Ginger Beer

[reviled]

I have a few questions about ginger beer...

Firstly, I understand its brewed in a similair way to beer? Using yeast to ferment sugars etc? My main question, is how does the yeast not give off any alchohol, I was under the understanding that yeast ferments sugar, giving off alchohol and CO2, but where does the alchohol go in ginger beer?

Secondly, what defines beer as beer? I would think that its something brewed out of malt, hops, and yeast, so why is ginger beer called beer? Because its brewed the same?

Cheers

 

[stowaway]

I have a few questions about ginger beer...

Firstly, I understand its brewed in a similair way to beer? Using yeast to ferment sugars etc? My main question, is how does the yeast not give off any alchohol, I was under the understanding that yeast ferments sugar, giving off alchohol and CO2, but where does the alchohol go in ginger beer?

Secondly, what defines beer as beer? I would think that its something brewed out of malt, hops, and yeast, so why is ginger beer called beer? Because its brewed the same?

Cheers

U normally make alocoholic ginger beer.. If you want to make non-alocoholic ginger beer u have to use less Sugar.
The Kits comes with artifical sweetners that dont convert to alocholic.

 

[reviled]

U normally make alocoholic ginger beer.. If you want to make non-alocoholic ginger beer u have to use less Sugar.
The Kits comes with artifical sweetners that dont convert to alocholic.

So if thats the case, why is there a need for the yeast for non alcoholic ginger beer? Or would it convert the sweetners into CO2?

 

[earle]

You can make alcoholic and non-alcoholic ginger beer from the same kit.

If you want it alcoholic you put in water and sugar or dextrose and ferment to convert that to alcohol, then bottle and prime with sugar to get carbonation.

If you want non-alcoholic you just put in water and bottle straight away, priming with sugar to get carbonation. It will have a very low level of alcohol. If you want no alcohol at all you need to carbonate another way, perhaps in a keg.

As to why its called beer, NFI. Perhaps its a similar reason to why fruit wines can be called wine even though they have no grapes.

 

[geoffi]

So if thats the case, why is there a need for the yeast for non alcoholic ginger beer? Or would it convert the sweetners into CO2?

Without the yeast it would just be a sweet cordial. The yeast gives the fizz and the 'brewed' flavour that makes it ginger 'beer'.

I make a fair bit of the Brigalow kit ginger beer (as a soft drink, so I just add 150g sugar). I'm not a big fan of the artificial sweeteners, but the type 1 diabetic wife and the dieting relatives all love it. That being said, it's not too bad. The ginger offsets the sweetener sickliness to some extent.

One thing I've found is that using a decent yeast makes a difference. I usually use some slurry from my 'real' beers. Nottingham is a fave, as it has a clean taste and is a great flocculator. The kit yeast tends to float up in unsightly lumps. Yuck.

 

[katzke]

I have a few questions about ginger beer...


Secondly, what defines beer as beer? I would think that its something brewed out of malt, hops, and yeast, so why is ginger beer called beer? Because its brewed the same?

Cheers

I believe it is because it is brewed, or flavor is extracted by combining with water. As the poster that mentioned wine, wine is made from juice so anything made from plant liquid would be wine. Like watermelon, dandelion, etc. I seem to remember reading it someplace.

 

[Swizzle]

For what it's worth I did some reading before making a GB a few months ago and used champagne yeast instead of the kit yeast. Also added some steeped ginger and some cinamon. Only problem with the batch is that it didn't last very long! Definite hit with swmbo.

Have just bottled the next batch which I added 175g grated ginger to, steeped for half an hour. Tasted sensational at bottling.

 

[Tanga]

For what it's worth I did some reading before making a GB a few months ago and used champagne yeast instead of the kit yeast. Also added some steeped ginger and some cinamon. Only problem with the batch is that it didn't last very long! Definite hit with swmbo.

Have just bottled the next batch which I added 175g grated ginger to, steeped for half an hour. Tasted sensational at bottling.

Recipe please. I've just started a batch of hard lemonade which I'm pretty sure is going to taste like crap - if I can get some Ginger beer going it might make up for it.

PS why don't people use lactose for sweetening Ginger Beer rather than artificials?

 

[Interloper]

Recipe please. I've just started a batch of hard lemonade which I'm pretty sure is going to taste like crap - if I can get some Ginger beer going it might make up for it.

PS why don't people use lactose for sweetening Ginger Beer rather than artificials?

Lactose is a milk sugar, not sure what that would be like in a GB. Try the Coopers kit GB from the supermarket or k-mart. I brew this with raw sugar and my crew love it. Very cheap and you can spice it up with a few sticks of cinnamon and some lemons and some real ginger.

 

[Swizzle]

Here's my first attempt's recipe:

Coopers GB kit (present from thirsty friend!)
100g ginger boiled in 2l water
3 cinamon sticks lightly pounded in mortar and pestle then boiled with the ginger
0.5kg Light dried malt
1kg raw sugar
champagne yeast

The lovely wife raved about the first batch, for me it was probably a bit sweet and not all that bitey on the ginger front.

Second attempt now in the bottle was a Brigalow kit I was also given so I upped the sugar to 1.5kg and the ginger to about 175g. Haven't got the SG readings with me but looking like somewhere between 4-5% abv, better ginger flavour oh and didn't end up using champagne yeast (short term memory lapse) but seemed to go fine with kit yeast.

