Did you add priming sugar? If so it should still prime at 16 degrees, it'll just take a while. 2 weeks at 20 degrees is the recommended norm, dropping the temp down to 16 degrees would probably require a month.
HTH :)
HTH :)
Coopers Ginger Beer Review
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Right then.
Put this in last Sunday. The pack, a 903g tin of Golden Syrup, about 2 inches of root ginger grated and 2 TSP of ginger powder. In the FV, water heater set at 24 degrees.
Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday - Holy ****. The air lock sounds like a coffee maker - must be about 8 seconds between each bubble going through.
Friday - Up to 12 seconds per bubble. I think I may have to leave this a few more days. It's still going. Just lifted the corner of the lid and it smells great.
The plan was to bottle tomorrow but getting the feeling that it may need time to calm down....
Reporting back as soon as I dare go near it again....
Put this in last Sunday. The pack, a 903g tin of Golden Syrup, about 2 inches of root ginger grated and 2 TSP of ginger powder. In the FV, water heater set at 24 degrees.
Monday - Nothing
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Nothing
Thursday - Holy ****. The air lock sounds like a coffee maker - must be about 8 seconds between each bubble going through.
Friday - Up to 12 seconds per bubble. I think I may have to leave this a few more days. It's still going. Just lifted the corner of the lid and it smells great.
The plan was to bottle tomorrow but getting the feeling that it may need time to calm down....
Reporting back as soon as I dare go near it again....
Bottling after only 1 week of fermenting is far too early IMO. Should be at least 2 weeks between fermenting and bottling, I tend to go with nearer 3.
The recipe you have made sounds quite similar to what I went with, it won't be very strong unfortunately as it'll barely hit 3%. It will also need a long time to mature due to the ginger root, it leaves an earthy taste for quite a while, I believe my bottles are around 2 months old now and it's just starting to dissipate.
Good luck with it anyway :)
The recipe you have made sounds quite similar to what I went with, it won't be very strong unfortunately as it'll barely hit 3%. It will also need a long time to mature due to the ginger root, it leaves an earthy taste for quite a while, I believe my bottles are around 2 months old now and it's just starting to dissipate.
Good luck with it anyway :)
ovenbeasts
Active Member
I've made this kit twice before and in the process of conditioning the 3rd batch in time for Christmas.
I've always made a modified version of the kit. This time round I boiled up about 8 litres of water (liquor) with about 200g of grated fresh root ginger, 3 red chillis (seeds in, home grown and bloody hot), about 10 cloves, 25ml of vanilla essence and a couple of tablespoons of quality cinnamon. This was then filtered and the liquor added to the FV with additional water to take total volume up to 23 litres and an additional 500g of soft brown sugar.
I used a brew belt to maintain FV temp around 22C and had vigorous fermentation for first 6-8 days. When the fermentation started to subside I reduced the temp to room temp (about 16-18C) and left in FV for a total of 15 days. Final Gravity 1002 with a predicted ABV of 5.7%.
This time round I've bottled it in Cooper's plastic bottles with Cooper's priming drops. On the previous occasions I racked it into a pressure barrel and it maintained its head and body with a decent amount of carbonation without the need for much additional CO2.
Never experienced the artificial sweetener taste but as I add so much other stuff to it maybe the taste is masked. I've deliberately brewed it to be more of a Christmas drink. Its not as polished (or clear) as a Spiced Crabbies or such like but I've not had any complaints from the relatives and most people seem to like the warming chilli kick they get after swallowing but don't get the taste of chilli. Keeps the cold out anyway.
First tastes are promising with a lot of the additional spice coming through.
Will let you know if a few weeks how its going.
I've always made a modified version of the kit. This time round I boiled up about 8 litres of water (liquor) with about 200g of grated fresh root ginger, 3 red chillis (seeds in, home grown and bloody hot), about 10 cloves, 25ml of vanilla essence and a couple of tablespoons of quality cinnamon. This was then filtered and the liquor added to the FV with additional water to take total volume up to 23 litres and an additional 500g of soft brown sugar.
I used a brew belt to maintain FV temp around 22C and had vigorous fermentation for first 6-8 days. When the fermentation started to subside I reduced the temp to room temp (about 16-18C) and left in FV for a total of 15 days. Final Gravity 1002 with a predicted ABV of 5.7%.
This time round I've bottled it in Cooper's plastic bottles with Cooper's priming drops. On the previous occasions I racked it into a pressure barrel and it maintained its head and body with a decent amount of carbonation without the need for much additional CO2.
Never experienced the artificial sweetener taste but as I add so much other stuff to it maybe the taste is masked. I've deliberately brewed it to be more of a Christmas drink. Its not as polished (or clear) as a Spiced Crabbies or such like but I've not had any complaints from the relatives and most people seem to like the warming chilli kick they get after swallowing but don't get the taste of chilli. Keeps the cold out anyway.
First tastes are promising with a lot of the additional spice coming through.
Will let you know if a few weeks how its going.
johnnyboy1965
Landlord.
Do not use freshly grated ginger....its way to harsh...buy a jar of stem ginger and keep on topping up with stock syrup
silvers
New Member
I am concidering of doing this kit, but it seems to have so many controversal opinions about it... :)
Would you compare it with Ginger Joe or is it something totally different? Should I give it a try?
