First Ag Ginger Beer (i Think)

[njharry]

Hey guys
been here for a while but this is my first post :lol:

i am about to put down an ag (or what i think is an ag) ginger beer
i have only done one brew before this and it was a coopers gb kit and it was an ok effort i think, could really taste the artificial sweetener in it though and i didnt think it was gingery enough and i dont think my carb drops worked to well as wasnt really very fizzy (hmm.. maybe not so ok after all) but anyway at the moment in the kitchen i am almost ready to put down my second ginger beer without a kit. the recipe is this:

1kg Light Dried Malt Extract
1kg Raw Sugar
1kg Dextrose
1kg Grated Ginger
2 Lemons Juiced and Zest of one of them
25 odd Litres of water

Now my question is that i am only doing a half batch so half of all of the above
now i want to know is it ok to use the whole packet of yeast and as well i have a yeast nutrient so do i just pitch that
in at the same time as the yeast or do i need to make a yeast starter. I am also going to put the leftover grated ginger into an
old stocking that i have boiled and put in my fermenter with bleach, is this ok to just have floating around in the fermenter???

i think thats everything, any help would be greatly appreciated..
and any other things you can think that i need to do cause i can still run to the shops before i start it

cheers,
nathan

 

[ballzac]

Ag means 'all grain' and it looks like you have no grain in your recipe at all.

Depends on what yeast you are using if you need a starter or not.

Are you putting bleach in your beer?

EDITalso wait for a reply from someone with more than one post before you take any advice )

 

[microbe]

I agree with ballzac that on it's not AG unless it's made all from grain. Full extract brew or GB from scratch would fit better.

Back on topic though. Looks not too bad to start with. That'll make a finished product @ about 6% (according to here.) I would use the whole pack of yeast. I've never used nutrient nor made a starter before so I wouldn't like to comment on their use. The stocking with leftover ginger sentence is confusing me though. I assume you're not actually thinking of putting bleach in your brew but thinking of how to keep ginger in there for the duration of the ferment but easily removed for bottling. If the stocking and ginger have been boiled for an appropriate length of time (10-15minutes comes to mind) it should be sanitary enough to add to your fermenter.

Do a search on "Ginger Beer" there are a number of threads with recipe ideas. One by Johnno I've used with good results and DrSmurto (IIRC) has a few good suggestions too.

Cheers,

microbe

 

[opposition]

I put this one down on thurs night.....

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=23760