brewing newbie- ginger beer

[Mhead]

Hi all, just after some advice.
I started my first ever brew, a coopers ginger beer kit 12 days ago and it still seems to be fermenting.
I followed the kit to the instructions and added no extra ingredients.
My starting SG was 10.022 and it has been kept at a temp of about 18 to 22 degrees.

Day seven the SG was 10.012, day 9 was 10.011, and day 11 was 10.009.

So a couple of questions if you dont mind;
Presumably it is taking longer to ferment due to the coldish temp?
Is it likely to reach 10.000?
Does a long ferment time affect the product?
Will the bubbles die away at the same time as the primary fermentation ends?
The reason i am nervous is that i plan to bottle and have read plenty of stories about bottling too early creating bombs.

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for any advice.

Image below was taken tonight, day 12.

 

[Essex_Lad]

Hi,

I started one of these 11 days ago, SG was 1035 and checking tonight its 1010 which is 3.3%,The tin says 3.5% so im going to give it till sunday and then bottle her up.

Looking at your photo mine also looked the same, looking forward to trying it as it smells lovely :

Keep us posted as to how yours turns out.

Cheers

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome to the forum. Looking at your picture you need to leave it alone to ferment out. BTW your hydrometer readings are 1.009 not 10.009. Just me being picky Seems very vigorous for such a low reading, but it is obviously still fermenting so leave it alone.

 

[Mhead]

Thanks for this, as much information as there is on the net, it's good to get some specific reassurance.
Apologies for the extra zero, of course it makes no sense at all to have water at 10.000, I must have got confused along the way.

Essex_Lad: Did you get the SG of 1.035 with just the 1kg of sugar?

If I'm correct, 3.5% would require me to have a FG of 0.995 which surely is never going to happen? Perhaps my first sample reading was a bit off?

Certainly looks like there is a lot of bubbling action but I'm not sure if this will die down and indicate the end of fermentation.

One last question with regards to when it comes time to bottle. Is it simply just a case of siphoning off into a bottling bucket which already contains diluted priming sugar. Then go straight from this into the bottles?

Thanks again for any advice.

 

[Essex_Lad]

Hi,

yes, 1035 using 1kg of sugar, im looking to get it down to 1008 but 1010 will do.

I will bottle mine with 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar in each, cap and then shake - but you could batch prime if you wanted.

This link is handy for working out the % : calculators.php

Your SG does sound abit low but I wouldnt worry too much, just wait till it stopped bubbling give it a few more days so you are getting the same reading for two days or so and then bottle.

You will learn loads the more brews that you do :

 

[Mhead]

Good stuff, thanks again.

It went down to and stayed about 1.006 over the weekend so I bottled it yesterday with 1/2 teaspoon in each 500ml bottle. Works out at about 16 days in the primary fermenter, as opposed to the 6 days suggested on the kit.

So I presume now leave it to carbonate for a couple of weeks? Question is, is it ok to do this at about 16 degrees or so? Will it just take longer?

The reason being I don't want to put the bottles back under the stairs at 20 degrees in case some of them go pop.

Funny how much you learn, already planning a lager kit next.

 

[pittsy]

How much did this kit cost
You can make it yourself for around 6 quid plus yeast and av around 7% and I'm sure much nicer ,
1 kg root ginger
2.5kg sugar
2 limes
2 lemons
Yeast nutrient
1 tsp cream of tarter
Champagne yeast

 

[AVFC BREWER]

pittsy whats the instructions on how to do this recipe cheers

 

[Mhead]

Thanks for the recipe. The kit cost about 11 quid but I was happy to pay that for my first attempt. It does taste a bit sweet though which perhaps the artificial sweeteners are contributing towards.

A bit concerned that I've got the bottles secondary fermenting at too cold a temperature, anyone any thoughts?

 

[pittsy]

i would put em back under the stairs for about 5 days , 20c is ideal 16 is a bit low same as brew temps really .
And this is the ginger beer recipe that some one else posted that i have fermenting at the moment ill just post all the was posted about it off others as info may help out ....as follows...


Fiery Ginger Beer 5 gallons also another recipe at bottom of page

1kg Fresh grated ginger
1tsp Cream of tartar
2 lemons
2 limes
2.5kg Sugar
2tsp Yeast nutrient
1 sachet champagne yeast Use S-04 yeast. That's the only one that worked for me

Really quick and easy (and cheap) to do - ginger was donated so very cheap

First i grated the ginger into a large pan

Then added the sliced and squeezed lemons and limes, cream of tartar - topped up with boiling water and simmered for 30mins (lovely smell )

Next i dissolved all the sugar in the ginger liquor and then put everything into the FV and topped up with cold water

The temp adjusted OG was 1045

Dry pitched the yeast......done

Dependant on what it ferments out to it should be between 6 and 8% ferment at 18C should see you right! But 16 to 20 ok too

This has got to be the summer barbie drink,, you know the one that turns your unsuspecting mates into blubbering wrecks.....
Whats the Mocow Mule recipe.
2 fingers of vodka on crushed ice, a dash of lime topped up with fiery ginger beer.
Hold onto yer brain its going interseller.

it could ferment out in 3 to 4 days
so I added a little splenda and it was fine. Super fizzzy stuff,
the sweeting effect of "Splenda" is instant It is certainly fiery, no need to add chilli to this puppy. I think carbonated and chilled and mixed with Vodka it will be the mutts nutts

, for a 7% brew this could get you into trouble as it doesn`t taste of alcohol at all Will make this again for summer BBQ`s and unsuspecting guests

if you want to tone down the ginger just use less as you guessed - i would probably leave all the dried out and go with just fresh - as little or much as you think (maybe do a gallon in a DJ as a taste sample) Good luck with it though

andymacintyre - i think some one posted above about using splenda - i think but i`m not sure that you can put it in when you prime as it won`t ferment -

yeah Bigal just add as much splenda or sweetner as you like - i bottled mine with out sweetning and next time i will sweeten first! I added a tsp off caster sugar to a pint after opening and it tasted great - adds a bit of body too, will be good as amixer too

Yes it's perfectly ok to add sugar as well as Splenda.
Personaly I ony add sugar at the rate of 0.5 tsp per litre

you may notice mention of ginger powder its not in recipe as i feel too hot so dismissed it
:thumb:

 

[Mhead]

Thanks for this, i have put them back under the stairs.

Is it wrong to be considering starting the above recipe without even having tasted this kit?!

 

[pittsy]

great idea that way you can test them against each other