Why Has My Ginger Beer Become Clear?

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MBbrewer

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2021
Messages
7
Reaction score
5
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
 
Mine did the same almost completely clear . Tasted great thoigh
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20201223_212053.jpg
    IMG_20201223_212053.jpg
    26.3 KB · Views: 48
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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% :)
 
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!
 
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.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top