No Artificial Sweetener Ginger Beers

[jimmm]

Hi ,
Wanting to make some ginger beer,are their any kits that dont have artificial sweeteners?
Are they any good?
Cheers
Jim

 

[stowaway]

Hi ,
Wanting to make some ginger beer,are their any kits that dont have artificial sweeteners?
Are they any good?
Cheers
Jim

I dont think there are any that sell them without artifical sweetner.. But there are plenty of receipes on here that dont include them.. I definetly suggest NOT using artificial sweetners. I made one with it and hated the taste.

 

[Bribie G]

Hi ,
Wanting to make some ginger beer,are their any kits that dont have artificial sweeteners?
Are they any good?
Cheers
Jim

Are you talking about soft drink ginger beer or alcoholic ginger beer? I make a very simple 7% ABV ginger beer that I mix up in a jug with extra ginger cordial, pine/passion cordial and heaps of ice plus some crushed fruit like mango, a few crushed mint leaves etc and end up with a fairly lethal but refreshing cocktail that looks and tastes like it's escaped from some poolside bar in the Bahamas. Including the little cocktail umbrellas :super:
At about 20 cents a litre for the base brew it's not bad value.

Drunk for 30 cents. Dead drunk for 60 cents. Dead for a dollar :blink:
If interested I'll post the recipe.

 

[cdbrown]

BribieG - Interested for both the soft drink version (for the missus and needs to be without artifical sweetners as she's preggers) and the alco verion (for me).

 

[MHB]

The new Brewcraft ginger beer has the sweetener in a separate packet, so you dont have to use it.

Not enough Ginger in it for my taste, but its easy to add more. I have made it sans the sweetener, and added 2 bottles of Buderim Ginger Refresher, worked really well, for a quick and easy GB.

The 2 bottles of Buderim gives about the same amount of alcohol as a Kg of dextrose.

Not suitable for Non Alcoholic BG sorry

MHB

 

[crundle]

BribieG - interested in the recipe also for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

 

[Bribie G]

Alcoholic Ginger Beer Base
​

This will ferment out to dryness and is intended to be used as a fizzy 7% alcoholic base to be mixed up with sweeteners and other flavours in the jug. I've been brewing this since just after Easter and it's fairly bulletproof.


Brew for 24 litres

• 3kg bag supermarket sugar

• 50 - 80g powdered ginger depending on preferred heat - forget the supermarket price, get it from your Indian or Asian supermarket for about $3.50 for 500g

• Six heaped teaspoons yeast nutrient - diammonium phosphate - from LHBS.

• Kit yeast from a Coopers or even better use some leftover Nottingham, it loves this!

Mix, add to fermenter and pitch yeast. For the deluxe version you can chuck in a bottle of Buderim Ginger Refresher at this stage as well. Low 20s temperature, let it go for 2 weeks. Bottle and prime as per a lager but it will be good and ready to drink after 2 weeks in the bottle and doesn't seem to improve with age.

This should provide a completely dry, fizzy but neutral and clean tasting ginger base at around 7% alc. Chill to almost freezing before serving in large jug.


To serve:

In a jug, to taste,

A slug of Buderim Ginger Refresher or Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial.
A slug of a tropical cordial like Cottees Lime/Mango/Passionfruit
Blend some pineapple rings or a mango to a pulp
Heaps of ice
Mint leaves
Cocktail umbrellas, curly straws, blue plastic swordfish swizzle sticks... you know the deal B)

Serve in a hollowed out pineapple resting in the navel-dimple of a Caribbean golden skinned.......

 

[mynameisrodney]

the norma's ginger beer kit from country brewer is pretty decent. i don't think it has artificial sweetener in it but i'd check with them first.

 

[drsmurto]

20L batch

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh and 0.5kg that has been stored in the fridge for >2 months)
2.5 kg raw sugar
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves (the spice, not garlic.....)
2 lemons
Champagne yeast

Puree the ginger, skin and all. Chop lemon roughly. Boil everything for 30 mins to 1 hour. Cool. Top up to 20L in fermenter. Pitch yeast (and some nutrient if you have some on hand).

Finishes close to 1.000.

Boiling all of the lemon can lead to an astringency due to the pith. I havent found this to be the case but it could be hiding under all that ginger. The fresh ginger provides the aroma, the older stuff gives you an almighty ginger bite.

(have tried a combo of LDME/crystal malt and sugar, it depends on your taste - this turns out very dry. The ladies mix it with lemonade to sweeten it up)

 

[Bribie G]

20L batch

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh and 0.5kg that has been stored in the fridge for >2 months)
..........

I was going to make a batch of my above recipe in time for Christmas but will use your recipe this time as we are in ginger heaven here in SEQ and can get ginger that is so fresh and tender it's almost dripping sap :icon_drool2: as well as being cheap. I'll fridge some now for use late November.

