? And then how long before its drinkable? Hoping to have it ready for Christmas. I've heard I should use plastic bottles rather than glass?

While I'm on, I tried my first ever elderflower champagne earlier this year - it tasted right at first, but I added wine yeast as I wanted it stronger and with more sparkle. The fermentation went crackers though, resulting in what seems to be a dry sparkling white, with the elderflower taste. It seems drinkable, although VERY lively - what do you all reckon?
 
Got mine going earlier today with a slightly different recipe

500g grated ginger
1 lemon
1 lime
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp glycerine
454g jar of honey

Boiled up the ginger, lemon and lime. Added the honey at the end. Left to cool and added the rest to the DJ and topped up to roughly 4 litres. SG about 1.030 but couldn't read accurately. The aim is to produce something gingery but not fiery and not too dry. I am not the target audience for the drink so I'll see how it turns out.
 
Bottled mine earlier today. Does seem a little bit fiery but I think it was partly because I was expecting it. Will give a proper review when it comes to drinking time.
 
Crastney I think I will try a brew like yours, have you tried it yet? I did the Fiery Ginger Beer as directed in the other thread, but all I could taste was the ginger. And I don't like ginger much, so i wasn't too impressed, but SIL said it was great so I'd like to try another batch for her, with honey, brown sugar and maybe some spices. Would a jar of maple syrup be nice in this?
 
Hi guys!

I've put together the first ginger beer recipe on the post but, with a few modifications and scaled it down to a gallon.

200g ginger
1/2 a lime and lemon
400g sugar
1 heaped tsp of ginger powder
1 tsp glycerin
1 tsp nutrient
1 tsp wine yeast

O.G. 1.036

Boiling this up smelt great, and it cleared my nose ha ha!

I didn't want it to strong as it's for the wife. I was looking to bottle and prime but also have a bit sweetness. I was going to ferment it to about 1.000 bottle at 1/2 tsp sugar, and I've read somewhere about unfermentable suger, can i use these to sweeten? any idea where or what these are?

Cheers Chris.
 
had to split the 5 gallons between 2 barrels. One of them has gone OK - after 2 weeks, nicely fermented, gingery, fizzy, a little bitter but have added Canderel to sweeten it back up - took 20 teaspoons of the stuff. Im guessing flavour will continue to improve after bottling. Fermentation has about stopped now.
The other bucket, fermentation went mental - a very bitter brew, which even back-sweetening cant help.
I'm going to do another batch now, and go a bit easier on the amount of yeast, in the hope of a less harsh brew. Should ginger beer have a slight sweetness to it? I'm sure it shouldnt taste harsh and bitter though.

Could really use the feedback on this guys.
 
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