# Matso's Ginger Beer



## stef

Sucking one of these down at the moment. So good. I'm pretty keen to do a ginger beer (been thinking about it for a while) and i'd love to make one very similar to Matso's- same balance of sweetness/tartness/ginger bite. Has anyone tried a clone, or has anyone had Matso's ginger beer and reckon their recipe is similar? I saw Dr Smurtos and like the look of it- not sure if it would have the same sweet smoothness though... Any thoughts?

Cheers


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## SuiCIDER

I lurrrve my ginger beer, and have been looking for a good recipe for a long time. Most recipes I try taste like ginger-water.


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## stef

SuiCIDER said:


> I lurrrve my ginger beer, and have been looking for a good recipe for a long time. Most recipes I try taste like ginger-water.



Yeah, thats the problem, eh? Have you tried matso's? Pretty good. Doesnt look like anyones got a recipe though....


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## bum

There's recipes all over this forum. Up to you to work out if they're what you want or not.

Maybe you got no response because you're using a little known, regional frame of reference?


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## stef

bum said:


> There's recipes all over this forum. Up to you to work out if they're what you want or not.
> 
> Maybe you got no response because you're using a little known, regional frame of reference?




I was under the impression that they were a bit more well known than they obviously are. They are up in Broome, WA. Not a big brewery at all, but they do make some pretty unique brews.

I've only been able to find 1 or 2 recipes for ginger beer and i was kind of hoping people would be able to share their experiences with GB, as i've never brewed one and hence wouldnt know if i was looking at a great recipe or not. I have, however, sampled several (homebrewed by others), most of which tasted like gingery/peppery/spicey water, so i was hoping to try and avoid this by getting some hints from those who have brewed a good one. 

Cheers,

Stef


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## bum

I've brewed kit GBs and scratch GBs. The scratch GBs have always been the least appealing to me. Insipid, watery, lifeless. The kits can be okay but for my money you really need to mix it up with lots of extras to be decent. 

My base GB recipe is now:
1 Coopers kit
1 bottle Buderim's Ginger Refresher
750g raw sugar
250g dark brown sugar

and then from there I play around with varying amounts of fresh ginger on top, and loads of different spice additions (off the top of my head I've used chili, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, curry leaves, cloves but I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting).

I recently did this base minus the Ginger Refresher and found it to be overly sweet - this stuff dries the kit out enough to make the artificial sweeteners less obvious (extra ginger and the spices help here, of course).

A user here by the name of GravityGuru has a recipe in the DB that has pretty much the same base as mine (I presume we both took ours from a user named Franko but I dunno where you'd find that post) - it is well regarded and worth your time having a look.


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## stef

Sweet, thanks man. I'll look it up and see if i can find it.


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## brettprevans

stef said:


> I've only been able to find 1 or 2 recipes for ginger beer Stef


searching for ginger beer gives 6 pages of results where ginger beer is in the title. plenty iof reading for you


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## The Giant

As above, if you search using the google function above right then you get heaps of recipies

I to am just about to put down a cooper GB kit.

From my reading yesterday I'm going to add:
750ml bottle of ginger refresher or ginger cordial
1kg of raw sugar or brown sugar, by the sounds of it this will help with the sweetness as maybe it doesnt fully ferment? leaving some sweetness
also going to boil 4 lemons juice and zest
and I also found a few people suggesting using like a coopers BE2 mix to add some dry malt to it, this will also pump up the alcohol content with the dextrose and maltidex


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## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_

Hey mate. This will hopefully be ready for australia day. Is the third i have done without tweaking the recipie.

1 x Morgans GB KIT
1 x bottle of Buderiim's Ginger Refresher
10 large juiced lemons, the zest of 4 or 5
500g raw sugar
5 x hot red chillis sliced and thrown in the fermenter
250g Fresh Grated Ginger (pick out all bits of finger tips and knuckles that go through the grater :lol: )
US-05 and Yeast Nutrient @ about 18deg

CC for about 1 1/2 weeks to 2 weeks to settle out all the shit.

This is a "smack in the face" of a ginger hit recipie, Never done GG's brew yet but search the recipie DB, i think it has a couple of liquers in it.


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## Phoney

Here is my tried and tested recipe that im making as I write this: 

Ingredients:

1 Coopers kit ginger beer
800g raw sugar
250g DARK brown sugar
500g fresh ginger 
50g powdered ginger 
250g yellowbox honey
5 birdseye chili's sliced, seeds and all.
2 whole cloves
1tsp nutmeg
1tsp cinnamon

Method:
snap the fresh ginger into chunks and then put it into a food processer until it all becomes processed. If you dont have a food processer, I suppose you could coarsely grate it all?

Bring 3 litres of water to boil in a big soup pot.
add honey and chillis, close the lid and boil @ 45 mins.
add fresh ginger, and powdered ginger, boil @ 30 mins.
add the dark brown sugar, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and boil @ 15 mins.
turn the heat off, but keep the lid on the whole time. Cool pot in a water bath.

now make your kit ginger beer as per the instructions using the 800g of raw sugar, and a litre of boiling water to disolve it all. By now the stuff in the pot should have cooled down a fair bit.

