# Beginner Ginger Beer



## KenJohnson (24/2/11)

Hi everyone!

My names Ken and im new here, im just starting out brewing so be nice, haha.
So im making a ginger beer, from scratch and on the cheap. its been brewing away for about a week now, and fairly quietly, but consistently (just groups of bubbles on the surface). would a yeast nuitrient and better yeast help next time? (used cheap Brigalow yeast) kept the temp between 20-22 degrees. 

I'll keep you all updated as I go


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## Tao (24/2/11)

Ken, 

A recipe and a list of steps you took would be helpful.


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## unrealeous (24/2/11)

Yeast nutrient certainly doesn't hurt - especially when brewing things like ginger beer. It really depends on what you put into it.

Do you have a hydrometer - if the gravity is dropping, then the fermentation is progressing - and providing it doesn't get stuck you should be fine.


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## KenJohnson (25/2/11)

hey guys, 

i dont have a hydrometer (next purchase) just going by bubbles. recipe was something like.. ginger powder, 1 lemon, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup Brew enhancer 2, nutmeg, cinnamon, 2 gallons water. next time i'll probly use a real ginger, and better yeast.

but it is still bubbling away, just really slowly.


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## KenJohnson (25/2/11)

i saw a guy making this on youtube, i just scaled it down for 2 gallons. the brew enhancer is my little experimental tweaking, not sure how that will effect the taste. 

basically just simmered the sugar/BE2 in water for a bit to melt them, put the sliced lemon right into the fermenter, poured on the sugars and other dry ingredients. Had a taste before i added the yeast, and it was pretty good, very spicy.


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## KenJohnson (1/3/11)

Ok, so.. I bottled my ginger beer last week, bulk primed with 6gms per litre of sugar. i was pretty sure it would taste crap, so i had a taste of one today. nicely carbonated, and it didnt taste gross. It did however lack any real ginger taste. no yeasty aftertaste or any other bad tastes.

lessons learnt:

if i make this again i think i'll use Real ginger and lots of it, maybe a sweetener when i bottle it. and probly just stick with all sugar instead of the BE2. I am also tipsy right now, so im happy with that


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## SuiCIDER (1/3/11)

The last ginger beer I made had a few kilos of ginger in it! I haven't heard of anything tasting good from powders etc. It's best to use the whole thing  As long as it doesn't taste like death then it's okay. It's always good to make a few mistakes.


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## dcx3 (1/3/11)

Ken i think you'll find most people on this forum would point you away from using the Brigalow products due to poor results.
All the best with your next attempt.


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## KenJohnson (1/3/11)

dcx3 said:


> Ken i think you'll find most people on this forum would point you away from using the Brigalow products due to poor results.
> All the best with your next attempt.



thanks,  
yeh, next time im gonna use some better yeast and a nutrient. either a quality ale yeast or a ginger beer yeast if there is such a thing haha. yes more ginger seems like the way to go. the lemon flavour was ok, might add the spices in the bottle as i could hardly taste them


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## bradsbrew (1/3/11)

Rockin Roll I gave you all the best years of my life....................ah sorry its not Kevin.

carry on


sorry bad joke


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## KenJohnson (1/3/11)

hahaha, 

actually my dad's named Kevin (not THAT Kevin obviously), and he played guitar in a band when he was young!


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## ekul (1/3/11)

When i make beer i go all grain, when i make apple cider i use real apple juice, but when i make ginger beer i use a coopers (or morgans?) kit with a kilo of sugar. To top it off i don't even use temp control. In fact on the last one i even used the yeast that came with the pack! (Normally i use US05). If you let the ginger beer sit in bottles for a month or two is comes out really nice. The reason i used the kit yeast this time was because i wanted to actually see if it would still come out nice, because everything else i do to it doesn't seem to affect it in the slightest.

The only problem i have with it is that it comes out a little sweet. To remedy this i fill a glass with ice and pour the warm ginger beer onto it. The ice melting waters it down the perfect amount. Which at the end of the day is pretty cool because it means that the bottles don't even take away valuable beer space in the fridge.

In my experience the ginger beer kit can take abuse that would turn even an all grain beer into an undrinkable mess. Its actually a shame that i don't like drinking it more. (Its very tasty, but i like beer more)


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## KenJohnson (1/3/11)

ekul said:


> When i make beer i go all grain, when i make apple cider i use real apple juice, but when i make ginger beer i use a coopers (or morgans?) kit with a kilo of sugar. To top it off i don't even use temp control. In fact on the last one i even used the yeast that came with the pack! (Normally i use US05). If you let the ginger beer sit in bottles for a month or two is comes out really nice. The reason i used the kit yeast this time was because i wanted to actually see if it would still come out nice, because everything else i do to it doesn't seem to affect it in the slightest.
> 
> The only problem i have with it is that it comes out a little sweet. To remedy this i fill a glass with ice and pour the warm ginger beer onto it. The ice melting waters it down the perfect amount. Which at the end of the day is pretty cool because it means that the bottles don't even take away valuable beer space in the fridge.
> 
> In my experience the ginger beer kit can take abuse that would turn even an all grain beer into an undrinkable mess. Its actually a shame that i don't like drinking it more. (Its very tasty, but i like beer more)



yeah, ive seen those at the local homebrew store. too sweet? they must put artificial sweetener in it (?). might as well try one, i quite like ginger beer  im gonna keep at this till i find something that tastes right to me


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