Newbie tries ginger beer recipe....need some help!

[Phil_]

Hello everyone

I have just bought my first kit and started brewing a ginger beer recipe I found online. I am a huge fan of a ginger beer called Grandma's Weapon Grade Ginger Beer (Wheal Maiden Brewery, Cornwall) and really wanted to try make my own version.

I have used 1.5kg of root ginger, 1.5kg of malt extract, 6 lemons, 2 limes, 300g sultanas, tbsp of cinnamon/clove and nutmeg, 300g of sultanas and 1kg sugar and 200g of honey. I boiled it up for 30 mins added to my fermenting bin then filled to the 22l mark with cold water. Once it cooled to 20 degree c I added 10g of champagne yeast.

I took a gravity reading when it had cooled which read 1.040 however have taken 2 more readings since and it has dropped to 1.035 and then 1.025 over 2 days....is this normal? The yeast is active and so no problem there. How do I ensure it will be alcoholic?

It's currently sat in a fermenting bucket at room temperature with the lid slightly loose to ensure gas can escape but nothing can get in.

I would really appreciate any help, just want it to go right as it smells amazing but want it to have a decent alcohol content. Any suggestions on what to do next would be greatly received.

Thanks for taking the time to ready my novel!!!!!

[Ink]

Hi Phil.

I too am a sucker for ginger beer and I will be trying this recipe.

You will notice your hydrometer readings come down during fermentation, that is because the hydrometer measures fluid density. Sugar and other ingredients increase the density of water. Alcohol is less dense than water so as the sugar is converted into alcohol by the yeast, the density readings will be lower.

Someone else might be able to help you with a guess at your final reading, but I would suggest it would be around 1.010.

When your reading is stable for 3 readings, you are ready to keg or bottle. Prime the bottles/keg with around 5-6g of sugar per pint if you want bubbles.

You can check what (roughly) you ABV will be using the link below.

http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv.php

Good luck and please let me know how it turns out. I have a kit lager stuffed full if ginger on the go at the moment and I'm worried it will be a little "m'eh". You live and learn.

[Jim]

Welcome to JBK Phil!

There's plenty of good advice available on here, as you can see already from Ink's post.

[Phil_]

Thanks so much for the reply, really appreciate it. Love the community feel!

Is there anything i can do now to raise the alcohol level? Also, am i right to leave it at room temperature during fermentation and then somewhere cool once kegged?

Many thanks
Phil

[Ink]

I'm not too sure, but I think as long as the yeast is active, you should be able to add fermentables to your brew. I would consider honey or light brown sugar for flavour or white sugar if you just want extra alcohol. I couldn't guess at how much you need, but I would (and this is just my opinion) you should melt your honey/sugar in boiling water and allow it to cool before adding it and taking a hydrometer reading.

I keep my FV on the side in the kitchen as that is the only place I have for it. The temperature hovers around 20 most of the time anyway. This should be ok but I am considering an immersion beer heater with a thermostat to keep things level. I am dubious of heat belts but I have read many people use them with no issues but some cunning with a timed plug socket. You can also try hest mats but I'm not keen on the idea of those either.

If you want some quick, easy (the only way the wife will refer to it-) grog, read the raspberryade thread, you'd be surprised what you can make alcoholic.

[Jim]

I've moved this to the other brews section. Not only will it be seen by more people, but it won't get 'auto-pruned' as it would in the Guestbook.

[Phil_]

Thanks for the advice Ink....I added another kilo of light brown sugar (once cooled) and so will leave it until yeast is no longer active and gravity stays constant and move it to the keg.

I'll let you know the outcome, fingers crossed!

[WalesAles]

Thanks for the advice Ink....I added another kilo of light brown sugar (once cooled) and so will leave it until yeast is no longer active and gravity stays constant and move it to the keg.

I'll let you know the outcome, fingers crossed!

Hello Phil_,
This looks interesting! Just the type of the thing I would Brew with the ELC!
What was your Hydro reading after the 2nd Kilo of sugar went in?
Please keep us posted on this. This is the type of Brew Where MrsAles says `What`s that Smell, Why are you in my Spice Rack,
That`s my Honey for my breakfast`, etc, etc
WA

[Phil_]

The saga continues.....

So it's been fermenting for a week now, yeast is still active however the gravity reading is now constant at 1.1 and the beer is tasting very bitter, little bit concerned.

Want to now move it to the keg but add some sweetness to it, do I simply add sugar?

Thanks

[Ink]

How's this going Phil? I bottled mine yesterday, to help it a little, I back sweetened it with sweetener. It's actually a fairly tasty lager with a nice gingery kick.

[Deebee]

Interesting thread.

I think that you could have ( and can should you brew this again) add som more malt extract to the wort so that it increases the content without being thin. If you have access to it you could also steep some carapils, and give it a boil up for say 30 minutes then cool and add this.

How did it turn out. I love ginger beer.

[snowbeast]

Would love to know the outcome? Did you enjoy it? Did you make any additions to later batches?

[orlando]

I would get a real ginger beer plant next time, much simpler and the genuine article.


http://gingerbeerplant.net/