Ginger Beer Mk Ii, From Scratch!

[yyeessno]

So I have just laid down my second batch of ginger beer, my first brew since coming home from the winery.

This is a continuation of my first batch which went down so well I had to make some more, the same, immediately.

I am looking for a slightly different flavour this time, so I included more lemon, coriander seeds, some kaffir lime leaves and a whole lot of honey we had in the pantry.

I am just waiting for it to cool so I can pitch the yeast but it already tastes delicious. You can taste all of the ingredients and they seem to be very well balanced. During the boil I tasted continuously and added whatever I thought was necessary, keeping in mind that the hopefully highish alcohol content will provide some kind of sweetness- the same kind you get in a high alcohol stout.

Here it is:

1 kg fresh ginger, grated coarsely with the skin, chilled and then beaten hard in a mortar and pestle

5.5 tbs Coriander seeds, opened and lightly crushed

5 bush lemons - Remove about half of the skin from each and bash this up hard as well

4 kaffir lime leaves (organic ones from my ma's tree!) beaten hard until some of them form a paste

1 tbs ground ginger

5 star anise, one or two of them crushed up a bit

1.5 kg Dextrose

0.5 kg Brown sugar

0.5 kg light dry malt extract

400g bush honey (or any other kind you desire)

1 tsp yeast nutrient (I didn't know really how much to add so I just put some in and guessed. Last time I didn't use any and it worked out fine so I am not worried)

Safale US - 05



Heat about 4l of water to around 60 deg. C and tip in all of the powdered sugars (not honey).

Stir to make sure they are very well dissolved.

Tip in all of the other things (not honey) and stir around. Bring to the boil, stirring almost continuously for about 50 minutes or until you feel it has gone on long enough. You must taste often, and add more ingredients as you see fit, keeping in mind that this liquid will be a very concentrated picture. I needed to add more coriander as I really wanted this flavour to come through. (My ingredients are the corrected versions but they are not exact by any means)

When I was done with the boil I turned it off and added my honey to the still-hot wort. I put it in some hot water for about 10 mins to soften it, as you would do with a can of malt extract.

Pour some cold water into your fermenter and add your wort. I topped this up to 25 l but I just picked a number at random. I'm not too concerned about the final alcohol content so long as the flavour is good.

The temperature came in at about 32 deg C so I put it in a sink full of cold water with some ice blocks.

I will go and have dinner and some beers at Little Creatures now, and then when I come back it should be the right temperature to pitch the yeast. The last two times I used S - 04 and it worked well, this time I will try it's american counterpart just for something different.

Let me know what you think and I will keep you posted on it's development!


EDIT: I forgot to mention, SG: 1042

 

[Verbyla]

Hey its sounds really good.

Its made to your own preference and seeing as you've modified it to suit what you like its hard to give suggestions. That said the only thing i'd possible suggest changing is not using dextrose as it doesn't add much flavour and would use more honey and brown sugar to get more body and taste

What was the name of the american counterpart yeast you used????

Tell us how it goes!

 

[manticle]

Sounds good.
A couple of questions/points:

During the boil I tasted continuously and added whatever I thought was necessary, keeping in mind that the hopefully highish alcohol content will provide some kind of sweetness- the same kind you get in a high alcohol stout.

High alcohol, in and of itself will do nothing for sweetness. The sweetness you get in a stout will come from unfermentables like lactose or liquorice or the large amount of malt.

5 bush lemons - Remove about half of the skin from each and bash this up hard as well

I think it's just the way you've phrased it but why half the skin of 5 lemons rather than the skin (hopefully actually zest) of 2-3 lemons?

Most citrus fruits contain lovely flavours in the zest which is the coloured part of the skin. The white part or pith contains horribly bitter chemicals and is best avoided.

All in all - sounds good and as I'm interested in non beer brewing too, I will be interested in final results.

 

[bum]

For my personal taste I reckon you've gone way to hard with your spice additions compared to your amount of ginger for a GB.

This looks lore like chai beer or something. Which I'd really quite like to try so please let us know how it turns out.

 

[manticle]

1 kilo of ginger (assuming that's 1 kg final peeled product) is actually a lot. I'm assuming the 5 x star anise is just 5 x seeds not 5 x whole stars.

 

[chappo1970]

I don't know Manticle I use at least a kg to 1.5kg of fresh ginger in my GB and it turns out great!

Cheers

Chappo

 

[yyeessno]

Well, as I said in the original post, all of the flavours are well balanced and to be honest, they are only noticeable if you really look for them. Of course, the overwhelming flavour is of ginger and it is quite feirce too!

The spice and lemon only add some kind of clarity to things: they make the ginger stand out and the lemon adds a crispness to it. Thee ginger and malt on their own would taste too flabby and soft. The acidity of the lemon juice is really needed. I chose to add the pith because the amount of bitterness you would get is really not noticeable and I don't see the point of throwing it away. I cut a lot off the skin from each one and bashed this up, I would then just cut the leftovers into rough chunks and threw it in with the ginger. Wastage is the enemy!

Manticle: Alcohol is, in its self, sweet. Not sweet as in sugary, but it has a richness on the tounge that can/is often interpreted as 'sweet'. In this case, it will make the ginger bite more palatable. It has the ability to soften flavours and the more of it there is the more this can happen.

 

[yyeessno]

Yes, I used just over 1kg of fresh ginger (about 5 big bits) and the star anise were the whole stars. Last time, I used about 750g of fresh ginger and it didn't have much of a bite so this time I decided to up it.

 

[manticle]

I don't know Manticle I use at least a kg to 1.5kg of fresh ginger in my GB and it turns out great!

Cheers

Chappo

I didn't mean a lot as in too much - just that I don't believe the other flavours would necessarily overshadow. Response to bum, not OP.

@yesno: 5 whole star anise might be a lot but as you said - you tasted each bit as you went. While flavours will develop at different rates over ferment, I believe that your approach is the right way to do things.

As for alcohol being sweet, I'm not sure I'm with you. Dry yes. Warming yes. Sweet?? Maybe we have very different palates (or our understanding of 'sweet' is not the same).

 

[bum]

Unless his/her volume is less than 20lt I'm leaning towards that being way under gingered (it's ok, I'm drunk so I'm qualified to just make up words), especially with those spice additions.

I do like the kaffir idea and might give it a go in my next GB.

I put cardamom in my last one and it has turned out a cracker.

 

[lanerigg]

I am going to make this tommorrow, just hope coles or woolworths has ginger on offer!

Just hope it turns out well!

cheers

 

[Phoney]

Asian grocery stores usually sell ginger a bit cheaper than coles & woolies (last time I looked anyway)

 

[chappo1970]

Weekend farmers market... about $4kg and FRESH!!!!!!



Cheers

Chappo (tha cheap skate)

 

[bum]

Asian grocery stores usually sell ginger a bit cheaper than coles & woolies (last time I looked anyway)

Usually much better than at the supermarket as well.

Are you organising a bulk buy, Chap-chap?

 

[lanerigg]

Woolies had it for $10kg. Do you strain the wort before adding it into the frementer? I will but was thinking it might give more flavour over time in the fermenter.

 

[bum]

Some people do, some people don't. As long as you give it a long boil it should be sanitary enough.