Ginger Beer Too Fast?

[Rabbitz]

I have been lurking on the site for a little while and I am a little in awe of the collected knowledge here, so I am a little embarrassed to ask this...

I have currently got a GB in the fermenter

Morgans Tin 'o' goo
1Kg of Dextrose
Made up to 20 litres
Pitched yeast (the supplied packet) @ 25C
OG was 1.030
I've kept the wort (is it a wort for GB?) at between 20 & 26 but mostly around 22

So six days later the SG is 1.004

Is this drop in SG too fast?

As I have kept it warm I expected a quick ferment but this seems a little fast.

As you can no doubt tell I am a noob at this (this being my second brew) so be gentle

TIA
Rabz

 

[Muggus]

6 days at that temperature range sounds about right. You'll probably find it may be a fair bit cloudy in appearance, but thats quite common for a ginger beer anyway.

 

[Rabbitz]

Ta Muggus,

It just seemed a bit fast, although it tastes OK. It is a little cloudy but I am not too concerned about that, especially as the majority is destined to become 'Dark and Stormy's', so if it is a little darker and stormier it won't make much difference!

I will just watch the SG and if it has bottomed out I will bottle in a couple of days and see how it goes.

Rabz

 

[frasertag]

I also am a n00b but have made around 5 ginger beers now
I absolutely love em!!!
my last one has just stopped fermenting today @ 1010 SG after 6 Days @ 22deg
I also pitched the yeast @ 25deg

All the gingers i have done have finished in around a week, taste bloody excellent!!
Tho i usually brew them @ 22deg i heard i should do it lower, but i only get a chance to bottle/brew on sundays so if i miss it it has to sit for another week!! thats another brew!

one day maybe sooner then later i will get a second fermenter and have a secondary and do it properly but i just dont have the time at the momento.

my favorite recipe so far is

1.5KG Brewing Sugar
500g Grated ginger (i use ginger from asian store)
250g of Ginger Honey (its pure honey with bunderum ginger)


i may be a new to brewing, but all my mates brew and i reckon this ginger is a pretty bloody good one.

 

[wambesi]

Rabz

Timings seem ok for that temp range as others have stated, I have had some ciders and ginger beers go at 4 or 5 days and they turned out.

If your interested in the"other way" check out wildschwein's post on ginger beer plants, I did some tin of goo stuff but now am doing them with the plants, I'm finding it more rewarding on all accounts.

 

[Rabbitz]

Wambesi,

I have read wildschweins recipe and it is on the list. But as my old coach used to say, before you can bend the rules you need to learn how they work! So I am content to do goo kits until I get a feel for what I am doing.

Frasertag,

This one tastes OK in the fermenter so we will see by Sunday if it has bottomed out.

Rabz

 

[wambesi]

Very true, and the way I went too.
With my GB now not really concerned about the alc more interested in getting a real nice tasting one.

Tasted my latest plant batch tonight made out to a recipe similar to his and very nice indeed, after doing a few I highly recommend the orange as well as lemon juice.

Its all about having fun and learning along the way, now I have to get more of my beers tasting as good

 

[mt mellum]

my favorite recipe so far is

1.5KG Brewing Sugar
500g Grated ginger (i use ginger from asian store)
250g of Ginger Honey (its pure honey with bunderum ginger)
i may be a new to brewing, but all my mates brew and i reckon this ginger is a pretty bloody good one.

Hi
couple of questions from a noob

what was the base can?
how are the additives like grated ginger put into the brew?
and can I back off the sugar to say 1 kg to manage the alc content so I don't get hammered so quick?

never done a GB before and the bride is keen to see it done for the summer, so the research is starting early.

thanks

 

[wambesi]

Hi
couple of questions from a noob

what was the base can?
how are the additives like grated ginger put into the brew?
and can I back off the sugar to say 1 kg to manage the alc content so I don't get hammered so quick?

never done a GB before and the bride is keen to see it done for the summer, so the research is starting early.

thanks

Do you want to use a base can or try out a ginger beer plant?
I have done both and as stated above it is good to brew some "kits" first but my short experience with my GB's now is biased towards the plant! Everything is then under your control.

But about kits, you can add items like the ginger (juice, grated etc), cinnamon sticks, whichever you want to do straight into the fermenter or in the boil and strain into the fermenter if you prefer, I have done both and they turned out fine, you can lower/raise your sugar levels as much as you want too.

The plant option will make a very minimal alc brew unless left to ferment in the bottle a long time then obviously it will increase, I'm enjoying mine at the moment most days and make about 6L every sunday :chug:

 

[frasertag]

Hi
couple of questions from a noob

what was the base can?
how are the additives like grated ginger put into the brew?
and can I back off the sugar to say 1 kg to manage the alc content so I don't get hammered so quick?

never done a GB before and the bride is keen to see it done for the summer, so the research is starting early.

thanks

Hi

I boil up around 4 litres, add the honey and grated ginger in.. leave it to boil for around 10mins and dump the lot into the fermenter, the grated ginger usually settles to the bottom after a few days of floating around.

I use morgon or coopers kits, which i find suspiciously the same!
dont bother with the brigalow kits.
I also hear the The country brewer kits are good but i dont have a Credit Card so cannot purchase them.

So i would grab a coopers kit because they are a few dollars less the morgans.
$10.18 @ BigW

Its fine to drop the sugar content back to 1kg
as the honey also adds sugar.
But the ginger honey also drys it out abit and gives you that ginger bite in the back of your throught!
Give it a go, let me know what you think..


My mother grows ginger beer plants and brews non alcho gb, its quite tastey however even after years of experience she sometimes makes gushers/bombs even using plastic!!! :blink:

i like my Ginger Beer to be strong, but I also like Ginger Beer abit to much... its gone by the time its entered the glass, maybe I too should drop the sugar level

 

[Rabbitz]

So to round up my original post, after continuing to check the SG which by Friday had dropped to 1.004 with the expectation of it bottoming out, it continued a slow creep down to 1.001 and has been stable now for two days. I suspect the sudden warm weather has given the yeast a final boost.

If it is still 1.001 tonight when I get home it will be bottling time for me.

The taste has improved immeasurably over the last couple of days so now I just need to be patient to let it carbonate.

Thanks for all the advice

Rabz