Ginger Beer Recipe Check

[mrmatt]

Hi all,
bottled my beer this morning and now the fermenter is empty, I'm ready for my GB.
Ive read some to the recipes and have decided to hash up one of my own.
Morgans 1kg gb can
2kg of raw/brown sugar
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
500grams off fresh grated ginger
500mls of lime and lemon juice
and make up to 20l approx

Things I'm not sure about are using the kit yeast and nutrient or the safale 05 I've got. Also wether the preservative
in the lemon and lime juice (squeezy from coles) would be a no no.
thanks
Matt

 

[Wolfy]

Instead of 2kg sugar, you could substitute some malt extract and I'd also recommend you substitute at least 250g of CSR's dark brown sugar, for a much nicer flavour.
You could also add some ginger powder for an extra kick, if you wanted.

For the GB I have in the fermenting fridge right now, I used 1 Coopers can, 600g LDME, 600g Raw Sugar, 250g Dark Brown sugar as the fermentables.
I used spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves) instead of the juice, but GB with lemon/lime is also nice.

It should be easy to get some fresh lemons/limes to squeeze them, and would be safer than using a preservative (but it would probably only be a small amount so you may be ok).

 

[bum]

Agree with everything Wolfy said above (especially the dark brown sugar - brown sugar is not as good a substitute either, gotta say dark on it). IBut would like to say that the malt thing is very much according to preference. I do have to say that I prefer just the raw sugar for myself. I've also gone off the idea of heavy alc GBs very recently. When I'm having GBs I really do want to just pound them down (they're just so good) and I'd been making them at 6.5% or so which is just a dumb idea for the way I drink them. What I'm getting at is that 2kg of raw sugar will make a reasonably strong GB - remembering they do ferment down much lower than beer. If you're only going to have a couple rather than a session on them then high alc is cool.

I'd suggest upping the cinnamon addition - I use 6 to 8 whole quills in mine and the flavour is still subtle, although I do use a lot of fresh ginger as well so I wouldn't recommend you use that much for your recipe.

To be honest I don't really care what yeast I use for my GBs - I aim for so much bite that I never really notice the yeast profile. I'd use the yeast that best suited my temp control - if that makes any sense.

 

[lczaban]

I'd say the recipe looks good MrMatt. I'm more on the side of Bum rather than Wolfy when it comes to malt - too much in a GB just doesn't do the flavour much justice IMHO. The sugar I tend to use is the normal Brown Sugar (the crumbly moist stuff) rather than the Dark Brown stuff (which has a noticeably darker colour to it), but the flavour "depth" increases when you use the darker stuff.

It doesn't matter which yeast you use (either US-05 or the kit yeast) - both do the GB justice. Make use you use the nutrient as well to ensure the GB fully attenuates - bottles bombs are common with GBs h34r: . My Powderkeg GB (see the Recipe DB) starts at around SG 1.035 ish but finishes at 0.996 using the kit yeast and the nutrient. Make sure it has finished before you bottle!!!!

The only other suggestion I'd make is the addition of a chilli, thinly sliced, thrown in seeds & all into the fermenter just prior to pitching the yeast. The Lemon & Lime juice may add enough acid to keep the palate lively, but the chilli definitely does the trick.

Let us know how it turns out! :icon_cheers:

 

[mrmatt]

Right good I'm pretty set in that then.
yeah ill up the cinnamon to 4 or so then maybe a little nutmeg or allspice too? I'm using the crumbly brown sugar not the full dark one and not raw cane sugar like.
Ill go with the kit yeast and save safale for my next brew. Haven't got a fridge so collapse-able coolers and freeze blocks are how i do it
Will add a chilli or two, will the extras mean i need to boil this?

 

[Wolfy]

Will add a chilli or two, will the extras mean i need to boil this?

Boiling is probably not essential, however a short boil may help extract more flavours from some of the ingredients.
Also last time I used raw ginger it also had an amount of mould-like stuff growing on it so boiling will also help reduce the risk of any infections or wild yeasts that may otherwise be introduced from your additional ingredients.

I know that others have said the kit-yeast is fine, but I'd be more likely to throw it in the boil and use it as yeast-nutrients and then use US-05 or similar - that way the quality and the storage of the yeast should be more stable.

 

[bum]

Fair point, Wolfy. It is good advice about the yeast, mrmatt.

 

[moovet]

I just made my first GB brew which combined Chappos and Gravity Gurus recipes. I replaced all the sugar by using 1kg of my honey instead and the ginger beer has a wonderful aroma and flavour as a result I think. I crash chilled it to have it minimally alcoholic (for my pregnant wife) and with 1kg of honey it isn't too sweet. Maybe if it was going to be fully fermented you could add more honey.

1 x Morgans Ginger Beer Kit
1 x 500g Fresh ginger - blended
1 kg honey (urban blend)
1 x 750ml Buderum Ginger Refresher Cordial
1 x fresh chilli (sliced thinly with the seeds in)
Zest from 2 lemons and limes
Juice from 2 lemons and limes
2 x crushed cloves
1 x stick Cinnamon - crushed

I boiled about 5 litres of water and then added the blended ginger for an hour adding the other fresh ingredients after 45min.

I added water up to a total of 19L as I was worried about the low starting SG which was 1.032. After about a week I racked to a secondary vessel for another week and crash-chilled for another week before Final gravity was 1.015 which equates to about 2.4%ABV.

As it has lost a bit of its gingerness over the last 10 days I might add another 250g next time.

Anyway, although being a biased beekeeper, I think honey goes fantastically well in ginger beer.

Cheers,


M

 

[Homebrewbanga]

Hey guys,

just wondering when did you pitch your yeast during initial boil and again in fermenter? did you use just the kit yeast and did you leave all the cinnamon lemon and ginget in the boiled liquid that was put into fermenter?
And also have you made again and made any other adjustments, i am wanting to make a low alcohol version as well as the wife is pregnant
Cheers

 

[Hpal]

You can still drink if she is pregnant!

 

[Homebrewbanga]

The low alcohol is so she can have one and not feel bad