Can't help on the lactose question but certainly no problems on the sweetness front.

And in my rather brief experience this stuff is popular so I'd recommend preparing yourself for a couple of brews back to back!

Good luck with it.

 

[buttersd70]

Lactose is a milk sugar, not sure what that would be like in a GB. Try the Coopers kit GB from the supermarket or k-mart. I brew this with raw sugar and my crew love it. Very cheap and you can spice it up with a few sticks of cinnamon and some lemons and some real ginger.

whilst lactose is a milk sugar, it doesn't really have anything to do with milk per se; its called that because it is the most predominant sugar found in milk. It can be used in ginger beer, and also in cider. There are two main issues with it, though. Firstly, some people are lactose intolerant (they do not have enough of the enzyme lactase to break lactose down in the body properly. But they can get their own bloody drink, IMHO ) The second is to do with the body vs the sweetening effects. Lactose is only about 20% (from memory) as sweet as refined sugar (and also artificial sweetners, which are engineered to resemble normal sugar in sweetness factor) so a lot more lactose needs to be added to get the same level of sweetner as artificial sweetners. More lactose increases the body. In a GB or a cider brewed from scratch, the body will be very light (possibly with sg< 1.000), and the extra body caused by the lactose will be fine, but I would suspect and assume that a kit GB or cider would have other things in already to boost the body back to higher levels, and the subsequent use of (high levels of) lactose will perhaps push it too far.

 

[Bribie G]

Here's my VERY alcoholic ginger beer that I made early on in my career when I was trying to see how cheaply I could make an alcopop.

3kg sugar
100g supermarket powdered ginger
1 (or two) 750ml bottle Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial (possibly not available in NZ)
4 rounded teaspoons yeast nutrient from LHBS
Sparkling wine yeast.

24 Litres. Condition and bottle as per a lager.

Ferments out very dry tasting to about 7.2% and I served it cold with a splash of Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial in each glass for sweetness. Admittedly most of the ginger flavour was supplied by the cordial but at around $2.80 a bottle it wasn't an issue.

I read on a website devoted to our brothers and sisters in the illegal here but not in NZ area h34r: that Berocca makes a good yeast nutrient, so I did a second batch and chucked in a whole tube of Berocca Performance Tropical flavour. Ended up tasting like a Sumo Wrestler's jockstrap.

Don't do that. <_<

 

[reviled]

1 (or two) 750ml bottle Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial (possibly not available in NZ)

This stuff sounds awesome, ive never seen it so would assume you cant get it over here, but, just, yum :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

This stuff sounds awesome, ive never seen it so would assume you cant get it over here, but, just, yum :icon_cheers:

I've emailed the company (used to live round the corner from there in Bundy) and will let you know. They say on their site that their regular ginger beer products are available in NZ but doesn't say about the cordial - may be out of luck but see what happens.

Edit: I whipped round to your local Woolies in Auckland and there's Bundy products there so hope yet

 

[Muggus]

From past experience, if you really want a ginger beer kit to with a good, spicy ginger flavour, you're gonna definately want to add some fresh ginger.

The ones i've done, i've made a ginger syrup with 200-500g of fresh ginger root. Peel, shredded up in a food processor, boiled up with a bit of water and sugar in a pot for 15 minutes.
Though if, you're thinking of doing a non-alcoholic version, you may want to keep the sugar level in the syrup to the level that will give you enough for the bottle carbonation rather than alcohol.
Then you can strain (or not!) that off into your fermenter, combine it with the kit and top up with water.

 

[Supra-Jim]

I recently did a ginger flavoured beer, turned out quite nice though the ginger could have been stronger.

1 x can of Cascade Imperial Voyage Pale Ale
1 kg of dextrose
1 piece of ginger the size of twop finger (exact measurements here!!!!)
1/2 up of brandy
kit yeast

Grated the ginger and soaked it in the brandy overnight. Then made the kit as per instructions, tipped in the ginger infused brandy. Then boiled the grated ginger in 1 ltr of water. Strained the ginger water into the wort, disgarded the ginger.

Fermented for a 1 week, then 1 week in the secondary.

Turned out a very nice smooth ale, with a hint of ginger at the end of the pallet. :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

Reviled: just got an email back from Bundaberg Brewing, unfortunately they don't send the ginger beer cordial to NZ

 

[Supra-Jim]

Reviled: just got an email back from Bundaberg Brewing, unfortunately they don't send the ginger beer cordial to NZ

Bridie we don't give anything good to our neighbours over the ditch, we just make sure to mention Russel Crowe is NZ born everytime he does something bad!!!

 

[reviled]

Reviled: just got an email back from Bundaberg Brewing, unfortunately they don't send the ginger beer cordial to NZ

Gutted <_< Cheers for finding out tho mate, we get everything Bundaberg apart from that, even their crappy rum

But their ginger beer is tops! B) Im gonna have to stock up on ginger beer cordial next time im over...

 

[reviled]

Bridie we don't give anything good to our neighbours over the ditch, we just make sure to mention Russel Crowe is NZ born everytime he does something bad!!!

And there is honestly truth to this, we get bugger all over here <_< But you bastards get all of our good stuff...