Adaption of Milestone with Ginger

[larsselleth]

Good afternoon,
This is my first post (Ive been reading forums on here for months). I got a brewing kit for Xmas (King Keg and all the gubbins) In the pack was two cans of Milestone Ale. Originally I was going to make a half-mash first of all as I also got the Camra Real Ale Brewing Book too. Anyhoo ive decided my first one should be the kits I have. Ive tasted some of these kits before and I find them ok, but Im thinking of popping some ginger in for a nice after taste. Has anyone put ginger root in a brewing kit before? Do I put the ginger in the fermenting bin or put it in before that? I have been reading some straight through "ginger beer" recipes and I read they use a kilo. Ive bought half a Kilo but I think this could still be too much.
Wisdom says I should not play with my first beer, but I cant help myself
Any help would be much appreciated

Lee

[phildodd]

Which Milestone kit is it? I've tried their Crusader, IPA and Lion's Pride. I'm not sure any of those would benefit from the addition of ginger. I've got no idea about adapting kits because the way I see it, kits are designed to be a certain way, so I don't futz with them. As this is your first brew, and you're going to be worrying about a million other things like the temp of the wort, the original gravity, sterilising and rinsing all of the equipment, you're better off leaving any experimentation till you've got a couple kits under your belt. Bascially, you want your first brew to taste great, or you will feel rubbish about putting the next one on...

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I hope you take it on board. There is bound to be someone along soon to tell you the best way for adding ginger, so sit tight...

[larsselleth]

Hi Phildod.
Thanks for your reply. Originally I wanted to dive right in instead of using kits, so if it fails then I wont be too bothered.
You're advice is absolutely right, dont play with it, but I cant help my self, I like to tinker with stuff
I dont know which Milestone it is, it came with the kit and there are no labels on the tin apart from a use by date. Im only guessing its a Milestone kit because they came with Milestone instructions......I too thought it was odd that there was no label on the cans.
I literally just want a nip of ginger at the back. Ive tried a few kits and im not a massive fan, thats why I bought the CAMRA book. I had my eye on Speckled Hen for my first brew. As soon as this one is done/ruined im buying the hops off eBay or a home brew shop that supplies them in small amounts.

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

I suspect it is the lions pride kit you have with your milestone 'microbrewery kit'...

Personally I wouldn't mess with your first brew, other than shortening the brewlength (volume) of this beer to 19-20 Litres...

I do make kitt adaptations but only after making the usual way first to adapt it to my tastes...

For the same reason I only introduce one 'change' at a time otherwise I wont know which adaptation was responsible for the delicous beer I've made!

I have made some pretty good brew this way for little cost comared with the commercial equivalent... EG. my adapted EDME yorkshire bitter is a massive improvement over John Smiths in cans and cost me £11 including several jars of holland and barratt malt extract

So maybe you should be a little more patient and concentrate on getting the basics right - sanitisation, temprature control etc. for your first brew.
Then whilst you are enjoy the fruits of your labours knock yourself out and get creative by all means!

Slainte!

[larsselleth]

Ok...ill make the kit with no adaptations
Your wisdom is correct, I just find myself occasionally tiping Canada Dry into my bitter. I love ginger
I might just get a plastic bottle and make a straight through ginger beer...and then mix them when im drinking it lol. That way I cant spoil all the beer.

Cant wait to start tomorrow now. Just sanitised the barrell. I have to wait 24hrs it says because its the first time ive used it.
I will re-sanitise the FV and equipment tomorrow. I did it today for good measure lol.

Manx Guy, why do you recommend shortening the brewlength? The only assumption I have is it makes it a tad stronger therefore maybe giving it a slightly better flavour?

Thanks for your help, I bet you get people like me all the time

Lee

[EoinMag]

I'd say that the kits you've been unimpressed with in the past would be single tin kits with white sugar addition, 3kg kits such as the milestone range are from another planet, so really try them first then tinker.
I'd go with the after addition of ginger beer myself, it's very easy to make your own and will be ready in three days compared to 6 weeks for the beer kit. experiment with making ginger beers first, basically a small amount of bread yeast is all that's needed to carbonate the home made ones. I can dig out a recipe from fresh ginger if you want, but I generally just make them by feel rather than to a recipe.

[phildodd]

Ok...ill make the kit with no adaptations
Your wisdom is correct, I just find myself occasionally tiping Canada Dry into my bitter. I love ginger
I might just get a plastic bottle and make a straight through ginger beer...and then mix them when im drinking it lol. That way I cant spoil all the beer.

Cant wait to start tomorrow now. Just sanitised the barrell. I have to wait 24hrs it says because its the first time ive used it.
I will re-sanitise the FV and equipment tomorrow. I did it today for good measure lol.

Manx Guy, why do you recommend shortening the brewlength? The only assumption I have is it makes it a tad stronger therefore maybe giving it a slightly better flavour?

Thanks for your help, I bet you get people like me all the time

Lee

Yes shortening the brewlength will make the beer stronger and give it more body. Which I can imagine would be a great improvement for Lion's Pride as I felt it was a bit thin when made up to the full 23litres.

[larsselleth]

Can I assume changing the brewlength will alter the SG?
Also, my kit claims it comes with everything, but I have no brewers sugar...is caster sugar a suitable replacement? Ive read some people think it makes a brew too sweet. I was hoping to start tonight, I might be able to rob 80 grams of Brewing Sugar off my mate if he has any spare.

[EoinMag]

Can I assume changing the brewlength will alter the SG?
Also, my kit claims it comes with everything, but I have no brewers sugar...is caster sugar a suitable replacement? Ive read some people think it makes a brew too sweet. I was hoping to start tonight, I might be able to rob 80 grams of Brewing Sugar off my mate if he has any spare.

Yes it will alter the SG and make the end product higher in alcohol. The sugar you will need is only for priming once the fermentation is finished, it's really unimportant whether you use normal white sugar, spraymalt or brewers sugar, any of them will do the same job, you won't need that sugar for a few weeks until the brew has fermented out, leave it at least 3 weeks in the primary fermenter as those kits will take a little while to reach FG.