I've found a nice sweetener to put in the jug, Golden Circle Pine, Mango and Passionfruit cordial - gives it an exotic twang.

 

[cdbrown]

20L batch

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh and 0.5kg that has been stored in the fridge for >2 months)
2.5 kg raw sugar
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves (the spice, not garlic.....)
2 lemons
Champagne yeast

Puree the ginger, skin and all. Chop lemon roughly. Boil everything for 30 mins to 1 hour. Cool. Top up to 20L in fermenter. Pitch yeast (and some nutrient if you have some on hand).

Finishes close to 1.000.

Boiling all of the lemon can lead to an astringency due to the pith. I havent found this to be the case but it could be hiding under all that ginger. The fresh ginger provides the aroma, the older stuff gives you an almighty ginger bite.

(have tried a combo of LDME/crystal malt and sugar, it depends on your taste - this turns out very dry. The ladies mix it with lemonade to sweeten it up)

If you don't have the older ginger sitting around for 2 months (ours never lasts due to regular feeds of curry) can we substitute it for the powdered stuff? 1.25kg of ginger is a hell of a lot of ginger.

 

[drsmurto]

You only get out what you put in.

Buy more ginger

 

[mwd]

Not sure how cheap these days. Last time I looked Fresh Root Ginger was over $10.00 on the pricetag so I presume that is per kilo.

Very tempted to have a go at Bribie's neat and simple recipe.

 

[Barley Belly]

I am keen to make a non-artificial sweetener GB and plan to put this one down tomorrow.

I've embellished on BribieG's Alcoholic Ginger Beer Base (hope it's OK) :unsure:

60 grams Powdered Ginger
3kg Raw Sugar
1 Bottle Buderim Refresher
500 grams Lactose
Coupla Packs Yeast Nutrient
Coupla Packs Coopers GB Yeast
Make up to 23 litres

Will let all know how it goes

 

[sponge]

You can pick up much cheaper (and better imo) fresh ginger in asian supermarkets

definetely the way to go in terms of buying fresh ginger...

 

[kram]

Not sure how cheap these days. Last time I looked Fresh Root Ginger was over $10.00 on the pricetag so I presume that is per kilo.

Very tempted to have a go at Bribie's neat and simple recipe.

I remember when I made this at the start of the year the price went from $10 to $19 per kg nearly overnight then a couple weeks later back down to $10. This is coles/woolies though.

 

[bolwell]

I am keen to make a non-artificial sweetener GB and plan to put this one down tomorrow.

I've embellished on BribieG's Alcoholic Ginger Beer Base (hope it's OK) :unsure:

60 grams Powdered Ginger
3kg Raw Sugar
1 Bottle Buderim Refresher
500 grams Lactose
Coupla Packs Yeast Nutrient
Coupla Packs Coopers GB Yeast
Make up to 23 litres

Will let all know how it goes

I put one of these mixes down last night and noticed that the Buderim Refresher contains preservative E211. Wouldn't the preservative kill the yeast or is it the case that when made up to 23 ltrs the preservative is diluted enough to allow the yeast to survive?.

 

[Tyred]

20L batch

1.25 kg ginger (0.75kg fresh and 0.5kg that has been stored in the fridge for >2 months)
2.5 kg raw sugar
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves (the spice, not garlic.....)
2 lemons
Champagne yeast

Puree the ginger, skin and all. Chop lemon roughly. Boil everything for 30 mins to 1 hour. Cool. Top up to 20L in fermenter. Pitch yeast (and some nutrient if you have some on hand).

Finishes close to 1.000.

Boiling all of the lemon can lead to an astringency due to the pith. I havent found this to be the case but it could be hiding under all that ginger. The fresh ginger provides the aroma, the older stuff gives you an almighty ginger bite.

(have tried a combo of LDME/crystal malt and sugar, it depends on your taste - this turns out very dry. The ladies mix it with lemonade to sweeten it up)

DrSmurto,
How do you keep the ginger in the fridge. What I would be concerned about is if it's bagged it could go soggy but if it's left out it would go dry ?

 

[mwd]

I put one of these mixes down last night and noticed that the Buderim Refresher contains preservative E211. Wouldn't the preservative kill the yeast or is it the case that when made up to 23 ltrs the preservative is diluted enough to allow the yeast to survive?.

Boiling usually drives off preservatives Do not know about E211 though.

Fresh unpeeled Root Ginger should keep in the fridge for 2 months no problem. Powdered ginger you would just leave in the cupboard.

 

[drsmurto]

DrSmurto,
How do you keep the ginger in the fridge. What I would be concerned about is if it's bagged it could go soggy but if it's left out it would go dry ?

Keep it in a plastic bag. There is always ginger in my crisper for asian cooking, particularly thai. The longer it stays there the bitier it gets. If you are concerned about getting soggy wrap it n paper towel then the plastic bag, the same thing you do for beans/snow peas etc