# Coopers Ginger Beer Help!



## gsxrmck (7/2/07)

Hi,
I'm planning on making a "strong" ginger beer. 
my ingredients will be as follows,
1 x Coopers ginger beer home brew can
2 kg of raw sugar, (kit says use one)
2 x packets of yeast (kit supplies one)

basically I'm thinking that if I add more sugar and more yeast I'll get a stronger beer. I have some dextrose lying around maybe I could use that instead of the extra kg of Raw sugar. I've also got 500gm of malt lying around as well. 

Any suggestions/tips would be valued.


_There's no such thing as a bad beer, it's just that some are better than others!!_


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## FazerPete (7/2/07)

I'd recommend just using 1 kg of sugar and add 0.5 kg of dex to boost the alcohol up without affecting the sweetness. I've found the kit yeast manages to get through 1.5 kg of fermentables OK so you wouldn't need to add another yeast packet (although it does take 8-9 days). 

I also highly recommend chucking in a couple of teaspoons of grated ginger to the mix to give it a bit more of a bite (I like my GB to gingery).


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## DrewCarey82 (7/2/07)

I wouldnt recommend this stuff its terrible.

Go morgans ginger beer or "old style ginger beer" which is available at most brew shops.

Coopers isnt drinkable!


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## pint of lager (7/2/07)

Does the Coopers kit include yeast nutrient? A sugar based brew like ginger beer really needs some extra help, a strong version definitely needs help.

The raw sugar will leave some flavour from the molasses on the grains. You may want to stick to Fazerpete's version with 1kg raw sugar plus extra dextrose. Plus the extra ginger.

There are different brands on the market, with varying amounts of artificial sweetner.

The Morgans and Coopers are packaged in identical containers. Looks to be out of the same factory.


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## Velophile (7/2/07)

pint of lager said:


> Does the Coopers kit include yeast nutrient? A sugar based brew like ginger beer really needs some extra help, a strong version definitely needs help.
> 
> The raw sugar will leave some flavour from the molasses on the grains. You may want to stick to Fazerpete's version with 1kg raw sugar plus extra dextrose. Plus the extra ginger.
> 
> ...



I'll second the above. Get some yeast nutrient & help the yeasties along. A small amount of dry malt helps too. 
I always add extra ginger, either fresh grated/diced, from a jar ready minced or dry ground. I've used up to 3kg of sugar too, took ages & struggled down to 0.990 over a month. I find the artificial sweetner taste does fade with time.


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## Mercs Own (7/2/07)

I have never made the Coopers Ginger beer but when I was using the beer can kits I would use two kit cans and 750 g of sugar with the same batch size as for one kit to make a stronger version of the beer. Does this work with the Ginger beer kits? Adding in some extra grated ginger etc should make for a strong version enhanced and hopefully perfect ginger beer.


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## drsmurto (7/2/07)

I made a 7% ginger beer from scratch and used 2kg of raw sugar in 15 L. Used a champagne yeast which took SG down to 1.000 after 3 weeks and was a very dry but bitey ginger beer but lacking in sweetness. I personally dont like artificial sweetener but the coopers tin should balance the dryness if you were to swap the kit yeast for a champagne yeast (EC-1118). Or ditch the kit and add 500g or more of lactose - a non fermentable and natural sugar.

Fresh ginger will add a nice bite, adding lemon, cloves and cinnamon will give it that extra something!


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## gussigan (7/2/07)

hey, drsmurt, i asked in the old ginger beer thread but i think it just disappeared into the depths... with your recipe that involves 750gms of fresh ginger.. do you think those jars of ginger would be okay or not? 

also, if using fresh ginger, is it 750gms once you've got rid of all the skin etc? because i'm assuming you'd need to buy almost a kilo then because it's so fiddly getting rid of all the skin hehe


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## benson (7/2/07)

gsxrmck
I made 1 like this 

1 x Coopers ginger beer home brew can
2 kg of raw sugar
1 x yeast 


after 2 stubbies im feeling a bit pissed 
tasted like shit at first not to bad now but not as good as the morgans gb ive used before 
but it only cost me $7 so not bad 4 the price


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## gsxrmck (8/2/07)

Sweet,
Thanks guys for all you input. I think I'll do the 2 kg of raw sugar with some extra ginger, lemon and possible a few cloves!! Also I'll add and extra 1/2 packet of yeast. 

