True Ginger Beer Scoby

[super_simian]

Does anyone have or know a source for a true Ginger Beer "plant" or SCOBY containing Saccharomyces florentinus and Lactobacillus hilgardii?

 

[Wolfy]

I got mine (in dried form) from a US based vendor who's website was gone last I checked - but let it die a couple of years ago.
However, there is a yahoo-group called 'Real Ginger Beer Plant' (or something) where members swap starter cultures of the plant, I think this is it: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GingerBeerPlant/ there were several Australian members when I was last active some years ago.
From the links on that page, this site might sell it: http://www.happyherbalist.com/gingerbeerplant.aspx
And it looks like this one does: http://gingerbeerplant.net/ (Pretty sure this is the guy who runs the Yahoo group).

 

[mashout]

http://www.yemoos.com/productgingerbeer.html $18 shipped to Australia

 

[punkin]

The missus has a handed down recipe/method for starting and expanding a ginger beer plant. It took here a couple goes to get it going years ago, but she kept it going for years and made some extremley good alcoholic and non alcoholic GB.
I could dig it out and type it up if it's any good to you. Relies on airbornes though from memory, so you would only get what's in your microclimate.

 

[punkin]

Probably not what you wanted, i just found it. It's a wild yeast capture.

 

[mr_wibble]

We used to make ginger beer as kids, and the "plant" came from a sugar solution with a few sultanas in it, covered with a piece of cloth. This sat on the window sill for a few weeks until the fermentation got going. Once a week you would add more sugar. You then pitched 1/2 the plant into your ginger beer sugary mix, reserving the rest as a basis for the next plant.

I guess this method get yeasts of the skin of the grapes from the 'tanies, and whatever can get through the cloth.

Lately I've found plant recipes on teh internets which include adding bakers yeast ... *sigh*


cheers,
-kt

PS> I found the plant recipe my brother used recently:

The Ginger Beer Plant
The idea of the plant is to grow the natural yeast off the sultanas, this is what will make your ginger beer fizzy.

Ingredients
1 large piece of Fresh ginger - about 300g or the size of your hand
1/4 tsp of citric acid or 1 tsp lemon pulp
10 sultanas
2 cups cold water
4 tsp of sugar
1 large jar

Method:
Add the 2 cups of water, sugar, citric acid or lemon pulp, sultanas to the jar and mix until the sugar is dissolved.
Using a food processor or blender, mince up the ginger (leaving the skin on) and add the mix to your jar and stir well.
Cover the jar with a piece of Cheese cloth and elastic band and leave to sit in a warm place.
Each day feed the ginger plant with 4tsp of Sugar.

 

[super_simian]

I've had nothin' but trouble with wild GB ferments, which is why I'm looking for the specific SCOBY; thanks to those who replied with links (Wolfy and mashout.) Have you brewed with the real deal and if so, how was it?

 

[Wolfy]

Have you brewed with the real deal and if so, how was it?

I enjoyed it, takes a bit of work to get the setup (ingredients, time, storage etc) 'right' but once that is done you can make ginger beer according to your taste.
Info/pictures and what I did can be found here: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=765577
Unfortunately since it's a live culture, and needs to be maintained (and brewed with once or twice a week) which got to be a bit too much work for me, especially since I was trying to cut down on my sugar-intake at the same time.

 

[Karhunkynsi]

Fascinating. I remember my mum telling me about a ginger beer she used to make as a kid that was made out of a "plant". I never really understood it.

So I'm curious. Does it work in the same way as kombucha, in which you simply transfer a bit of juice and the scoby to the new batch of ginger beer?

How do you make it reeeeeally alcoholic?

 

[Wolfy]

Fascinating. I remember my mum telling me about a ginger beer she used to make as a kid that was made out of a "plant". I never really understood it.

So I'm curious. Does it work in the same way as kombucha, in which you simply transfer a bit of juice and the scoby to the new batch of ginger beer?

How do you make it reeeeeally alcoholic?

