had some really good results with Ginger Beer kits and adjusting the ingredients a little so I thought I'd share
Using the Brewcraft Ginger Beer kits: substitute raw sugar in place of the recommended dextrose for fermenting and use castor sugar for priming the bottles...
gives the beer a nice smooth flavour with hints of caramel
Ye gods, Ginger beer... Dhat reminds me of growin up, yer see me an me friends started brewin our own ginger beer an draft cider when we were bout 14. We all soon had alot of friends and nod alod of ginger beer.
Best ginger beer id real fizzy i always found if eyer use good strong bottles and alot of priming sugar yer manage. Ulso led it sit a cupa days at room temp. Ulsa pud a liddle fresh ginger in each bottle at dhe bottom.
May yer drink always flow from yer own pot
My friends dhey call me Brewin Jack, Lors knows why.
Is the Ginger beer kit only sold in Oceania? Includes lemon juice? Lemon zest (a little bit of lemon peel)? I've been experimenting with wild yeast fermentation myself. (apparently sacrilege in parts of the beer brewing community ) Eventually I'll try a belgian-style lambic!
Anyways, while letting ginger beer ferment longer (for slightly more alc.), ginger taste tends to wash out whether starting with fresh ginger or powdered. Brown sugar seems to work better in ginger beer than in other fermented drinks. I plan on trying an addition of straight molasses too
I have been surprised to learn that cultures for vinegar, kombucha, cider and ginger beer and even sourdough starter?! seem to convert relatively easily to new mediums, they're somewhat interchangeable. Some slight off-flavors (from vinegar and kombucha acetic notes, for instance) disappear in the 2nd generation after changing mediums. Of course that's generally with short fermentation times and accepting low-alcohol yields. And while I'm skeptical of the health claims of some fermented drinks, ginger beer does calm stomach aches.
Good luck!
I tried a batch of the lemonade recipe i have posted hereabouts with a higher amount of fresh ginger and it's tops. i have a keg of it on atm.
Bourbon Girl always used to make a nonalchoholic ginger beer from scratch by using the 'ginger beer plant' method of keeping a culture going and splitting it for a new batch. It was popular when her granny was little and she'd still have the recipe if anyones interested. Once the plant (yeast culture) was up and going it seemed simple enough from what i remember of her doing. I think she made a couple of alchoholic batches too from memory, but the soft drink was very good.
There's a pretty good recipe here: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10683?tag=nl.e351
Haven't done it myself but I tried a friend's, bottled in the old style Grolsch bottles that have the cap attached. It uses natural yeast but I guess there's no reason not to pitch if you want.
"I look up to the heavens for a ray of hope to shine; and there it is in neon: Liquor, Beer and Wine"
This has been my most popular ginger beer so far.
For you guys out there that aren't big on ginger you may want to reduce the ginger amounts.
This is using a kit plus the other fresh ingredients.
I used a Beer Makers Ginger Beer kit....I'm sure just about any kit would do.
100g ground ginger
600g fresh ginger
1kg Dextrose
500g Jarrah honey
500g Liquid Dark Malt
Juice of one lemon + zest
1 tble spn nutmeg
1 cinamon stick.
2 cloves
2packs of ec-1118
Boil up your ingredients in a couple of litres of water and strain into your fermenter. don't boil up the yeast.
I've made this to 23litres.
I've used the Brewcraft kit. When my mates tasted it they said that it seemed like the Blue Tongue Ginger Beer.
I wonder if anyone has tried it with using DME instead of dextrose? what was that like?
Also, would like to try and replicate a "Stones" ginger beer, which is pretty common. I've found its a bit sweeter, so might need artificial sweetening?? More sugar is just going to make more alcohol.
Would using a different yeast such as for wine or something give a different taste, as well as using a Blonde Ale Wort?
RJB510 wrote:I've used the Brewcraft kit. When my mates tasted it they said that it seemed like the Blue Tongue Ginger Beer.
I wonder if anyone has tried it with using DME instead of dextrose? what was that like?
Also, would like to try and replicate a "Stones" ginger beer, which is pretty common. I've found its a bit sweeter, so might need artificial sweetening?? More sugar is just going to make more alcohol.
Would using a different yeast such as for wine or something give a different taste, as well as using a Blonde Ale Wort?
Or any other suggestions would be beneficial.
Cheers
I've used dme in my ginger beers but not alot.....so to be honest I personaly couldn't tell you if it makes it heaps better. But alot of the people that use alot of dme seem to love it. makes a ginger beer with more "mouth feel"/less watery.
as for sweetening it up, like the distillers avoid plastics alot of the beer makers avoid artificial sweeteners. So use lactose to sweeten it, it doesn't ferment out.
Yeah, thats not a bad idea. I figured that because Beers are made with Malt, then it would give it a better mouth feel or more Beer like, but i haven't really noticed that mine is all that watery to begin with. Worth a try, i'll find out next time.
Good note on the artificial sweetener though. I'll keep that one in mind.
Could always try and brew something from scratch, using my own grated ginger for flavouring. Not sure how well that would go to replicate anything commercial however.
RJB510 wrote:Yeah, thats not a bad idea. I figured that because Beers are made with Malt, then it would give it a better mouth feel or more Beer like, but i haven't really noticed that mine is all that watery to begin with. Worth a try, i'll find out next time.
Good note on the artificial sweetener though. I'll keep that one in mind.
Could always try and brew something from scratch, using my own grated ginger for flavouring. Not sure how well that would go to replicate anything commercial however.
alot of people make their own ginger beer from scratch! basicly you just need more ginger and other spices of your choice.
give it a shot! you can't go wrong! even my worst ginger beer was still great!
I made a Kolsch recipe (a light beer with low bitterness) and added ground up fresh ginger to the boil. It was real good. Some of the guys around here did a little homebrew contest for Octoberfest. The ginger beer didn't win (3rd), but among the women, it was the undisputed champ.
Ginger and lemon grass is a clasic combination. Have made lots of that and the worst batch was much better than comercially bought stuff.
Not as good as the alcoholic ginger wine, that is fantastic stuff. Ginger Mac with home made ingredients takes some beating. I had a Great Aunt that lived well into her 90's and she drank one every day. She was a sprightly old girl and was adamant the home brewed hooch and ginger wine kept her in good health.
) Eventually I'll try a belgian-style lambic! 