New Member: Ginger Beer

[RazorRoy1]

Hi Brewers,

New to brewing, but have been experimenting with Ginger Beer brews. Here is one im happy with, with few obvs for others who are keen to give it a try..

Recipe:
850g mature ginger
1/3 cup of lime juice
Zest of 2 lemons
3/4 of morgans ginger malt syrup
2 cinnemon sticks
750g caster sugar
Full pot water for wort (4L)
Yeast and Nutrient from Morgans Kit.

Low temp boil for about two hours. But I sinced realised this may not be best for Ginger Beer, advice from other brewers has been for quick boil, 10-15 mins to keep the oils/flavour.

Strained all solids, remaining liquid into fermenter.

Added 6 litres of water to ferment, total of 10L in fermenter. Tactic here was to not water down the ferment, was aiming for spicy finish and only have a 10L keg.

Average Ferm Temp: 25 degrees

Ferment for 20 day
OG: 1.020
FG: 1.000

Force Carb: 4 days at 20psi at 4 degrees (was keen to drink but I over carbonated, with heaps of head on pour, but a purge helped reduced the foam. Will definitely try 10-12 psi as advised and test frequently until just right. Approx 7 days.

Flavour: Soft ginger spice that builds over time to become mildly spicy, with a dry finish however still holds a little sweetness. The malt flavour is very noticable but not overpowering. A hint of citrus but could be increased in wort for people who want more sourness.

Overall a decent gingerbeer but will try without malt next brew.

Few Questions:
Does anyone recommend keeping all the solids in the fermenter until kegging? Would this increase ginger spice?

Has anyone been able to create a ginger beer that is super crisp? Simialr to a lager...

Wondering whether to create a super crisp GB, would there be anything avaiable like a clean/clear super concentrate ginger oil, with aim is create a clear crisp ginger beer.

 

[Jon54]

I put my root ginger through a juicer; something I've not seen done in any of the many methods and recipes I've read. 750 g of ginger produced 450 ml of juice and by the look of the separated pulp I doubt there was anything left to extract. It's only been fermenting a couple of days so the outcome is a mystery but it does smell wonderful.

 

[Jon54]

...
Few Questions:
Does anyone recommend keeping all the solids in the fermenter until kegging? Would this increase ginger spice?

Has anyone been able to create a ginger beer that is super crisp? Simialr to a lager...

Wondering whether to create a super crisp GB, would there be anything avaiable like a clean/clear super concentrate ginger oil, with aim is create a clear crisp ginger beer.

I did put the ginger fibre into a hop sock (so as not to block the tap when bottling) tied off at each end, and sock and contents did get a 10 min boil for sterilization before going into the fermenter for a few days. Then I began to worry and removed it. On the one hand, the fiber left after juicing looked like there'd be nothing left for yeast to extract so I don't think there was much to gain by adding it to the fermenter. On the other, it was probably too late to prevent any bad effects (infect being the only one I can think of).