Pimping My Coopers Ginger Beer

[shaunms]

Due to the great response I got from my first post I thought I would ask another question.

I recently bought the Coopers Ginger Beer <because I have never drunk alcoholic Ginger Beer before> before reading the container. Once i got home and read the instructions I realised that it will only get to 3.5%A/Vol.

I was wondering if anyone has been able to pimp this product up to 5.5%A/Vol?

I thought about doubling the yeast and raw sugar but not sure of the effects it will have on the beer?

Any help appreciated.

Shaun

 

[iScarlet]

You can always up the number of fermentables, like dextrose, in the brew however that may make your brew a bit thin. I'm not sure about adding malt to ginger beer, but that might help.

Otherwise, you can always lower the ferment volume to something like 21L or 19L. That'll decrease the yeild (obviously) but might help in raising the alcohol content.

 

[Renegade]

Any sugar or dextrose will bump it up. Add a few hundred grams of ginger powder as well. Maybe even a bit of cinnamon. the kits on their own are pretty bland generally. You will also have good success with a good yeast, and all some yeast nutrient to get the party started (or use your old kit yeasts as nutrient - boil them first to kill them).

 

[MacGuyver]

I've had decent results from the addition of extra sugar with these ginger beer kits and the use of champagne yeast. The first Coopers ginger beer kit I made I used the provided yeast and the brew turned out flat, perhaps because I added too much sugar for the yeast to handle.

I used to make them up to 22L with the addition of Coopers brewing sugar and found that the ginger flavour I got wasn't over powering and there was still a bit of sweetness to the brew. I liked it this way and most of my 'test subjects' did too but there were a few who thought it could have done with more of a ginger oomph. Either way the batches didn't last very long!

 

[Rodolphe01]

I posted in a gb thread the other day

 

[Interloper]

I did the coopers GB last year, 2kg of raw sugar and no extra yeast and it took ages to get to FG and chew through the fermentables but I wouldn't add extra yeast.

It will get there, just be patient and give the fermenter a vigourous swirl near the end of the fermentation to rouse the yeast.

It is a very tasty and high strenght drop.

Perfect as is during winter, and great cut with soda water or lemonade in summer.

I added some boiled lemon juice - about 250mls and some extra fresh ginger too.

 

[shaunms]

Hi
Just my report back,
Yesterday I brewed my Coopers Ginger beer, I added 1kg raw sugar, a lemon and some fresh Ginger with 400g of Golden Syrup.
My OG is 1032 so lets see what happens.
will keep you posted.

Shaun

 

[manticle]

Hi
Just my report back,
Yesterday I brewed my Coopers Ginger beer, I added 1kg raw sugar, a lemon and some fresh Ginger with 400g of Golden Syrup.
My OG is 1032 so lets see what happens.
will keep you posted.

Shaun

Leave it at 3.5 % but mix it with rum when you drink it.

It's a tasty little mix.

By the way - the principles of upping the ABV of anything are pretty much the same:
More fermentables are needed. However this is where it gets complicated - some fermentables lead to dryness and/or thin body so need to be balanced with something else but too much of something else may lead to an oversweet brew. It's all a balancing act.
Some yeasts may struggle to cope with too much fermentable so you may need to up the yeast, make a starter or feed it gradually throughout fermentation. As iScarlet suggested you can also lower the volume of added water.

You could also try a toucan next time although I don't know how much artificial sweetener is in the tin so that might result in a sickly sweet brew. You could try a ratio of two cans to the amount of water required for 1 1/2?

If you do want to make this current brew stronger, you could try adding 500g -1kg brown sugar slowly during ferment (dissolve first in boiling water, cool then add without splashing). The kit yeast might struggle to cope though. Otherwise you could try a blend of dried malt extract and brown sugar - say 300 -500g of each? Same method, same potential problem with the yeast.

 

[bum]

Leave it at 3.5 % but mix it with rum when you drink it.

Bourbon and Stones works even better.

 

[Barley Belly]

My latest recipe put down 1/5/09 is

Coopers GB Kit
1kg Raw Sugar
1kg LDME
1 x 750ml bottle Buderim GB Cordial
Fill to 22ltr
US05 Harvested Slurry
OG 1044
FG 1014

An extra 500g of LDME added to this recipe from my original, gives it that sweeter "non-alcoholic ginger beer" taste but still 4.4%
May add some fresh ginger to my next incarnation

 

[Phoney]

Leave it at 3.5 % but mix it with rum when you drink it.

It's a tasty little mix.

Here's what I do with mine (recipe here)


1 longneck of GB
1 cup of ice cold Vodka
The juice of 2 limes
1 small handfull of torn mint leaves
2 handfull's of ice

Throw it all into a jug & stir. (or divide into glasses). Best thing ever on a hot day. B)

 

[claymen]

Are you guys all using the kit yeast or something else?

I just put mine together and used a Safale US-05 which seems to be twice the size (weight) than the kit yeast that came with the tin. Ended up using two tins and 2kg of dextrose in about 25L

OG 1035 @ 22c

A quick taste prior to sugar and its the right sort of ginger kick I want and the sweetness to me isn't overpowering. Will be an interesting mix, all in good fun Every brew is one step closer to the perfect GB for me!

Also do any of you guys filter your beer? I wanna give this baby a try

 

[claymen]

Just cracked open a GB i did not too long ago. Started it on the 25/4 and bottled 29/5

500g Chopped Lemon
250g Grated Ginger
500g White Sugar
1kg Brewbooster #15 (500g Dextrose, 250g Maltodextrine, 250g Malt Extract)
1.5kg Brewcraft Munich Lager LME
Kit under tin yeast.

Didn't take an OG but the FG was 1010.

Quite like it, its light has a nice ginger flavour and goes down well. I really wish I hadn't sweetened the keg from the same batch cause it ruined it IMO. The bottles I left unsweetened to give me a comparasin and well... the bottled ones came out nicer as an FYI I used the Brewcraft GB kit as a base, grated the ginger and diced the lemons. Brought it to the boil and let it simmer for about 30mins then chucked it all in with the liquid extract. The kit came with a small sache of sweetner and ginger flavouring as well which I threw in. It's just the right level of sweetness. As mentioned I sweetened the keg with just sugar but it just isn't right it's thrown out the balance entirely which is a shame cause it came out quite nice now that I let it age.

Ah well live and learn. Still watching the doubled up coopers kit ferment out, it's humming along making the bathroom smell like ginger. Can't wait to try that one.

 

[RobH]

FWIW ... I made the Coopers GB kit recently to the non-alco instructions ... followed the instructions exactly
Was initially concerned with the sweetness of the saccharin, but left in the bottle for 3 weeks as the instructions suggested and the sweetness had dropped to very acceptable levels ... the non-alc method resulted in an acceptable ginger beer which was more gingery than it was sweet.

Is it Potters brewery in the Hunter Valley that does an alcoholic Ginger beer? I can't remember now ... that's the trouble when you try each and every one of their beers in the one night