Non-alcho Ginger Beer

[SaintRoam]

Hey guys,

Sorry to be a pain and asking the annoying things, trust me Ill be going through and reading the guides before my second attempt. I just decided to try out a batch of non-alcoholic Ginger Beer yesterday when I was picking up my beer supplies so I got a kit from the LHBS Brewers Choice. Heres where things went wrong:
1) I didnt really read the instruction properly (I know I know. Being lazy and I kinda though it was going to take as long as beer does WRONG!!) The instructions said to add 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp dry ingriedints and the yeast to some warm water and keep any eye on it until a foamy head develops, it said this could happen anywhere between 1-24hrs so again stupidly i though it was going to be 24hrs! I put the yeast starter above together lastnight and left it til this morning and I could see the head had foamed up and come back down. Does this mean the yeast activated and died already? Or is it still okay?
2) So I also decided to do it before work this morning just realising that the ginger beer only takes 2 hours to sit and I wouldnt think that the yeast would hold til I finish tonight. I followed the instructions adding 1 lire boiled water to the keg with the rest of the dry ingriedients & the ginger essence topped it up with tap water to the 23litre mark and added the yeast starter at around 25 degrees (Instructions said about 25-28)
3)The kit said to stir it 2hrs later and bottle, this being another problem I stirred it 2 hrs later but left for work. Will this still be okay to bottle tonight? If its resting in the keg or the bottles should make no difference right?
4) Also is it okay to bottle Ginger Beer in glass tallies with caps? It dosent have to be just plastic does it.

Id love any input into this and solutions are HUGELY appriectied Maybe I stick with the complicted stuff like beer from now on....

Thanks again,

Luke

 

[Weizguy]

I cannot foresee any issues with your process...except:
You may need to stir the yeast a little before bottling, and/or add more bottling sugar.
The included sugar (I assume some was included for carbonation) may already be fermented out (almost certainly), and further additions will be required for carbonation. This will also make the Ginger beer less non-alcoholic.

If you absolutely require no alcohol, you should discard the batch and start again on a day when you have more time.

Glass bottles should be no prob, unless they are thin/weak/unable to handle any normal bottling pressure.

Hope that helps

 

[SaintRoam]

I cannot foresee any issues with your process...except:
You may need to stir the yeast a little before bottling, and/or add more bottling sugar.
The included sugar (I assume some was included for carbonation) may already be fermented out (almost certainly), and further additions will be required for carbonation. This will also make the Ginger beer less non-alcoholic.

If you absolutely require no alcohol, you should discard the batch and start again on a day when you have more time.

Glass bottles should be no prob, unless they are thin/weak/unable to handle any normal bottling pressure.

Hope that helps

Thanks mate, appreciate the advice. The "dry ingriedients" that were added would have the sugar amount in it (from what I could see by eye for the carbing) Im just unsure how much sugar is in there. If I add more would I run the risk of bottle bombs? I guess I could just drop a carb drop in each but I dont want WW2 to happen in my garage!! Also thought about discardin,g the kit was only $14 anyways but I was going to just bottle it and see what happens. Could always just perk it up a bit in the ol sodastream

 

[Weizguy]

I would add about 180g sugar (dissolved in hot water) to the vessel and stir, then bottle.

Maybe check the carbonation every day, for a while until the carbonation levels out.

If it gets too fizzy, you have some quick drinking to do.

Or let it stay flat and use the Soda Stream.

 

[Shadow Ironheart]

Just bought a no name N/A ginger beer kit from the brew shop and was assured its one of the better ones. Followed the destructions and while it tastes nice the wife says it has a sulphur taste 'rotten egg" I used cooled boiled water and followed the destructions to the letter. Any comments are welcome. Not trying to hijack someone elses thread.

 

[SaintRoam]

Just bought a no name N/A ginger beer kit from the brew shop and was assured its one of the better ones. Followed the destructions and while it tastes nice the wife says it has a sulphur taste 'rotten egg" I used cooled boiled water and followed the destructions to the letter. Any comments are welcome. Not trying to hijack someone elses thread.

Had the same problem bro. I found the longer I left it bottled the more the smell slowly left the GB. By the end of about 5 months you couldnt smell it at all it was perfect!!

 

[SaintRoam]

Hi guys,

geez havent been around here for a while! Been too busy playing around with Fat Yak recipes So after successfully nailing the GB kit recipe (i know I know its a kit, you cant F%#K it up - I did but it was still good..) and having a significant amount of ginger in the fridge about to go off I was wondering if someone could give me a idiots guide to a alcoholic ginger beer with a bite? Ive seen a couple of posts around on this but a few things hamper me:

1) I dont have a 24L boiler, is there a recipe where you can avoiding boiling this much?

2) Are there any recipes for carbonised GB? Do you need to add the sugar lollies to the bottles for GB or is it all in the fermentation process?

hmmm well I think thats all for now, if Ive missed any info let me know im pretty new to the GB world..

Thanks for ya help guys. Missed this place & LOVE the info here!

 

[bum]

1) You can do a small boil for a GB just like you might with kit or extract beer. Just go for the largest boil volume you can manage then top up with water in the fermenter after cooling.

2) You carbonate an alcoholic GB in the same way you'd carbonate any beer. So, yes, you need to add priming sugar at bottling - doesn't have to be carb drops (those lolly things) but if that's what you like to use then use them.