Coopers Ginger Beer Kit

[bowie in space]

Hi all, how would i go about turning a coopers ginger beer kit into something a little more special than the instructions suggest. I've been researching and some suggest replacing the kilo of raw sugar with 1kg dextrose and 500g-1kg light dry malt. I also want to add about 250g fresh grated and sliced ginger and perhaps a sliced lemon too. Should i boil all this up on low boil for about 20 minutes and whack it in the fermenter with the can?

Not too keen on any spices. Have heard of lactose being used too. Don't want anything strong or too sweet, around 4-5% alc would be good. Nothing too fancy, just better than the kit recipe.

Cheers
Bowie

 

[drsmurto]

Better than the kit recipe.

The easiest thing you can do is ditch the kit and use fresh ginger for all the flavour. I dont knwo what the kit contains? Sugar or just a processed ginger type substance?

Add some fermentables - raw sugar, dex, LDME etc etc

Lemons work well too as do a few cloves and a cinnamon stick or 2. I realise you dont want spices but they are sublte.

Its liking making a stock without a bay leaf. You want that subtle background character.

If you havent already bought the kit then here;s a suggestion

20L
1kg fresh ginger (processed, skin and all)
2 kg raw sugar (sub in whatever variations you want - the more LDME you sub in the more body you will get and a higher SG leaving you with a sweeter finish)
1-2 lemons ( thinly sliced - some people zest and juice to leave the pith behind, i dont)
1-2 cinnamon sticks
6-8 cloves.

Boil everything for 30-60 mins, strain into the fermenter and top up with water.

Yeast - i've used a champers in the past but find a clean beer yeast like nottingham works well plus it flocculates much better.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Dr Smurto,

Recipe looks nice and tasty. A couple of questions:

When you say processed ginger, do you mean throw the lot in the food processor?

Also what is your boil volume, you say 20L, but is this the final volume?

Do you have a tip on estimated OG and FG?

:icon_cheers: SJ

 

[bowie in space]

Thanks DrSmurto will try that recipe next time, but i've had a kit sitting in the pantry for some time now and thought i'd better use it.

 

[drsmurto]

Bowie

What does the kit contain? Knowing that will make helping you with a recipe a lot easier!



SJ - yup, chuck the lot in the food processor and blitz it to very small pieces.

The recipe i did above i only boiled about 4L as there are no hop additions so no utilisations to worry about. That was before i had an AG setup and a chiller. You could easily do a full boil.

oops, just realised volume was 15L, not 20. OG ~1.050.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Cheers Smurto,

I few empty kegs and a spare fermenter, might give this a blast.

:icon_cheers: SJ

 

[Effect]

My girlfriends dad does the coopers ginger beer kit. Comes out fantastic if you ask me...but have to agree, DrSmurtos recipe would beat it hands down.


Also, on a side note - could hops find any place in a ginger beer at all?

 

[drsmurto]

I've got my version of Bostons Ginger Pilsner on tap at the minute.

Better than the all sugar batch for sure. A bit lacking tho, still a bit thin but that will be fixed in my next batch with some spec malts.

 

[bowie in space]

Yeah i get it Dr Smurto, i can't be sure what's in the kit (probably a bunch of additives and sweeteners and "ginger flavours").
I had the same problems doing my kit cider (i bought the ginger beer kit at the same time) and won't be doing either kits again after this.
An all natural approach to ciders and ginger beers (and all beers for that matter) is always going to be your best bet and i'll be pursuing this down the track.

But now that i have the kit, just wondering if anyone has tried any of the ingredients stated in my initial post to make the kit better.

Bowie

 

[rosswill]

Yeah, Ive used kits as a base and added fresh ginger (1kg) to get a stronger ginger bite. Just chopped and boiled, and added to the fermenter. Worked a treat. Missus loves it.

 

[jendres]

I found the kit had too much of the artificial sweetener flavour.

I like your recipe, but might swap out some sugar for lactose. I'm after sweet but dry. What do you think?

 

[jonocarroll]

I found the kit had too much of the artificial sweetener flavour.

That's because that's what they add. Apparently ginger beers were notorious for bottle bombs - people wanted it to be sweeter so they added more sugar at priming. Companies added sweetener to counter this.

I've done one kits n bits ginger before (Brigalow I think, which as a kit hasn't had great reviews. Worked okay for me) to which I added a ginger root, ginger powder, lemon zest, and brown sugar. Beautifully tasty (with the right ginger kick, which IMO Boston's ginger lager, nice as it is, is lacking - that's a lager with ginger, this is a ginger beer, different animals entirely). My only complaint about mine was that is was too sweet. I'd say give a recipe a go, then decide if you want it more or less sweet, and do another run.

Looks good DrSmurto, might have to give that one a go too. :icon_cheers:

 

[zabond]

done a pretty good GB-kit+500grm fresh ginger[pulverised]+1 bottle bundy ginger cordial+1kg dex+1lemon peeled/ depiped & processed with fresh ginger,missus loved it
Russ

 

[unterberg]

I found the kit had too much of the artificial sweetener flavour.

I like your recipe, but might swap out some sugar for lactose. I'm after sweet but dry. What do you think?

If you use malt extract you can get it sweeter as well...

 

[chappo1970]

Dearest Spaceman

Did this for Christmas this year. Same kit and a mates recipe.

Kit goop (straight into the fermenter)
1kg"Brown Suga" (Now I can't get the Rolling Stones song out of my head Thanks!)
500g LDME

Into a 5lt boil pot.

Fresh ginger root about 2-4 portions size of your thumb pulverised in the food processor. Don't bother peeling it just wash it and pop it straight in.
1-2 sticks of cinnimon (fresh as possible into the food processor as well, I know you didn't want spices but it does smooth the taste out)
1-2lt water
Hard Boil 15 mins for nasties eradication and flavour extraction. Bits and all into the fermenter no straining.

Fill her up as on the destructions

Add Kit Yeast

Bottled when stable readings

Waited 3 weeks for it to be great.

Taste great and goes down a treat. Good with a sprig of mint and lemon slice.
Mum, Dad, Brothers, Sisters, Misses and I loved it! Not one drop left after Christmas. Will definitely do it again...

Love the sound of DrSmurtos gear that might have to be next of the brew board!

Good luck with your recipe let us know what you end up doing.

Chappo

 

[bowie in space]

Excellent post chappo, where the hell is bethania anyway, surely isn't in space!! Funny 'bout the stones reference as i'm tuning into the scorsese flick "shine a light" whilst reading and posting. Brown sugar indeed!

Will try that recipe for sure and will let you know how it turns out...

same with Jeff E..sweet but dry is the balance i am after,

thanks again folks

Bowie

 

[pokolbinguy]

Hi All,

Does anyone know the expected Final SG on the coopers ginger beer kit??? My ferment is at 1.012 at the moment and wondering if it might be a stuck ferment, its been sitting there for a few days...

Pok

 

[yum beer]

got one down at the moment, sat at 1011 for 3 days then dropped to 1008, but i dont know how much sugar i put in, bottled half without sugar for the kids then threw
half a bag of raw sugar in and took no hydro sample, give it a few more days just to be safe aye.

 

[bum]

Hi All,

Does anyone know the expected Final SG on the coopers ginger beer kit??? My ferment is at 1.012 at the moment and wondering if it might be a stuck ferment, its been sitting there for a few days...

Pok

What are your fermentables? I've never had one finish that high myself. Tried racking it yet?

 

[wynnum1]

too much of the artificial sweetener and flavor how can they put on can original family recipe false advertising have a look at other ingredients ginger flavor food acid sodium cyclmate sodium saccharin