Wil post on here again in a few weeks after I've got a FG for bottling!! 

And hopefully it'll be nice!! :chug:


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## drsmurto (8/2/07)

gussigan said:


> hey, drsmurt, i asked in the old ginger beer thread but i think it just disappeared into the depths... with your recipe that involves 750gms of fresh ginger.. do you think those jars of ginger would be okay or not?
> 
> also, if using fresh ginger, is it 750gms once you've got rid of all the skin etc? because i'm assuming you'd need to buy almost a kilo then because it's so fiddly getting rid of all the skin hehe




The jars of ginger are only about 50% ginger plus a heap of crap you dont want or need. With the fresh ginger i chopped it into thumb size pieces unpeeled and whizzed it in a food processor to get it to something similar in size to the stuff you get from the jar. Boiled this with the sugar, lemons, cloves, cinnamon stick for an hour. Poured this into the barrel thru pantyhose (could use a clean tea towel or muslin cloth) and go as normal. The champagne yeast ferments it out completely, you could try an ale yeast instead to leave some sweetness behind or add 500g of lactose to the boil. (Lactose takes a while to dissolve compared to dextrose or malt so a one hour boil is about right). I mix it with lemonade for the sweetness and to make it not quite so mind blowing.

Tip - go to an asian grocery store for ginger, my local sells fresh ginger for way less than the supermarkets, and you can pick up all the other ingredients there too for bugger all!

Cheers
DrSmurto


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## gussigan (8/2/07)

ah, unpeeled, that makes everything better 

yeah might go the lactose option for sweetness, i've got a champagne yeast in the fridge from when i was going to do your recipe a couple of weeks ago. 

oh and just one more display of ignorance.. when you say "raw" sugar, is that just plain ol' white suger?


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## Uncle Fester (8/2/07)

Mercs Own said:


> I have never made the Coopers Ginger beer but when I was using the beer can kits I would use two kit cans and 750 g of sugar with the same batch size as for one kit to make a stronger version of the beer. Does this work with the Ginger beer kits? Adding in some extra grated ginger etc should make for a strong version enhanced and hopefully perfect ginger beer.




G'day paul,
When doing a 2 can beer mix, you risk an over hopped result, as each kit is iso hopped for 23 litres.

That withstanding, a duoble gingered ginger beer sounds tempting. However, the kits are artficially sweetened, and I would guess (without trying) that you would end up with a sickly-sweet cyclamate concoction that would be difficult to drink.


Happy to be shown the light if anyone has already pioneered this path????


Personally, I would maybe use heaps of brown sugar to up the alc content if that was what you were looking for, or add a heap if ginger root to up the gingerness if that was your aim?


Then again, beauty is in the mouth of the drinker!.


Hope this helps.

Fester.


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## drsmurto (8/2/07)

gussigan said:


> ah, unpeeled, that makes everything better
> 
> yeah might go the lactose option for sweetness, i've got a champagne yeast in the fridge from when i was going to do your recipe a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> oh and just one more display of ignorance.. when you say "raw" sugar, is that just plain ol' white suger?



plain old white sugar would do the trick. raw sugar is the large brown crystals. think its cheaper/ less refined?


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## gsxrmck (8/2/07)

Hi,
I just put down my brew. In total 20 litres.

2kg Raw sugar
1 lemon peeled and diced
100gm Freshly grated ginger
1 coopers ginger beer kit
1-1/2 packets yeast rehydrated.

Basically I put the 2kg of raw sugar in a big saucepan with about 1lt of water, heated until it was just about to boil then added the stocking. After that I put the coopers can in then stirred for a few mins. Then added the to the fermentor. Even the stocking with the extra lemon and ginger in it.

I did a Hydrometer test and it was 1.050. It also tasted pretty good too!! So hopefully with a couple of weeks in the fermentor then a few weeks in the botle I'll have a great Ginger beer!! I'll post my results when I've sampled a bottle or 2!! 

Thanks for all the tips given in this thread.


