Some Gb Kit Questions.

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Milky11111

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G'day, brewing a kit ginger beer tomorrow once my current brew is finished. Just wondering a few small things and how I should go about it:

  • The directions call for raw sugar instead of a brewing sugar, I've heard not to use white/raw sugars as they aren't fully fermentable and I do have a spare 1kg of Dextrose hanging around. Should I use the Dextrose instead of the raw sugar or is raw sugar intended so that the GB gets a certain flavour from it?
  • I'm a fan of gelantine based clearing agents and use them in all my brews. I bought a satchel of Finings 5g which I planned for the GB, but is a clearing agent necessary for GB?
  • Also wondering about lifespan and best time to drink the GB, is it like beer as it gets better with age or is it best to drink it quickly after a 2-3 week settle period?
Thanks for your help and time.
 
G'day, brewing a kit ginger beer tomorrow once my current brew is finished. Just wondering a few small things and how I should go about it:

  • The directions call for raw sugar instead of a brewing sugar, I've heard not to use white/raw sugars as they aren't fully fermentable and I do have a spare 1kg of Dextrose hanging around. Should I use the Dextrose instead of the raw sugar or is raw sugar intended so that the GB gets a certain flavour from it?
  • I'm a fan of gelantine based clearing agents and use them in all my brews. I bought a satchel of Finings 5g which I planned for the GB, but is a clearing agent necessary for GB?
  • Also wondering about lifespan and best time to drink the GB, is it like beer as it gets better with age or is it best to drink it quickly after a 2-3 week settle period?
Thanks for your help and time.

I have always used raw sugar in my ginger beers. I have no scientific reason for using raw sugar in my GB only that the first GB kit I brewed recommended it and it seemed good to me. Refined sugars are 100% fermentable or very close to. I personally would stick with raw sugar. Not 100% sure of this, but I believe that raw sugar may be about 98% fermentable with some non fermentables still in the not completely refined product. These unfermentables could add to the flavour and hence why GB kits may recommend raw sugar. As I said, don't quote me on it.

I have typically avoided finings for GB because i haven't wanted to settle out the ginger sediment that is typically found in a GB. Not sure whether finings would have any affect on the ginger sediment though.

GB is definitely better with aging. In my experience for a bottle conditioned GB an absolute minimum of 3 weeks is required to improve the ginger flavour. I have seen improvements up to about the 6 week mark. I generally stick to a minimum 4 weeks conditioning.
 
I have always used raw sugar in my ginger beers. I have no scientific reason for using raw sugar in my GB only that the first GB kit I brewed recommended it and it seemed good to me. Refined sugars are 100% fermentable or very close to. I personally would stick with raw sugar. Not 100% sure of this, but I believe that raw sugar may be about 98% fermentable with some non fermentables still in the not completely refined product. These unfermentables could add to the flavour and hence why GB kits may recommend raw sugar. As I said, don't quote me on it.

I have typically avoided finings for GB because i haven't wanted to settle out the ginger sediment that is typically found in a GB. Not sure whether finings would have any affect on the ginger sediment though.

GB is definitely better with aging. In my experience for a bottle conditioned GB an absolute minimum of 3 weeks is required to improve the ginger flavour. I have seen improvements up to about the 6 week mark. I generally stick to a minimum 4 weeks conditioning.


Great, thanks for the info mate.
Now I can brew up without any doubts. :beer:
 
I'd agree with mesuite. Raw sugar is pretty much entirely fermentable. The non-fermentable (as far as i know) is such a small proportion its not worth mentioning. I'd save the Dex for some time when its more needed/suited.

I wouldn't both with finings in GB, but each to his own- there is no prescribed "best way"- same as with beers.

And yeah, i'd say GB ages well- at least to a point. But it does benefit from a bit of time in the bottle.
 
Raw sugar is fermentable, it is used mainly for the flavour although I don't think it makes that much difference really. I have never used clearing agents or finings and don't believe they are necessary, good process and aging are better than any clearing agent added to a brew.
GB will mature as will any other home brew, and will improve with age. After 3 months is when brews really hit their peak and GB is no different, in fact the flavours merge more with age and I think a more mature GB is a lot smoother than a young one.
 
So since knocking the GB batch together on Saturday night it still isn't fermenting. I followed the forum advice and kit instructions exactly with:

Full clean and sanitise then dissolving the Coopers GB goop and raw sugar into 2L hot water, after that I added chilled and room temp water until the brew was at 22*C, pitched yeast straight into the brew, sealed it up, filled the airlock and put it in my laundry shower (where room temp is constantly 18-23*C.)

Now I took hydrometer reading before the yeast pitch and the wort SG came in at 1020, which I thought was very low (there was no OG/FG included on the kit instructions) the SG would have to drop to around 998 to hit 3% alcohol. Anyway 24hrs later my second SG reading came in at still 1020, and then this morning my reading came in at 1028SG. I figured this had to be incorrect so after washing the meter and test jar and doing a second test it was 1026SG. Guessing my hydrometer was buggered I tested it on clear water which it hit 1000SG fine.

So at this point I'm not exactly sure what is going on, if my brew is stuffed or my hydrometer or if it's just me ;). Does GB normally have such a low OG and is slow to ferment or is there something gone wrong? This is my first GB and only my fourth total brew so please excuse any ignorance. Thanks for your time!
 
Hi Milky,

The normal kit is only a midstrength ABV of around 3.5% I think so it should be reading somewhere in the 1030's if you've only added 1 kg of sugar. I have no idea what is going on with your samples though - however I don't think you need to take a hydro sample so soon after pitching to check if it's fermenting. You can normally tell just by looking at it (krausen) and or hearing the airlock bubbling.

Since it seems something a bit off with the hydrometer, is there any sign of of a krausen or airlock activity?

Was the kit old? Sounds like you pitched the yeast ok so maybe the yeast had lost its viability? (assuming it was the yeast from under the lid)
 
There is no signs of krausen yet and no airlock activity, I have checked to make sure the fermenter is airtight. As for the age of the kit I cannot say, I'd imagine GB kits aren't is as much demand as beer kits and may sit on the shelf a lot longer causing the yeast to be dead. :(

I'm posting from work (model employee) at the moment so I cannot check on it right now.
 
The chances are that it's already gone into the bin (or the recycling if your a goody?) but the can's usually have their best before date on the bottom don't they? It hasn't happend to me before but I've heard people sometime saying that they've pitched the yeast and nothing has happened, they've repitched with some more yeast from a different packet and it's kicked off.

Got any spare yeast hanging around? If it doesn't show any signs of activity after about 72 hours it might be worth trying another packet of yeast before something a bit nastier start playing in that delicious sugary wort?

Oh, don't worry I'm at work too!
 
Sadly I have no other yeasts, except for baking yeast but that's just crazy and because I live in the bush my LHBS is a fair drive (I usually buy ingredients for 2-4 brews at a time). I might give it another day or two, try get some better SG readings if nothing happens I might just abandon ship. I have a second batch of ingredients for a Lager I'll brew up in the mean time then next time I'm at the LHBS I'll grab another GB kit and prepare for round 2.

Thanks for your advice mate, much appreciated! :beer:
 
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