Would you compare it with Ginger Joe or is it something totally different? Should I give it a try?
parkinson4566
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Hi Fellas, I've had this kit in the FV for 2 weeks now and it's ready for bottling. It does however have a sacchrin-ey diet fizzy drink aftertaste to it. Is there a way to eradicate this when bottle priming? Add extra sugar to prime or maybe a touch of honey?
Thanks.
Thanks.
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parkinson4566 I've done this kit a couple of times, how long have you had brew in bottles.
My first brew only definitely got better with age i found the artificial sweetener taste reduced and was almost gone after about 8 weeks in the bottles.
This is definitely one that needs time to condition before drinking.
If you add honey or more sugar at bottling all that will happen is that the sugars will be converted to alcohol in secondary fermentation and you could over carb
the brew , when you open a bottle it goes everywhere or if in glass you will have bottle bombs.
My first brew only definitely got better with age i found the artificial sweetener taste reduced and was almost gone after about 8 weeks in the bottles.
This is definitely one that needs time to condition before drinking.
If you add honey or more sugar at bottling all that will happen is that the sugars will be converted to alcohol in secondary fermentation and you could over carb
the brew , when you open a bottle it goes everywhere or if in glass you will have bottle bombs.
Going to put this on tonight. Got two cans, 1kg brew sugar, 1kg light soft brown sugar, 500g extra light malt, big stick of fresh ginger.
Going to steep the ginger for 30min with a pinch of chilli flakes and cinnamon, then add sugars to dissolve. Then add the two tins (warmed)to the fv and add the liquid on top. Think i will fill to 23L, take a gravity reading, then may add more water, depending on how high it is.
Going to steep the ginger for 30min with a pinch of chilli flakes and cinnamon, then add sugars to dissolve. Then add the two tins (warmed)to the fv and add the liquid on top. Think i will fill to 23L, take a gravity reading, then may add more water, depending on how high it is.
Ohhhh yehhhhh! If this tastes as good / better than this in 6-7mths, im onto a winner. It tastes perfect now, could happily just decant it now and drink it like this.
Proper nice burn initially, fades away then leaves a good tingle in the throat, lovely and balanced. Not to sweet, not too sharp. Will post what i added in a bit, going to pitch yeast in a bit. Roll on the summer!
Sitting at 1.044, so of it gets to 1.004 (some have gone lower) it should hit 5.3%, which is what i was aiming for.
Proper nice burn initially, fades away then leaves a good tingle in the throat, lovely and balanced. Not to sweet, not too sharp. Will post what i added in a bit, going to pitch yeast in a bit. Roll on the summer!
Sitting at 1.044, so of it gets to 1.004 (some have gone lower) it should hit 5.3%, which is what i was aiming for.
So, 2L of water in big pan, added
5tsp ginger powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
8 black peppercorns
100g fresh ginger
2tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon and carcass
1tsp fresh crushed red chilli
1kg light soft brown sugar
1kg brewing sugar
500g extra light spray malt
454g tin golden syrup
300g granulated sugar
Brought to boil, heated for 45mins, strained, mashed the remains and strained.
Two tins of ginger beer in hot water, added to fv, other mix was cooled by then, added to fv.
Topped to 23L.
Cooled. 1.046.
Yeast pitched at 18c.
Toot toot!
5tsp ginger powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
8 black peppercorns
100g fresh ginger
2tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon and carcass
1tsp fresh crushed red chilli
1kg light soft brown sugar
1kg brewing sugar
500g extra light spray malt
454g tin golden syrup
300g granulated sugar
Brought to boil, heated for 45mins, strained, mashed the remains and strained.
Two tins of ginger beer in hot water, added to fv, other mix was cooled by then, added to fv.
Topped to 23L.
Cooled. 1.046.
Yeast pitched at 18c.
Toot toot!
Still no activity yet...
2cm head building, water in airlock is pushed right over, but no bubbles yet, pressure building so at least there is some progress.
Going crazy today, 2" head, nearly into airlock, bubbling constantly.
Had to clean the airlock three times now? Its got 5" of headspace!
Kitchen is full of gingery brewness, even the boss likes the smell of it!
Kitchen is full of gingery brewness, even the boss likes the smell of it!
Cleaned the airlock, again!
Oh dear. Lost nearly a litre overnight and no signs of slowing down.
Down to 1.006 today, still chugging on, will check again midweek.
Lost some of its gingerness, so not sure about simmering up some pulped fresh ginger and adding it to the fv??
Lost some of its gingerness, so not sure about simmering up some pulped fresh ginger and adding it to the fv??
Down to 1.000, bubbling stopped, so thats 6.1%abv using calculator. Added extra boiled ginger last night as flavour had dropped off a bit. Tasted good from trial jar tonight.
Brewed this kit today using:
Coopers Ginger Beer Kit
1kg dextrose
500g Muntons light spray malt
topped up to 22l
Had a OG of 1032 which i thought was a touch low.
Smells and tastes quite good from the FV! Things can only get better, hopefully! :whistle:
Coopers Ginger Beer Kit
1kg dextrose
500g Muntons light spray malt
topped up to 22l
Had a OG of 1032 which i thought was a touch low.
Smells and tastes quite good from the FV! Things can only get better, hopefully! :whistle:
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