Ginger ale with rhubarb recipe

[fury_tea]

Recipe for 12L:
1L apple and rhubarb juice (I wanted pure rhubarb but this was the closest I could find)
540g rhubarb in syrup
100g stem ginger in syrup
100g crystalised stem ginger
400g fresh ginger
600g granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 heaped tsp of cream of tartar
1 tsp pectolase
2 tsp yeast nutrient
Topped up to 12L with campden treated water

A sprinkling of: chilli flakes, nutmeg, cinnamon and a clove

Yeast: 6g ale yeast left over from a Wilkos kit

All solids were chopped and added to the sugar, boiled for 15 minutes then strained into a hop bag and added (along with the boiling liquid) to the fermenter.

If it is lacking in ginger flavours near the end of fermentation I might "dry hop" with more fresh ginger.

SG 1.034

Aiming for 4.5% to 5%, then add sorbate and metabi, backsweeten with sugar and force carb in keg.

Hoping for a refreshing but punchy summer ginger ale with a hint of rhubarb.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

With that much ginger it would be quite surprising if it tasted much of rhubarb.

 

[fury_tea]

With that much ginger it would be quite surprising if it tasted much of rhubarb.

I looked at a number of other recipes before coming up with this and I've brewed ginger ale before so to my tastes I don't think this is a massive amount. Some recipes use up to 500g in one gallon, others around 200g in a gallon. I'm making well over 2 gallons so decided on 400g of fresh and 200g of crystalised and syrup. Don't forget this is added before fermentation so a lot of favour compounds will be driven off in the process of fermentation.

Regarding the rhubarb, I made a gallon of cider with 1L of that rhubarb and apple juice and 4L of regular apple juice and you could definitely taste the rhubarb.

I'm just after a hint of rhubarb in this, but if it is seriously lacking after a couple of weeks I may add another tin of rhubarb.

 

[fury_tea]

Update:
This slowed down yesterday and stopped bubbling last night, thought there was an issue so I tested the gravity tonight and it's at 0.998 which I guess is the FG. 2-3 days to fg is possibly the quickest ferment I've ever had.

Had a taste and it's yeasty but pretty nice already. I'll give it a few more days at this temp then remove the solids and crash it, to see if it'll clear up at all. Then backsweeten and keg.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

Update:
This slowed down yesterday and stopped bubbling last night, thought there was an issue so I tested the gravity tonight and it's at 0.998 which I guess is the FG. 2-3 days to fg is possibly the quickest ferment I've ever had.

Wow that was fast! Did you you use some super mega yeast or something?!?! lol

 

[fury_tea]

Wow that was fast! Did you you use some super mega yeast or something?!?! lol

I actually used a 6g sachet of 'lager yeast', one left over from of the wilko premium lager kits. If I'm not wrong it's just gervin/Nottingham.

Fermented at 20c but I rushed and accidentally pitched warm (30c) and had to put it in the sink with some ice water to bring the temp down, which took about an hour, and which I thought might have had a detrimental effect, but it seems fine.

 

[fury_tea]

2nd update:

9 days since I started this.

Kegged with sorbate and campden left for 48hrs, just backsweetened it (10L keg, 10 teaspoons of Demerara, 10 teaspoons of white sugar dissolved in a pan with a cup of water).

It's not carbed yet but my god it's bloody lovely. Not very sweet, it's still a bit dry but the sugar really took the edge off so that suits me.

There's not a huge amount of rhubarb taste, to say "a hint" might be overstating it (@Mr_S_Jerusalem was right there), the ginger isn't massively in your face either.

Next time I might drop the rhubarb all together and just use a cheap apple juice (or maybe try a different juice like cranberry for example).

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

At least it tastes good - my tomato wine smells like sulphur right now lol

It sounds like a curious ginger beer, perfect for warmer days ahead!

Personally I think apple juice works well in loads of things. Makes a great top up as well.