Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

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MadMarble

Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by MadMarble » Wed Feb 11, 2015 9:56 pm

First time I've tried this kit. Made a gallon of ginger beer from scratch and it got the thumbs up. Saw this kit cheep in Tesco and read a few threads on JKB thought I'd have a go. SWMBO enjoys alco ginger beer.

Pimped it a bit with some powdered ginger and some fresh boiled up with some water and 300g of sugar and some extra spice from a cinnamon stick plus some chilli to give a bit of a kick (not too much though). Mixed the content of the kit, my infusion of ginger et al and a kilo of brewing sugar. Got plenty of air into the mix too. Took a SG at 24 degrees 1.032, temp corrected to 1.033. Kit said to brew between 21 and 27 degrees so I pitched the yeast in, left it five mins and gently stirred. Popped in a aquarium tank heater that had been sanitised and set to 23 degrees.

Its been 24 hours now and nowt is happening. Experience with Coopers other kits made me expect to wake up to a foaming mass in the corner of the living room this morning, but there is not even a bubble. Has anyone else had a problem getting this kit to get going?

MadMarble

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by MadMarble » Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:52 pm

Update....
Well I was just about to sanitise my hydrometer and long handled spoon, to see if I could wake up this yeast, and had a quick look in the FV. Well all I can say is there is life! The yeast is sat on the top and is multiplying but this is nothing like the coopers explosion I have seen before. More like a damp squib.
Hopefully this brew is going to get going properly soon :?
Oh well you live and learn.

Anyone experienced this with the Coopers Ginger Beer kit before?

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by Fil » Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:45 am

MadMarble wrote:
Anyone experienced this with the Coopers Ginger Beer kit before?
Its a very sweet brew, and im sure i added a lot more than 300g of extra sugar,
1033 is quite a low OG to start with and depending on the fg may not generate enough alcohol to maintain a shelf life?

I also ended up with some odd congealed yeast clumps clinging to the neck of the bottles after conditioning, shaking did shift some which then sank but some poured out with the beer maintaining its clump and not dissipating, Tho i did c*ck up pretty spectacularly when brewing as i didnt pay attention and had the kitchen mixer tap set to hot when topping up with 'cold' water, and filled a good portion before the steam rising off the water flow triggered a reaction from me .. in my defence i was fielding a phone call and a visiting neighbor while finishing off the brew..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

MadMarble

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by MadMarble » Sat Feb 14, 2015 11:13 pm

Thank Fil.

I did add 1kg of brewing sugar too. I had read it had a high level of artificial sweetener. SWMBO likes the sweet alcoholic ginger beer so hence giving it ago. Did a gallon of home made based on a recipe on the forum and it turned out okay, even back sweetened to try and appeal to SWMBO but not to her pallet. I'm planning on kegging mine and don't expect it to last long at a forth coming spring BBQ. Yes I know its early but a small bonfire should keep some people warm while I roast my chestnuts at the BBQ.

MadMarble

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by MadMarble » Wed Feb 25, 2015 10:49 am

Another update...
Kegged last night and now primed and sitting in a nice warm place :D

This kit did take longer than I expected but FG was down to 1.000 so abv 4.33% and about 17 litres in the PB.

Tiny slurp of the dregs even got the nod of approval from SWMBO :D

All the kits I've done to date have got going very quick, particularly the coopers ones. The Ginger Beer one must be a different story though. Still if it tastes this good off the trub I think I'm on to a winner. Fruit based beverage for the ladies... (well there was some lemon in there) :wink:

suitsyousir

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by suitsyousir » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:22 pm

HI all

I have just bought this kit and was thinking of tinkering with it. I made a batch before using a recipe with some added apple juice, raisins and a bit of chilli. Did this kit turn out ok? Has anyone done the kit on its own? The homemade one I did before was very dry and sharp (despite the addition of fruit) and I was hoping for something a bit sweeter but with a bit of heat.

Will normal granulated or caster sugar be ok for this kit?

Cheers

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Coopers Ginger Beer - nowt happening

Post by Fil » Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:56 pm

coopers Ginger beer is Very sweet, and normal white sugar works well with it..
for a diy brew artificial sweetener or an unfermentable sugar such as lactose can be used to back sweeten ( add when fermented) to taste
lactose is circa 1/2 as sweet as sugar w/w..
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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