Ginger beer recipe
- Thread starter The Pitch 1988
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BananaMan
Member
Hi Guys,
Just to chuck my 2 cents in where it probably doesn't belong.
I've been working on a recipe for Ginger Beer that uses ginger from a jar (I know, I know). Its just so much more cost effective as Coles sells it in 1KG jars for $5. If anyone has any ideas on recipe improvements or wants to give it a brew I'd love to hear it.
For a 20 liter batch @ 2.5% ABV:
- 2kg ginger paste
- 1.25kg Light DME
- 0.25kg Brown Sugar (1kg for 3.8% ABV)
- 2 Red Chillis (blended). Omit if not a lover of heat or "Ginger Bite"
- 2 Lemons. Juice only
- 3 Black Teabags steeped in 1 litre hot water
- Safale S-04 yeast
- Yeast nutrient
Ferment @ 18 deg so you only get a bit of the "Ale' flavour from the yeast.
I've added the DME and the teabags to try and give it a little body and depth of flavour, the lemons to give the ginger a bit of a freshness lift.
Just to chuck my 2 cents in where it probably doesn't belong.
I've been working on a recipe for Ginger Beer that uses ginger from a jar (I know, I know). Its just so much more cost effective as Coles sells it in 1KG jars for $5. If anyone has any ideas on recipe improvements or wants to give it a brew I'd love to hear it.
For a 20 liter batch @ 2.5% ABV:
- 2kg ginger paste
- 1.25kg Light DME
- 0.25kg Brown Sugar (1kg for 3.8% ABV)
- 2 Red Chillis (blended). Omit if not a lover of heat or "Ginger Bite"
- 2 Lemons. Juice only
- 3 Black Teabags steeped in 1 litre hot water
- Safale S-04 yeast
- Yeast nutrient
Ferment @ 18 deg so you only get a bit of the "Ale' flavour from the yeast.
I've added the DME and the teabags to try and give it a little body and depth of flavour, the lemons to give the ginger a bit of a freshness lift.
Malted Mick
Well-Known Member
Hi BM I seen that product in my local Coles as well after I had brought my fresh ingredients. Maharajahs Choice brand I think it was at $4.90 1 kg. Go for it and give it a try. Its good value as I used $40 of fresh ginger in an all grain with ginger brew I put down a few weeks ago. Burnt out the wifes blender mincing up the ginger and galagal as well! I tried to stay away from additives and preservetives but whats in that jar is no worse than whats in the comercial GB's. I also added galagal, chilli and lemon grass to my brew. Had a taste a week ago and it is very bitter, needs more lemon zing and sweetness. I will have another taste today to see how it has progressed.
Hangover68
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't mind giving that a go, is this a modified version of one you have already brewed ?
Is this first go ? or what were previous results ?
kadmium
Well-Known Member
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Are you telling me you don't use single origin, hand picked organic ginger?
Jokes aside, that sounds like a good idea. I make Cider from coles brand apple juice (the long life stuff) and while it's not true Cider, it's still damn tasty. And with Ginger being ridiculously expensive for fresh, I would rather have something that's gingerbeer ish, than nothing at all.
Jokes aside, that sounds like a good idea. I make Cider from coles brand apple juice (the long life stuff) and while it's not true Cider, it's still damn tasty. And with Ginger being ridiculously expensive for fresh, I would rather have something that's gingerbeer ish, than nothing at all.
BananaMan
Member
Hey Mick. Your brew sounds interesting, can't say i've heard of anything quite like it before. Sounds kinda like a Thai Curry flavour?
I've dabbled with adding citric acid powder to brew to give it that zing, played havoc with the yest though. I've had great results using EC-1118 yeast to get the dry zing flavour
BananaMan
Member
@kadmium you forgot cellar aged, vegan certified as well 
.
Like @kadmium I usually make "Cider" from Coles / Woolies apple juice. I've never made this recipe, it was just something a friend and I came up with one afternoon a few weeks ago based off our cider brews. I brew an Apple & Blackcurrent cider, he does a Mango & Ginger one (won't tell me the ratios though, keeps me coming back for more I recon). We just kinda smooshed the two recipes together and it sounded okay.
I'm definitely going to give it a crack though.
.Like @kadmium I usually make "Cider" from Coles / Woolies apple juice. I've never made this recipe, it was just something a friend and I came up with one afternoon a few weeks ago based off our cider brews. I brew an Apple & Blackcurrent cider, he does a Mango & Ginger one (won't tell me the ratios though, keeps me coming back for more I recon). We just kinda smooshed the two recipes together and it sounded okay.
I'm definitely going to give it a crack though.
Malted Mick
Well-Known Member
Yes my experiment was inspired by my love of thai food. The galangal and lemon grass additions were to add citris/pine notes. Had a taste today. The ginger hit is there, but no citris/pine notes and way too bitter with a burn. Maybe to much galangal and chilli. Added some fresh lemon juice today so will have another taste tomorrow. Next stage will be to back sweeten it with honey or palm sugar.
Malted Mick
Well-Known Member
Vegan certified!
