Kit & Kilo Ginger Beer

[ekul]

What temp is everyone fermenting at? I've read a few times that its better to ferment a bit higher (24-26C) so the last ginger beer i put down i just left it sitting on the bench, but it was pretty cold for most of the fermentation so probably didn't go above 24C.
I was sceptical but as the brew only cost me $7 and took 10mins to make i won't be that disapointed if it fails. When it was colder (18-20C) the gb did seem to really slow down, so maybe it does need to be warm to ferment.

I have another can in the cupboard which i will be putting down for chrissy so i want to make sure its fermented at the right temp, so what does everyone think the optimum fermenting temp is? Same as tasty ales?

thanks

 

[ekul]

What temp is everyone fermenting at? I've read a few times that its better to ferment a bit higher (24-26C) so the last ginger beer i put down i just left it sitting on the bench, but it was pretty cold for most of the fermentation so probably didn't go above 24C.
I was sceptical but as the brew only cost me $7 and took 10mins to make i won't be that disapointed if it fails. When it was colder (18-20C) the gb did seem to really slow down, so maybe it does need to be warm to ferment.

I have another can in the cupboard which i will be putting down for chrissy so i want to make sure its fermented at the right temp, so what does everyone think the optimum fermenting temp is? Same as tasty ales?

thanks

Well i bottled it and it tasted great straight out of the fermenter, far better than expected. I thought it was going to be really dry but it wasn't, doesn't taste alcoholic at all actually! If anything its a little sweet so i may dilute the next one a little more, or add more sugar to dry it out a little.
It didn't seem to be adversely affected by the higher temps which is really good, because it means i can put them down without tying up the fermenting fridge.

 

[kuntushi]

I've currently got GravityGuru's K&K Powderkeg Ginger Beer recipe going: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=972

It didn't start as high as he stated, but I didn't use the spirits or soak the ginger at all... maybe that had something to do with it. I think it started at 1.030 (way below the stated 1.042) and after a week is down to 1.000. That was in my temp controlled fridge, which is set to 20C (+- 2C). But yeah, only a week to drop that much at 20C using the Morgan's kit yeast and beer nutrient, as well as the dry enzyme I bought.

It currently tastes AWESOME! Nice strong ginger hit on the back of the throat and tongue, which lasts a bit because of the chilli. It didn't taste too alcoholic either, not too dry or anything. I'm really happy with it.

Thinking of bottling sometime this week if the SG stays around 1.000, but I'm a little worried I might explode some bottles. It seems to happen with ginger beer. Also, everyone else seems to be leaving it for 2-3 weeks. But if the SG has steadied it should be ready, right? I'm thinking of aiming for around 2.8 - 3.0 CO2 volume.

 

[DigitalGiraffe]

So I grabbed a coopers kit from my LHBS today and he gave me the following to add to it:

1x 1kg Brew Enhancer (75% Dextrose and 24% Corn Syrup)
1x 500g bag of Lactose (To make it creamier?)

And I have 375g of ginger ready to add to it also.

Should I be adding and raw or brown sugar?

Should I be boiling the ginger or just peel it and slice it up and add to the fermenter?

Is the lactose worth adding as I haven't seen it used in any of the recipes here?

Cheers,

Paul

 

[RobH]

The lactose will add sweetness as it is an unfermentable sugar. I have seen it in some kits at my LHBS, but have never tried those kits.

 

[qpoint]

Bumping this topic than starting a new one... seems like some quite good info in here.

I've done about maybe three different GB K&K's now being Coopers, Morgans and a Brewcraft one. I think Morgans seems the best, although I've yet to experiment with anything more than just some extra dextrose.

My main complaint about GB kits is that they seem so flat taste-wise... almost soapy. What's the sweetening agent in the kits? I'm guessing it's something artificial so as not to ferment out and it's coming through really strong in the brews. Has anyone else noticed this?

I'm considering maybe adding extra ingredients like fresh ginger, spices, chilli etc which will make it more than one-dimensional and drown out the artificial taste I'm getting. Either that, or try making a GB from scratch but using lactose as sweetener but have no idea how that'd work.

Any thoughts?

 

[hotchilli]

This thread inspired me to put down a GB today based on stienberg's recipe, but slightly less ingredients:

• 1 Coopers Ginger Beer Kit
• 750ml Bottle of Buderim Ginger Refresher
• 1.5 kg Raw Sugar
• 250g Fresh Ginger
• 145g Crushed Ginger
• 50g Powdered Ginger
• 10 Whole Cloves
• 10 Medium Chillies (~75g)
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks

The fresh ginger and chilli was chopped and added to 3L of water, then boiled for about 15 minutes. All the other ingredients were mixed in, steeped for a while and then added to the fermenter along with chilled water to make up 19L. Temp was good at 20 deg C and I pitched the kit yeast - I'm going to brew this one in a kitchen cupboard with frozen bottles of water for temp control rather than tie up the brew fridge.

