Pimp a Coopers Ginger Beer Kit?

[carniebrew]

My mum, god bless 'er, has asked me a few times if I can make her a ginger beer. I don't think I've ever had one myself, I'm not really a fan of ginger. As it turns out, we're going on an extended family holiday (as in extended family rather than extended holiday) in mid-Jan, and like most of my relatives, my mum is far more bearable once she's had a few...so I'm thinking I should get that GB done in time to take with me.

So I thought I might cheat and just do a Coopers Kit GB, as per their website....but like my first ever kit beer, the thought of a can and kilo of sugar kinda scares me. I'm thinking I might make it around 4.2%, rather than the 3.5% that recipe comes out with...but I'm wondering if anyone can suggest what to use other than more raw sugar?

Also...if anyone's had the Coopers GB before, and reckons it's bloody horrible, I'm happy to be told to NOT cheat, and instead make a real ginger beer as per some of the fancier recipes floating around. But if you reckon the can & kilo makes something acceptable, it'll do me for now....

Oh, and I'll be doing a small batch, probably around 8 litres or so, if that matters?

 

[BungBrew]

I've made plenty of K&K GBs over the year sand just used LME, the can and some fresh peeled ginger which gives it some bite.

Never done one that hasn't gone down a treat!

 

[carniebrew]

Cheers for that. So completely sub the sugar for DME? I have a heap of amber DME left over from my extract brewing days. And when/how do you add the ginger? Straight into the mix at the start of fermentation?

 

[BungBrew]

It all open to experimentation I guess, I believe using LME or DME will give a maltier GB, sugar probably a lighter GB?

 

[nathan23v]

Hi carnie & bung. I have just bottled 2 batches gb, 1 brigalow & 1 coopers. Only used 1kg dextrose in both. If I use DME will 1kg still give around 3.5%? Also should fresh ginger be peeled & put in wort & left during fermentation or boiled in water for some time then strained into wort?

 

[nathan23v]

Sorry just realised fresh ginger question already asked

 

[nathan23v]

Sorry just realised fresh ginger question already asked

 

[eungaibitter1]

Boil the grated fresh ginger with lemon, lime, cinnamon, sugars ect. Whatever is in the recipe. I've used Coopers as well as brigalow. Neither one seems any better than the other, both turning out a tasty drop. Brown sugar and/or golden syrup are also good.

 

[carniebrew]

Hi carnie & bung. I have just bottled 2 batches gb, 1 brigalow & 1 coopers. Only used 1kg dextrose in both. If I use DME will 1kg still give around 3.5%? Also should fresh ginger be peeled & put in wort & left during fermentation or boiled in water for some time then strained into wort?

No to the DME question, it's less fermentable than sugar. Oh and for the record, dextrose also adds less alcohol than sucrose (i.e. white sugar, raw sugar etc). 1kg of dex will add 2.7% abv to 17 litres of wort, whereas 1kg of raw sugar will add 3.1%. 1kg of DME will only add around 2.1%. All these numbers are before bottle conditioning, which adds another 0.4% or so.

I'm wondering now if using an entire Coopers GB can in an 8 litre batch might be a bit overpowering, given it's designed for a 17l batch size.....

 

[zeggie]

I grated and boiled fresh ginger, and used raw sugar. I hate GB but friends who requested said it was a tasty drop.

 

[carniebrew]

Just to close this out, I ended up going with half a can of Morgan's Ginger Beer, with 400 grams of amber DME and 400 grams of raw sugar, in 10 litres. I fermented it at 24C (can said anywhere between 20 and 30, couldn't bring myself to go any higher than 24). It was fully fermented (OG/FG 1036/1010) within about 4 days, but I left it a little over a week in the primary before bottling. I bottled it nearly two weeks ago, and cracked the first one today. I'm not a fan of GB myself, but it poured crystal clear, and tasted pretty good. The missus gave it a big thumbs up too. Pretty sweet, with a hint of that fake sweetener taste you get in diet drinks, I'm guessing that's how they must sweeten the canned stuff?

It'll be going to my mum in about a week, she's a big fan of the style, so we'll see, but it looks like just the can with a bit of DME and sugar has worked out pretty well.

 

[Alex.Tas]

Hey Carnie, how did this go down with your old girl? I've been thinking of doing a GB before summer dies here in tassie. I wont be brewing it for a month or so. Worth adding some extra ginger? I would be doing a full scale (20L or so) batch btw.

 

[carniebrew]

Mum's loving it, especially with this hot weather. She pours it over a glass full of ice then drinks it. Reckons she doesn't want me to change a thing for the next batch, so it looks like a winner...

 

[Bennigan]

Just started fermenting a batch, as requested from my mate coming back from the US soon.

Recipe is as follows 23L:
Coopers Ginger Beer Kit
2 Lemons zested and juiced
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Large clump of ginger (receipt says 0.117kg before peeled), chopped by processor
2.5kg Brown Sugar

I ended up pouring the boiled ginger and cinnamon stick straight into the fermenter.

It will most likely be in the fermenter for 2 weeks (until I finish a half keg), and then in the keezer until I finish my second keg

I'll keep you posted when it's ready

 

[Bennigan]

Kegged it yesterday, and force carbed it today. It tastes amazing.
Next time though I won't keep the sliced ginger in the fermenter as it kept on clogging the tap at the bottom when I was transferring it to the keg. It also seems to be pouring from the keg alot slower due to all the lumps from the added ginger. When I do it again, I am definitely going to do a long boil of the ginger, cinnamon and lemon, then strain it before I add it to the fermenter.
The taste of ginger is fairly strong (slight burning sensation), and the lemon is very mild, so next time will use 3-4.
I can't really taste the 1 cinnamon stick, so I'll try 2 or 3 next time.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Thought I would give a ginger beer a go, and copied Bennigan's recipe as it looked quite good. Tasted some as I was taking the reading, it's got quite a kick but seems pretty good. See how we go in several weeks time!

 

[Nullnvoid]

Bottle this last night.....with some interruption, SHMBO was trying to drink it out of the fermenter. She didn't particularly like the thought of waiting for it to be carbonated but it is what it is. In 10 of the bottles I put a chilli in to see if that has any effect on the taste.

So I'm assuming this will be a success!

There is now talk of getting another one, so I can brew beer and ginger beer at the same time

 

[carniebrew]

Great work. Everyone I shared my pretty much un-pimped GB with has loved it, and I now have 4 separate orders for new batches! I have a batch down now that is the other half of the Morgans GB tin, some raw sugar, brown sugar and light DME. I used half a pack of BRY-97 (12 litres) as I used all the kit GB yeast in the first batch. Will be interesting to see if it affects the flavour at all, I'm figuing not much. I very nearly used bread yeast in this batch, I've read a few posts that say it can work in a ginger beer, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I do wonder though, I've folded up the remaining half of the BRY-97 pack, will I be able to use that half on another GB in say a few week's time? I have a 250gm tin of bread yeast in the fridge that I open, use a few teaspoons of in the bread maker, then pop the lid back on and put it back in the fridge. Any chance it'll work for brewer's yeast?

 

[Brados Brew]

Just wondering if anyone has an update on Bennigan's recipe. I am about to do my first GB and this sounds good. About to head out and get the kit and ingredients.

Cheers

 

[Nullnvoid]

Just wondering if anyone has an update on Bennigan's recipe. I am about to do my first GB and this sounds good. About to head out and get the kit and ingredients.

Cheers

I made this and it's bottled and almost ready to drink.

It took a month to ferment out but I'm putting that down to 2.5kg of sugar. It's also very sweet. Not sure it will be my favourite but it is still nice from what I have tasted.