I read the ingredients on the Coles Ginger Paste, from memory the additives were Safflower Oil, Citric Acid 330 and Xanthan Gum 415. All good there, as I said there is worse in some of the commercial GB's. I will give it a try in my next experimental GB. It was a hassle to mince the fresh ingredients and my current brew may not be salvageable to make it drinkable.
got a bottle today, 1kg for $4.90.
94% ginger, so unless i hear bad reports, it will go the next powderkeg (if my current and first attempt goes ok)
if we do get bad reports, i will have enough ginger for curries for a long long long time.
Hangover68
Well-Known Member
got a bottle today, 1kg for $4.90.
94% ginger, so unless i hear bad reports, it will go the next powderkeg (if my current and first attempt goes ok)
if we do get bad reports, i will have enough ginger for curries for a long long long time.
Whats the plan with the ginger, drain the liquid and boil it with the other ingredients ?
there wasn't any boiling as such, although i did have the fresh ginger in boiling water for a few minutes to clean it.
(i think i've read somewhere that ginger has some natural yeast on it's skin)
TBH i was just going to throw it all in, bits an all.
the 500gm of fresh ginger i used in the current brew wasn't peeled, just chopped finely and macerated with sherry, whiskey and cinzano as per recipe.
if it's 94% ginger, then there is just 6gm in total of sunflower oil, water, citric acid, salt & Xanthan Gum.
on the other hand, i know there's a difference in taste when i use fresh ginger as opposed to bottled ginger when i cook.
btw i tested the SG of the powderkeg yesterday after 12 days of slowly chugging along, it was at 1.011.
but i accidentally on purpose squirted a sample around my taste buds, very nice indeed.
BananaMan
Member
Well I had planned on just chucking everything in together and letting it go. You gotta keep the ginger juice, needs the flavor.
But I suppose you could boil the sugar, malt and ginger to dissolve everything. Then just add everything else in once you've added the cold water.
there wasn't any boiling as such, although i did have the fresh ginger in boiling water for a few minutes to clean it.
(i think i've read somewhere that ginger has some natural yeast on it's skin)
TBH i was just going to throw it all in, bits an all.
the 500gm of fresh ginger i used in the current brew wasn't peeled, just chopped finely and macerated with sherry, whiskey and cinzano as per recipe.
if it's 94% ginger, then there is just 6gm in total of sunflower oil, water, citric acid, salt & Xanthan Gum.
on the other hand, i know there's a difference in taste when i use fresh ginger as opposed to bottled ginger when i cook.
btw i tested the SG of the powderkeg yesterday after 12 days of slowly chugging along, it was at 1.011.
but i accidentally on purpose squirted a sample around my taste buds, very nice indeed.
Yeah I know what you mean flavor wise. That's why I was thinking that 1kg of jar ginger per 10 liters of liquid you work. Let us know how it turns out, might need to up the ginger content. OR even add ground ginger
[QU
="BananaMan, post: 1561412, member: 99837"]
Yeah I know what you mean flavor wise. That's why I was thinking that 1kg of jar ginger per 10 liters of liquid you work. Let us know how it turns out, might need to up the ginger content. OR even add ground ginger
[/QUOTE]
i went to a few sites and a couple of them said to use equal parts fresh/bottle ginger (in cooking)
but ground ginger is quite strong by the sound of it, anywhere from 4-1 to 12-1 depending on where you read.(i've never used it)
only found 1 place that compared fresh/bottled in ginger beer and they said the bottled ginger was ok, but muted flavour compared to fresh.
the trouble with playing around with the powderkeg recipe, isn't exactly cheap in the first place.(about $70 for the 23L batch)
="BananaMan, post: 1561412, member: 99837"]
Yeah I know what you mean flavor wise. That's why I was thinking that 1kg of jar ginger per 10 liters of liquid you work. Let us know how it turns out, might need to up the ginger content. OR even add ground ginger
[/QUOTE]
i went to a few sites and a couple of them said to use equal parts fresh/bottle ginger (in cooking)
but ground ginger is quite strong by the sound of it, anywhere from 4-1 to 12-1 depending on where you read.(i've never used it)
only found 1 place that compared fresh/bottled in ginger beer and they said the bottled ginger was ok, but muted flavour compared to fresh.
the trouble with playing around with the powderkeg recipe, isn't exactly cheap in the first place.(about $70 for the 23L batch)
there wasn't any boiling as such, although i did have the fresh ginger in boiling water for a few minutes to clean it.
(i think i've read somewhere that ginger has some natural yeast on it's skin)
$4.90 a Kilo ?
I'm guessing it's from China and probably fertilised the same way their Garlic is ?
If so, there might be a bit more than 'natural yeast' in there
$4.90 is the cost of a 1 kg jar of ginger paste from coles (maharajah brand, made in india)
what can go wrong?
India !$4.90 is the cost of a 1 kg jar of ginger paste from coles (maharajah brand, made in india)
what can go wrong?
OK, might not have the problem. I'll get some. Let us know how you go first ........