It's highly probable that the 'plant' your mum used as a kid was simply yeast-culture grown in a jar (same process explained by Mr Wibble earlier in this thread), which is different to the SCOBY which looks like this:

'Real' ginger beer plant/SCOBY is very closely related to kombucha - essentially it's the same thing, maybe with a few different yeasts/bacteria.
However since it contains various bacteria as well as yeast it's not so useful for making high alcohol beverages, you're better off doing that with yeast (some detailed/informative threads on how to do that if you use the search feature) because it's much easier to control/eliminate the off-flavours and acidity.

 

[super_simian]

Cheers Wolfy, you get what I'm on about! Think I'll pursue those links for the real deal - I'm going through 4+ 1.5litre bottles of soda water a week, plus a bottle of the ginger beer cordial every fortnight trying to keep up with my addiction! While it's not exactly bank breaking or labour intensive, I'd just feel better drinking a homebrewed beverage I reckon.

 

[James1234]

I have tried to make the gbp, only once and was not successful. So I bought it and it should be here here in early 2013. Let me know if you are in aus and want some?

 

[Wolfy]

So I bought it and it should be here here in early 2013. Let me know if you are in aus and want some?

Sure (I let mine die some time ago and have not purchased more) but it might take some time for yours to grow enough to split/share with others.

 

[super_simian]

How did yours die Wolfy? I'm on my second lot of GBP now (but only because flatmate 1 moved the container in the fridge to get something and flatmate 2 saw it on 'his' shelf and thought it was off food and chucked it :angry and despite me constantly refrigerating it or letting it brew for over a week it seems to come back fine...

 

[Wolfy]

How did yours die Wolfy?

One word ... neglect.

 

[kevinj]

[SIZE=10pt]I am also looking for a REAL [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]Ginger Beer "plant" or SCOBY as per the OP.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Not the bug.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Not the yeast [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt](Saccharomyces cerevisiae) version.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Not water crystals or water kefir, different sub-species, so I've read. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=8.5pt] [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]I have seen it overseas, [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]www.happyherbalist.com/gingerbeerplant.aspx and [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]www.yemoos.com/gingerbeerproductpage.html[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Tried the [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]groups.yahoo...GingerBeerPlant/ group, but could not join? Kept getting error.[/SIZE]



[SIZE=10pt]So thought I would try here first.[/SIZE]

anyone?......
​anyone?
[SIZE=10pt] [/SIZE]

 

[Florian]

so ginger beer SCOBY is different to Kombucha SCOBY?

I have a few of those and they're also widely available online in Australia.

Maybe I should just do a ginger beer with it and find out...

 

[Airgead]

There are two schools of thought on the SCOBY thing. One school has it that the original scoby was created somehow out of the primordial ooze and has been passed down from generation to generation in an unbroken line, this scoby is a unique, once in history event and can not be replicated and that only this scoby is capable of producing real ginger beer.

The other school of thought has it that if you mix up some ginger and water and feed it some sugar, the scoby organisms are living inside the ginger root and will naturally form a brand new scoby for you.

If you give the ginger beer plant recipe further up the thread a go, you may well find that after a few batches, reculturing the sludge from the last batch into the new (known as backslopping BTW), you will get the scoby forming for you.

Edit: Grammar helps

 

[kevinj]

tried the bug (yum) several time, never got to a jelly part.
was looking for the primordial ooze type to try

The one and only OZ site vegan4u I found selling it, seams to lump them into one pot.
[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]​As for them being the same, I have no [/SIZE]personal[SIZE=14.3999996185303px] [/SIZE]experience of what the different tastes are.

Quote from www.yemoos.com/gingerbeerproductpage.html
Ginger Beer vs Water Kefir

Both are symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast and perform similar functions of fermenting sugary-water, but that is about where the similarities end. Just like milk kefir and kombucha are cultures of the same principle yet totally different, the same can be said for ginger beer and water kefir.

 

[kevinj]

[SIZE=10pt]So it look like going overseas is the only option.[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]There in lies a quandary, importing a live fungal bacteria into Australia?[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Yeast is imported, so would there be a problem?[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt][/SIZE]