Then using a very large metal sterile sieve strain the liquid from your soup pot into the fermenter and chuck the solids left behind out.

Top up to 20L, then ferment for 2 weeks at 20-22C, bottle for at least 6 weeks before drinking.

OG: 1034
FG: 1005
Alcohol - 4.3%


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## fergyle

that looks great, phoney 

i'll give it a go in a couple of weeks and let you know how it turns out!


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## Bizier

I have been thinking about the same thing after trying it. I am pretty sure they must filter then back sweeten it, or have unfermentable sugars from crystal malt there, and use enough ginger to just balance the sweetness out. However they do it, it is on the bloody money. Lush drop.


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## brendanos

Would it help if I told you that Matso's Ginger Beer isn't beer?


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## Jimboley

Something I've been playing around with... adding extra spices and ginger to the keg or bottle.
It started with rum oak chips, then chilli and now homemade liqueurs/spirits

250g Fresh ginger roughly chopped & bruised/bashed (Candied or glace ginger works well too)
1 clove & 1 stick of Cinnamon (use chilli or any other spice you want)
300mL Vodka 40%ABV (if you run a cheap bottle it thru a brita filter a few times it will be a little cleaner)

Put all this in a airtight jar about a week before you brew your GB
Then add it direct into the bottles or keg, 
If you make this a month or longer the spirit will take on more spice so you dont have to use as much to get the same hit.

My basic GB recipe:

500g Raw Sugar
500g Dextrose
250g LDME
250g Maltodextrin (if your misses doesnt care about a head then leave this out) no pun intended
100-200g Fresh Ginger peeled and grated (depends on how rich you feel- the more the better)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice

1 can of Morgans or Coopers Gingerbeer

Add all ingredients except the can of goo to 5L of water and simmer on moderate heat for 20 mins.
Bing to a hard boil for 1 min then remove from the heat. Add Ice to chill and transfer to carboy with enough cold water to make 23L not 19L.
It's too sweet for most people at 19L.
Cream the yeast and pitch at 24C and ferment at 24C-25C

You can also try dropping the dextrose and replace with 200g Molasses

Then dump a whole bottle of Bundy into the keg or secondary, for a Dark & Stormy'ish

I once added 2 bottles....not so nice :icon_drool2: 

Cheers


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## Allanr

stef said:


> Sweet, thanks man. I'll look it up and see if i can find it.




I love my Matsos!!!
I got into brewing so i could brew a Ginger beer that doesnt cost me $80-$90 per carton (and 330ml bottles at 3.5% too)

I dont have a clue how they do theirs but here is one that i have found does the trick. Ive drank 3 kegs since Christmas (with some help from friends who also like it). Its more of a beer than the matsos softdrink but can be altered to lighten up the brew.
The recipie is on the site but i cant remember who posted.

-5 Whole cloves (bashed and ground in a morter and pestel)
-500gr raw ginger (grated)
-750ml of Burderim Ginger refresher. (contains preservitives but ok if boiled for 15-30min)
-50gr Ginger powder
-Chilli (i recomend 2 small hot ones but i like hot food, friends said first was too hot so tried next brew with 1 with better results)
Cut in half and include the seeds
-1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg or nutmeg powder
-2 whole cinnamon sticks
-1 lemon rind and juice (200gr lemon)
-1 tsp Vanilla essence
-300gr teacle (like golden syrup)
-250gr Dextrose
-500gr Raw sugar
-250gr Light Dry Malt extract (LDME)
-1 Coopers Original family recipie Ginger beer Can
-2L Apple Juice (preservitive free)
-Top to 21L in fermenter
-11.5gr American Ale DCL-US 05 (75%) (Temp from 15-25dg C, Suggest 19dg but i have done 1 at up to 30dg and still ok)

SG- 1030-1040 (usualy 1032)
Average FG- 1002

5-10 days at 25-30dg.
Recommend to clear in the fridge at below 4dg for 3 days.
I have only kegged it up, have only tried a mates beer in PET bottles and it was very similar. good head with poor retention, Carbed with carb drops and conditioned for 3 weeks.

METHOD (add ingredients in order listed above)

-put 2 L of water in a pot and heat to >100dg C. (boil)
-add the cloves, taste after you have added and boiled for a minute. some people dont like cloves at all. i think it needs it for a background finnish.
-add the ginger ingredients and boil for 30 min to extract the ginger flavour and burn off preservitives.
-Taste the water to see if the ginger is to bity or hot for you as you will be adding chilli in the next step.
I think if you get the chilli-ginger ratio right you can get away with using less ginger. i like the ginger bite matsos has and the chilli seems to replicate it without giving a flavour)
-add the chill
-now add the nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon, vanilla ess and teacle.
-continue to boil so that the ginger has had at least 1hr total boil time
-turn down the heat to around 75-80 dg.
-now add the dextrose, Raw sugar and LDME and disolve fully
-Turn off the heat and add the coopers can, stir well while the pot is cooling
-Allow the pot to cool to around 45dg.
-Using a fine straining bag , strain the mixture. (keep the solids and add them to a muslin bag and tie off)
-Add the mixture to the fermenter along with the apple juice and stir well
-top up with water to 21L and stir well.
-Add the Muslin bag
-Take SG
-Pitch the yeast at 15-24dg (sprinkle and stir)
-seal the fermenter.
-Brew for around 5-10 days at 25 dg.
-Once bubbling finnished or Gravity steady place in a fridge for 3 days at <4dg to clear.
-Keg or bottle using an auto syph with sediment filter, try to leave the grey and brown layer at the bottom of the fermenter undisturbed to avoid a river water brew. (tastes just as good).
-Condition for 3 weeks if bottled (so im told).


