Ginger Beer From Scratch - Tips?

[Jeff_beazley]

Hi,

So I've been wanting to create this one for a while now. I love bundy ginger beer, but hated the Morgans ginger beer kit I made. So I've decided to create something from scratch which I can then tweak until I figure out the balance I'm after! I only want to make about 6-8 litres and was thinking about using the following -

750g root ginger
1kg brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 lemons
2 birds eye chillies

So next step I was thinking was to blend the ginger and chillies and add everything to a pot of about 2 litres boiling water which I would then simmer for an hour or 2 to maximse the flavours.

Once this is done, I'd let it sit overnight in the fridge and then add an additional 4-6 litres and pitch the yeast for fermenting. Maybe add in an additional chilli/cinnamon stick/lemon/ginger to boost flavour.

I have no idea if the above will work or if I'm completely off the mark, so any advise or help would be much appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[mjadeb1984]

hi i recently made a ginger beer recipe to use with OZtops. as follows

750g ginger Chopped
1 lemon Chopped
1 Orange Chopped
2 cloves
a stick of cinnamon
and 2 kgs sugar ( i used 1kg of brown sugar and 1 of white)
i also added half a hndfull of corriander seeds for a bit of a floral note.

disolve the sugar in 2L of water, dump everything in and boil for 20mins, strain and cool. Easy.

now i diluted 3 parts water to 1 part ginger cordial. and used the oztops system to make a bloody delicious ginger beer, i assume if you were to whack it in a fermenter with some yeast maybe a champagne yeast? untill done and then bottled it with some sugar (dextrose, Honey what ever?) it should turn out great, not sure weather it would be very dry tho as with the oztops system you just dump the bottles in the fridge to stop fermentation when ever you wish.

also check out oztops.com.au (no affiliation) if youve never seen em good bit of kit for a little muck around/experimentation.

also Hi its my first post.

Michael

 

[ploto]

A few things to consider. How much alcohol content are you aiming for? A strong brew may sound like a great idea, but if you want a refreshing drink for hot days then stronger may not necessarily be better. Also be careful with adding too many chillies. I love hot food but I don't really need a drink that tears my throat out. Adding chilli to GB is generally done to accentuate the ginger bite rather than to make it a hot & spicy drink. It's up to you what you put into your brew, but it's always best to have an idea of what you want the end result to be before you go throwing in everything that sounds good and at double the rate. I just made a GB last night with one small red chilli in 23l and the unfermented brew had quite a kick to it.

Might be a good idea to have a read through this thread: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=30492

 

[brettprevans]

.....Might be a good idea to have a read through this thread: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=30492

I disagree. there is no 'might' the OP needs to read that thread. i guarentee it will answer any question he has

 

[redunderthebed]

Saw oztops at mitre10 i'am intrigued as i do enjoy a good ginger beer.

 

[Jeff_beazley]

Thanks for the tips chaps. I'll have a look through the recommended thread when I have some time and report back.

Cheers.