Why Has My Ginger Beer Become Clear?

[MBbrewer]

Hi all :)
So i started a 5 litre ginger beer brew on the 19th of January, it has only just stopped bubbling from the airlock but the brew is almost clear albeit a yellow/brownish tinge.

is this normal or has my brew turned into vinegar? My SG was roughly 1.046 however once settled I noticed a lot of undissolved sugar at the bottom. Have I accidently made ginger wine instead.
I will be racking up tomorrow so will have a taste test. I am uncertain though is the SG was actually that low what with the undissolved sugars? Does this affect the SG reading taken when brew is mixed?
Cheers! Matt

 

[Scottyburto]

What was your recipe and what is your current gravity?

 

[Nicks90]

Mine did the same almost completely clear . Tasted great thoigh

 

[MBbrewer]

What was your recipe and what is your current gravity?

Recipe was 250g of Blended Ginger, 1 pint of granulated sugar and 1 tsp of Lalvin Champagne yeast, Cheers!

Sorry, Will check the SG tomorrow.

 

[Scottyburto]

How much have you made?

 

[MBbrewer]

How much have you made?

5 Litres/1 gallon demijohn, forgot to mention the juice of 1 unwaxed lemon also

 

[Scottyburto]

Not knowing how much a pint of sugar is without checking, I'd imagine it's quite a bit and your ginger beer is quite strong which will make it thin in mouth feel and possibly clearer, more akin to ginger wine. Did u peel the ginger or blend it whole?

I started by doing this recipe...

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/fiery-ginger-beer.3826/
Which was very good.

I've since used frozen ginger a few times and ended up with a clear consistency more akin to a cider. I've also tried steeping some oats to create mouth feel but that muted the ginger a bit too much.

I'd say using fresh ginger is definitely better, just a bit off putting at £4.50 a kilo.

If you're new to brewing best advice is to worry less, if you don't like it it's not cost you much and you're armed with more knowledge for next time.

 

[Slid]

Greg Hughes has a recipe for 23L litres of ginger beer using 150g of fresh ginger. That's 68p's worth @ £4.50 a kilo, or 3p a litre.

 

[Cwrw666]

Greg Hughes has a recipe for 23L litres of ginger beer using 150g of fresh ginger. That's 68p's worth @ £4.50 a kilo, or 3p a litre.

Yes but his recipe is not ginger beer, but proper beer with a bit of ginger flavouring it. Not the same thing at all.

 

[MBbrewer]

Thanks for the replies! I used fresh ginger and left the skin on. Just had a taste test and it is very dry and very alcoholic. Bottled it up anyway along with some priming sugar.

Now I know to dissolve the sugar fully to get an accurate SG at the start and to probably use a little less sugar. Will have a look at some of the recipes suggested, I’m after something that will have an end abv of 6-7% :)

 

[Slid]

Yes but his recipe is not ginger beer, but proper beer with a bit of ginger flavouring it. Not the same thing at all.

Yes, I think GH is fairly clear that this is the case. I have had a taster of this and I would be unlikely to repeat the experiment, if I'm honest!

 

[Cwrw666]

Yes, I think GH is fairly clear that this is the case. I have had a taster of this and I would be unlikely to repeat the experiment, if I'm honest!

I seem to remember getting a bottle of Badger brewery beer with ginger from Tescos that was totally underwhelming. Though I have been thinking of having a go at one - I'm currently drinking a chili IPA which is frankly awesome, basically GH's English IPA but with fresh chilis added to the boil. Took me about 5 brews to get the amount and type of chilis to what I like so I assume a ginger version would be similar - too little and it would be an annoying flavouring, too much and it might well be unpleasant.