I have a pet hate for artificial sweetner which the coopers kit contains (sucrose i think its called). I can still taste it every now and then, especialy if you dont clear the brew in the fridge. Try leaving out the coopers kit and boosting the ginger with another bottle of refresher or add more ginger (1kg total, pricy but worth it) and up the chilli slightly to make up for the loss of bite.
Also add some lactose (250-500gr). i recommend adding the lactose to water seperatly and taste for sweetness.
Use the can as a guide for the correct amount or adjust to your taste.

If you do find a Matsos clone please let me know


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## DanRayner

brendanos said:


> Would it help if I told you that Matso's Ginger Beer isn't beer?



I'm guessing that sentence would only help if you were to provide some other insight into their brewing, otherwise what do we do with that information?


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## gap

DanRayner said:


> I'm guessing that sentence would only help if you were to provide some other insight into their brewing, otherwise what do we do with that information?




Would alcoholic Ginger Beer ring any bells.

It possibly does not contain any malted barley.


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## Murcluf

Allanr said:


> I have a pet hate for artificial sweetner which the coopers kit contains (sucrose i think its called).



FYI: sucrose is sugar 

Matso's range is excellent just had a friend bring me back a mixed 6pack. Mango Beer and Smokey Bishop were my favourites Ginger Beer was really good too.


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## DanRayner

gap said:


> Would alcoholic Ginger Beer ring any bells.
> 
> It possibly does not contain any malted barley.



Sorry, I just wasn't sure what Brendan was saying. There could a few ways to read his sentence:

1. The ginger beer isn't made by Matso's (possible, given he might have some inside knowledge)

2. The beer isn't ginger beer and contains some other spice/herb/flavouring (actually my first thought)

3. The ginger beer has no malted barley and isn't a true beer 

Either way his sentence seemed a bit ambiguous to me - but maybe that's just me


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## speedie

dan what he is implying is that it isnt beer
buy some ginger essence blend a little dex
add some other stuff 
then you have commerical beverage
i suppose u could call it brewin
or better tagged as blending


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## mika

Definition of Brewing (from Google of course !) : the production of malt beverages (as beer or ale) from malt and hops by grinding and boiling them and fermenting the result with liquid yeast

If you choose to BLEND the products which you have BREWED, then you are still a brewer.

If you choose to blend products which you have purchased then you are a blender.


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## tuhb

i use 
1 can morgans giner beer
1kg dextrose
1 bottle of honey 400-500gram
2 heaped teaspoons ground ginger 
makes 25 litres nice easy recipe with a creamy head


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## Isuxius

Matso's Ginger Beer had/has a "quantity" of Chilli in it. 
Send the current brewer a message on Facebook (for those that have it). he may divulge some secrets.


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## brendanos

By Mika's rationale then the packaged Matso's Ginger Beer is a blended beverage. I know because I blend it. The alcohol comes from grape ferment, but unfortunately this does not exclude the "beer" from the alcopop tax.

If you are looking to clone the draught version of Matso's Ginger Beer that you tasted in Broome then perhaps take the above advice any contact the Broome brewer.


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## inpowers

brendanos said:


> If you are looking to clone the draught version of Matso's Ginger Beer that you tasted in Broome then perhaps take the above advice any contact the Broome brewer.


Hi all so what was the outcome of the above?

Also seeing that Coopers ginger beer kit has been discontinued what is the recommended substitute for it?
Oh yer I love Matso's GB tooo


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## Beerology

So to step into this conversation a bit late.......

There is a Bulk product available made by Kerry - Ginger Beer Concentrate Premix, available in a 15Kg cube.
I'm trialing it at the moment.

One of the advantages of drinking ginger beer is that it is Gluten free!
But with the addition of Malt this would then not be Gluten free? (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Now without starting a fight about soft-drink and beer, what i really want to do is THICKEN the drink up, give it some body.
Presumably the coopers GB was made using malt?
Other people use malt in there recipes presumably to thicken the mix up and give it better mouth feel.

Would introducing pulp be the answer? for some reason i was thinking pineapple juice.

I cant wait to try out some of the recipes above, awesome ideas, but I want to tackle the issue of putting some body into the GB first and improve the mouth feel and yet still keep it Gluten Free.


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## Eddy Monsoon

So, going back to the original post, looking to re-make the Matso's Ginger Beer

Here's the clues I can find

"Its refreshing nature comes from its simple ingredients. 
Matso Ginger Beer is only made from water, ginger, lemon juice, sugar and yeast."







Can anyone give a best guess on the recipe ?


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