# Ginger Beer With Buderim Ginger Refresher?



## volker (13/1/09)

hi all, bit of a newbie question. i was just planning my first ginger beer and was thinking of putting some of the buderim ginger refresher into the wort. but the refresher does have preservative e211 listed. does anyone know whether this will affect the firmentation?


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## Bribie G (13/1/09)

sodium sulphite, similar to the sodium metabisulphite used by many brewers in sanitising fermenters, bottles etc although not too popular nowadays.
Shouldn't affect the flavour or fermentation at all. Just a hint, considering the price of ginger refresher go to an asian shop and get some cheap powdered ginger and put some of that in as well, get more bang for your buck.

Cheers.


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## rclemmett (13/1/09)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_benzoate

it might depend on how much you use and if you use dry yeast added straight into the fermenter, but I doubt it.


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## volker (13/1/09)

thanks for the help. lol just didn't want to get all pumped up for some ginger beer and than find out that the yeast was killed by a preservative or something like that.

cheers


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## Bribie G (13/1/09)

OOps I looked up e221 by mistake, but as it's in a lot of foods already, in the concentrations it would end up in the wort, shouldn't be a problem.


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## lczaban (13/1/09)

I have added a bottle of the Buderim Ginger refresher to a GB that I laid a couple of days ago. I'm not sure if how much of a big difference the brew will make to the overall effect of the end result (being my first GB and also given all the other things I have done to it as well). If it turns out all right then I will post up my recipe and the results in due course. As for the preservative, I figured the dilution of it in the wort (I made my brew up to 23L) would mean it would have a minimal effect on the yeast action. 36 hours in and it is fermenting away quite successfully and smelling an absolute treat! 

BTW - I used a really basic yeast starter with my yeast (yeast, 750ml boiled & cooled water, yeast nutrient sachet supplied with the kit, 5 tablespoons of LDME and a sprinkling of citric acid) to kick my yeast off. I left it overnight, and my morning there were some visible signs of fermentation but these were not vigorous by any stretch of the imagination. I pitched the yeast and hoped for the best, knowing I had some back-up ale kit yeasts I could pitch if things didn't look promising. I needn't have worried...


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## Bribie G (13/1/09)

I've made a few fairly high gravity GBs which have turned out quite alcoholic but also a bit dry. If you are looking for something a bit sweeter, then adding a dash of Ginger Refresher or Bundaberg Ginger Beer cordial to a jug and pouring in your brew plus some ice, crushed mint leaves etc makes a nice alcopop. B)


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## mauriceatron (14/1/09)

I agree with BribieG. If you make your ginger beer too dry, mix in the glass, not at the fermenting stage. If you're ginger beer needs more sweetener, more flavour, or even more lemon, you can adjust this in the glass.

It can be hard to remove the flavours of products like Refresher if you add too much.

cheers
Simon


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## Muggus (14/1/09)

I (stupidly) brewed a cider using apple juice that contained E211 recently.
The kit yeast with the cider I used did bugger all, but once I pitched a 500ml starter of fresh active yeast it got fermenting, albeit very slowly. (1064-1012 in a month)
Avoid preservatives if you can, otherwise plenty of healthy yeast will get you through, but you may experience 'stressed' yeast character...ie slight off-character, possibly sourness.

Either way, it's a lesson worth learning. AVOID PRESERVATIVES!


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## Bribie G (14/1/09)

Muggus said:


> I (stupidly) brewed a cider using apple juice that contained E211 recently.
> Either way, it's a lesson worth learning. AVOID PRESERVATIVES!



Was the brew Predominantly apple juice? i.e. was it say twenty litres or something like that? At those volumes I could imagine that preservatives may well nuke yeast etc, which is probably what they are supposed to do. The OP only intends chucking in the equivalent of a tallie or two of liquid into a whole brew. However I agree that it's a worry some of the stuff that goes into common foods. I reckon anything with a benzene ring in the molecule is a formula for producing two headed kids and worse :huh:


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## rclemmett (15/1/09)

The re-hydration phase of dry yeast is when it is at its most vulnerable, it does not have the ability at this stage select what passes through its cell walls. If you are pitching into something that isn't a basic beer (ie a healthy environment for yeast) you should re-hydrate before pitching, to avoid damaging/killing the yeast.

www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/3301.html#3301-4


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