OG=1.046. The 1.5kg raw sugar should give this ~5% ABV.

The crushed Ginger was "Galiko" brand that you find in the fresh food section of Woolies - it's half the price of fresh ginger and I'm hoping it's a good substitute.

I drank the sample from the SG reading and it tasted amazing. The chilli really leaves a good strong sensation in the mouth afterwards



I reckon this will be a winner - can't wait to try it.

 

[jasonharley]

This thread inspired me to put down a GB today based on stienberg's recipe, but slightly less ingredients:

• 1 Coopers Ginger Beer Kit
• 750ml Bottle of Buderim Ginger Refresher
• 1.5 kg Raw Sugar
• 250g Fresh Ginger
• 145g Crushed Ginger
• 50g Powdered Ginger
• 10 Whole Cloves
• 10 Medium Chillies (~75g)
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks

The fresh ginger and chilli was chopped and added to 3L of water, then boiled for about 15 minutes. All the other ingredients were mixed in, steeped for a while and then added to the fermenter along with chilled water to make up 19L. Temp was good at 20 deg C and I pitched the kit yeast - I'm going to brew this one in a kitchen cupboard with frozen bottles of water for temp control rather than tie up the brew fridge.

OG=1.046. The 1.5kg raw sugar should give this ~5% ABV.

The crushed Ginger was "Galiko" brand that you find in the fresh food section of Woolies - it's half the price of fresh ginger and I'm hoping it's a good substitute.

I drank the sample from the SG reading and it tasted amazing. The chilli really leaves a good strong sensation in the mouth afterwards

View attachment 43721

I reckon this will be a winner - can't wait to try it.

Just be careful.... most crushed ginger is laced with vinegar which can give an off flavour, especially if you don't strain the excess liquid .... best to dice up fresh ginger and boil with the other ingredients for 30 min

5 eyes

 

[brettprevans]

I know crushed Ginger is quick but it tastes nothing like real Ginger and weight for weight I recon fresh Ginger is still probably cheaper than jar stuff even if it's $20 per kilo.

10 chillis? Wow. I used 3 Birdseye and that was plenty. Mind u that was an 'AG'/from scratch Ginger beer. Maybe kits have something that offsets the heat.

 

[hotchilli]

5eyes - thanks for the heads up. I checked the ingredients on the jar and yep, it's about 10% vinegar, which works out to 15ml. Hopefully this won't be detectable in 19L. If I do ever decide to use it again, I'll boil off the vinegar.

CM2 - I got stung $30 per kilo for the fresh ginger at woolies. You're right though, the crushed stuff is nowhere near as good as fresh - may have been false economy? And yeah, 10 chillies is probably a bit overkill, but hey, I love chilli, and I'm brewing this one for me, not the ladies. Now that I've discovered you can put chilli in GB, I'm also finding some people are putting chilli in their beer - woohoo, sounds like heaven

 

[jasonharley]

5eyes - thanks for the heads up. I checked the ingredients on the jar and yep, it's about 10% vinegar, which works out to 15ml. Hopefully this won't be detectable in 19L. If I do ever decide to use it again, I'll boil off the vinegar.

CM2 - I got stung $30 per kilo for the fresh ginger at woolies. You're right though, the crushed stuff is nowhere near as good as fresh - may have been false economy? And yeah, 10 chillies is probably a bit overkill, but hey, I love chilli, and I'm brewing this one for me, not the ladies. Now that I've discovered you can put chilli in GB, I'm also finding some people are putting chilli in their beer - woohoo, sounds like heaven

If you a stuck for fresh ginger (this may be the case during the post-flood food logistic crisis) then a quick trick is to empty half of the jar of ginger and fill it will ice cold water, mix with a spoon and drain off the liquid... that should take the edge off the vinegar

 

[Dribs]

I'm thinking of doing something similar to Hotchilli's recipe (but with half the chilli). I'm thinking of not straining it so some ginger pulp ends up in the bottle. People love that! But what of the chilli pulp in the bottle? Would it be inoffensive after being soak for weeks?

 

[bum]

Would it be inoffensive after being soak for weeks?

Nope. But just cut it in half, no reason to pulp it - it'll still do it's thing. Maybe even fish them out of the boil first.

 

[Dribs]

Just put mine down a few moments ago, twas:

tin of Coopers GB
200g of fresh ginger (grated)
1.6kg-ish of raw sugar
750ml Bunderim Ginger Refresher
10 cloves (whole)
3 cinnamon stick (whole)
2 big chillies, 4 baby chillies
rind and juice of 1 lemon.
1.5 packets of Coopers yeast.

Method: The usual. Boiled most of it in 2 litres of water for 20 -30 mins, however, I put the ginger refresh in the fridge to help bring the temp down before pitching and added it after the goo and boil were in. Strained it into the fermenter and ate half the ginger pulp, it was delicious. Over shot a bit and made 23 litres, gravity 1035 so expecting around 4.5%.