Brilliant Ginger Beer

[indica86]

DME = Dry malt extract.

I don't think your has enough Ginger.

 

[Tahoose]

Ok so I have made my first ginger beer and here is how it went down

Recipe
1kg ginger powder
1kg dark brown sugar
1kg brown sugar
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cloves
5 lemons zest and juice

So let me start by saying I won't be using ginger powder again....

Started with 6 Ltrs of boiling water and stirred the ginger powder in, this turned the pot into a pot of ginger porridge. And left me searching for a second pot....

So found the second pot, boiled up about 5 Ltrs of water and added in my lemon juice, zest, chilli flakes, cinnamon, cloves, and then whilst consently stirring dissolved the 2kg of sugars and the 1 kg of honey.

So then I got out the electric whisk and mixing bowl and mixed my liquid concoction with the finger porridge bit by bit and into the fermenter then topped up to 23ltrs with water and gave it a god shake to mix it all together.

I was hoping that the ginger powder would dissolve but after a few days it hasn't and just kept looking like a big 23 ltr drum of milo.

So finally today I got my bottling fermenter, ran the whole lot through a sieve into the second fermenter and then back into the primary.

Think I may have lost some sugars along the way and have lost about 3ltrs of the batch but at the end of it I'm hoping it will turn out ok.

OG 1052
Pitched 11g of safale s-04

 

[Tahoose]

Forgot to mention there was 1kg of honey in there too.

Going to call this "shredding pow, triple filtered GB"

 

[blekk]

Used Kingy's recipe for a base micro batch (4lt) cutting out a few items the missus didn't want in -

160g Ginger Root
100g Honey
300g Brown Sugar
1 Lemon juiced and zested
1/2 Lime juiced and zested

Threw in all the ingredients together in the thermomix with 1lt water (washed ginger but threw it in skin and all) and blended to a rough pulp.
Added pulp to another 2lts water and kept on a rolling boil for 1hr.
Added some yeast nutrient last 10min of boil.
Chilled and strained into the fermenter.
Topped off to final volume and added a generic Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (Brigalow Band)

Brew has been bubbling away nicely at a constant 17-20deg but has decided to stall on day 5 (currently on day 7). Unfortunately I broke my hydrometer just before this brew so no gravity readings at this stage. Theres quite a bit of sediment at the bottom and its smelling amazing but Im concerned about the stall, should I give it a swirl to see if it kicks off again?

Cheers

 

[manticle]

If you have no hydrometer, how do you know it has stalled?

 

[blekk]

Dont know for sure just assuming at this stage due to the sudden drop off of activity and heavy sediment.

 

[MetalDan]

Try giving it a taste, if its sweet then it's either still fermenting or its stalled (taste again in a few days to see if there's any change in sweetness), if however its dryer than your mum then leave it a few days and bottle her up I say.

 

[phonos]

Buy an hydrometer. Now. And use it. You are at risk of bottle bombs.

 

[manticle]

Try giving it a taste, if its sweet then it's either still fermenting or its stalled (taste again in a few days to see if there's any change in sweetness), if however its dryer than your mum then leave it a few days and bottle her up I say.

Or spend 12 bucks on an instrument that will let you know for sure.