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## jdsaint (9/2/07)

I have made this coopers ginger beer b4
its great tasting I did make non alcoholic cause the kids love it all i did was use
coopers ginger beer can just 1
200g of raw sugar 
yeast that came with can mixed it up as per normal and left it for 3hrs than bottled primmed with raw sugar as well it was great after 2 weeks gone by 4 weeks

BUT THATS NON-ALCOHOLIC


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## drsmurto (9/2/07)

jdsaint said:


> I have made this coopers ginger beer b4
> its great tasting I did make non alcoholic cause the kids love it all i did was use
> coopers ginger beer can just 1
> 200g of raw sugar
> ...




Non alcoholic - not quite true. in the 2 weeks the yeast will have converted the sugar to alcohol, not even a good talking to can stop them doing that  but you are looking at probably a tad over 0.5% (when the priming sugar is taken into account - unless they are stored in a fridge for 2 weeks and are not fizzy) so would still take a few bottles to get a kid pissed....... :beer:


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## pint of lager (9/2/07)

> plain old white sugar would do the trick. raw sugar is the large brown crystals. think its cheaper/ less refined?



Yes, white sugar would do the trick. 

Raw sugar used to be less refined with more impurities in it. These days, it is cheaper to manufacture white sugar, then mix molasses back in.

White sugar is cheaper, best price at the supermarket is $1.49 for a 2kg bag.

Many people like the extra flavour imparted by raw sugar to brews such as stout, dark ale and ginger beer.


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## gussigan (12/2/07)

started my ginger beer last week, followed dr smurto's recipe with 500g lactose in it, will report back when it's done 

i think i'm going to ditch the coopers ginger beer kit i made, still doesn't taste good, was going to let it age but if i've got the all natural ginger beer coming along there's probably not much point bothering


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## mugwump (12/2/07)

A few weeks ago I made my first Coopers ginger beer. I followed the instructions on the can (1 kg raw sugar and made up to 20 litres). It tastes acceptable with a reasonably strong ginger flavour but it's a bit too sweet. Also, I'm not rapt in the artificial sweeteners, but as I said, the taste is acceptable to me. The big problem is that the alcohol content is far too low. I can drink a litre of the stuff and not feel all too merry. I want to be falling over after a litre. I decided to make another batch but this time I used 2 kg of raw sugar and made it up to 22 litres. The extra alcohol and extra volume may counteract the over sweetness. I'm hoping that all the sugar ferments as I certainly don't want it any sweeter. In future I'll probably experiment with grated raw ginger, lemon etc.


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## gsxrmck (26/2/07)

mugwump said:


> A few weeks ago I made my first Coopers ginger beer. I followed the instructions on the can (1 kg raw sugar and made up to 20 litres). It tastes acceptable with a reasonably strong ginger flavour but it's a bit too sweet. Also, I'm not rapt in the artificial sweeteners, but as I said, the taste is acceptable to me. The big problem is that the alcohol content is far too low. I can drink a litre of the stuff and not feel all too merry. I want to be falling over after a litre. I decided to make another batch but this time I used 2 kg of raw sugar and made it up to 22 litres. The extra alcohol and extra volume may counteract the over sweetness. I'm hoping that all the sugar ferments as I certainly don't want it any sweeter. In future I'll probably experiment with grated raw ginger, lemon etc.


 Hi,
i tested out my ginger beer recipe today after getting back from a holiday. It is down to 1.000 and I used 2kg of raw sugar with 1-1/2 packets of yeast. I will be bottling in a day or 2 so it'll be a few weeks before I try the beer. But when I do I'll post on here again and let you know how it tastes. From the hydrometer readings though it should be reasonably strong. I hope anyway.

Good luck


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## Back Yard Brewer (22/3/07)

DrSmurto said:


> The jars of ginger are only about 50% ginger plus a heap of crap you dont want or need. With the fresh ginger i chopped it into thumb size pieces unpeeled and whizzed it in a food processor to get it to something similar in size to the stuff you get from the jar. Boiled this with the sugar, lemons, cloves, cinnamon stick for an hour. Poured this into the barrel thru pantyhose (could use a clean tea towel or muslin cloth) and go as normal. The champagne yeast ferments it out completely, you could try an ale yeast instead to leave some sweetness behind or add 500g of lactose to the boil. (Lactose takes a while to dissolve compared to dextrose or malt so a one hour boil is about right). I mix it with lemonade for the sweetness and to make it not quite so mind blowing.
> 
> Tip - go to an asian grocery store for ginger, my local sells fresh ginger for way less than the supermarkets, and you can pick up all the other ingredients there too for bugger all!
> 
> ...



