Ginger beer batch 2

[jollos]

Only had one from the 1st batch and working on getting carbing right on the remaining bottles. I have to say, the recipe needs a bot of refining, but, the effect was suitable.

Learning from the mistakes of last time (bottling was a bit of a b*tch with all of the solids in with the brew) my local home brew supplier recommended that I bundle all the solids into a muslin bag, which I have done for my second brew which went on over the weekend.

This bundle, I assumed would sink, but, defying my expectations of physics, I have notice it to be floating. My query with this, is having a solid but kinda fluffy object covered in a sugary syrup poking out of a brew an invite for contamination? Should I take it out?

Thanks heaps for your advice

 

[jollos]

As much as i didn't want to break the seal...i took the bag out..would still appreciate people's opinions on that though.

Secondly, i jave been led to believe that lactose os a non fermentable sugar. I am considering for bottling of this batch, maybe 8-10 grams of fermentable sugar per litre for priming, and maybe an undecided amount of lactose for back sweetening..that eay i won't have to worry about brew drying out and i can age better (assuming brews wont eventually just go flat anyway). Is this sometjing that people do? Thanks for your feedback

 

[earle]

The bag floating at the top shouldn't cause any problems contamination wise, but you could add some sanitised marbles next time to help it sink.

My understanding is that lactose is unfermentable by brewing yeast but could be fermented by some wild yeasts. You can use it for creating residual sweetness. Most people would add it when brewing rather than when bottling - it's light and fluffy so could be difficult to accurately measure for each bottle.

 

[jollos]

Thanks...ill put the fishing sinkers away and consider the marbles ;-). I will probably make a syrup with lactose and sugar and either add it to brew before bottling or diectly to bottles as syrup..i was considering trying a few bottles with honey with this batch also..

Update on last batch..it am thinking it tastes quite average..does ginger beer improve with age like beer?