I am currently boiling up as per your recipe. Bought really fresh ginger today, the house currently has that mind blowing ginger smell throughout. I have even had the neighbours drop over and investigate. BTW you don't mention how much sugar you use to carbonate. Or is there no need. I remember when I was a kid we just bottles the stuff and waited.

BYB


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## drsmurto (23/3/07)

BYB said:


> I am currently boiling up as per your recipe. Bought really fresh ginger today, the house currently has that mind blowing ginger smell throughout. I have even had the neighbours drop over and investigate. BTW you don't mention how much sugar you use to carbonate. Or is there no need. I remember when I was a kid we just bottles the stuff and waited.
> 
> BYB



Depends of what FG is. I let mine ferment out to 1.000 and then bulk primed with 170g of dextrose.

Did you go with the lactose or not? I prefer leaving it out, yeah its dry but damn tasty. Mixed with a little lemonade to get the sweetness and its a winner. I have mates lining up wanting me to make it for them, for a small fee of course. But i want to play around with the ingredients, add some malt, some honey, vary the spices........

Cheers
DrSmurto


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## Back Yard Brewer (23/3/07)

DrSmurto said:


> Depends of what FG is. I let mine ferment out to 1.000 and then bulk primed with 170g of dextrose.
> 
> Did you go with the lactose or not? I prefer leaving it out, yeah its dry but damn tasty. Mixed with a little lemonade to get the sweetness and its a winner. I have mates lining up wanting me to make it for them, for a small fee of course. But i want to play around with the ingredients, add some malt, some honey, vary the spices........
> 
> ...



Sought of tweeked around with it. Maybe I did not "sparge" out enough sugar, so I made it up to 13 ltrs with a SG of 1.053. This should give it around the 5% range when finished. Added a splash of DME for good measure. Used an generic ale yeast.

BYB


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## drsmurto (23/3/07)

BYB said:


> Sought of tweeked around with it. Maybe I did not "sparge" out enough sugar, so I made it up to 13 ltrs with a SG of 1.053. This should give it around the 5% range when finished. Added a splash of DME for good measure. Used an generic ale yeast.
> 
> BYB



you may not have used enough water when you boiled up the sugar. I found that 2kg of raw sugar required at least 5L of water to fully dissolve. It doesnt dissolve anywhere as easily as dextrose.

With an SG of 1.053 i think you will end up with more than 5% altho you may not get it down to 1.000. 

Cheers
DrSmurto


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## gsxrmck (25/3/07)

gsxrmck said:


> Hi,
> I just put down my brew. In total 20 litres.
> 
> 2kg Raw sugar
> ...




Hi guys,
Well i tried a bottle of this stuff after being in the bottle for 3 weeks. I used 2 off the coopers carbonation drops per 750ml bottle. Lets just say that this recipe taste's pretty damn fine. Even my Mum has asked for me to take a few more bottles up to her in Newcastle so she can drink more of the stuff. (She sampled one the other day) And it does get you nicely pickled!! Anyway I hope that this helps. I'll be making this one again.

Mick


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## Keifer (25/3/07)

gsxrk71000?


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## geoffi (25/3/07)

I make these gb kits regularly. I find the Brigalow is actually nicer than the Coopers for my taste.

But anyway, one thing I've found that really lifts these is to use "real" yeast, rather than the sachet. I save some slurry from my AG brews and use that. I've used US-56 and Wyeast Czech Pils and am planning to use a Hefeweizen yeast next time around for something completely different. The improvement is noticeable. If you use liquid yeast or premium dried yeasts, give it a go in your ginger beer.


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## Back Yard Brewer (25/3/07)

DrSmurto said:


> With an SG of 1.053 i think you will end up with more than 5% altho you may not get it down to 1.000.
> 
> Cheers
> DrSmurto



When it is finished fermenting I will run it through the alcholiser at work for an acurate reading.

Cheers :chug: 
BYB


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## gsxrmck (26/3/07)

Keifer said:


> gsxrk71000?


 This is my baby,
GSXR1000K4


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## Keifer (26/3/07)

Sweet!, can't wait till i can get a new bike! will be looking at a 600K6 maybe even K7


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