Bottling Coopers Ginger Beer

[lancsSteve]

Making up a Cooper's ginger beer kit at the moment (alcoholic variant).

I did the typical 'ignore the instructions' to start it and rehydrated yeast etc.

However would I do better to go from primary fermentation to pressure barrel before bottling (as is generally regarded as being best for beer kits) - or is ginger ale different in not really ;maturing' in the same way so going straight to bottles once a steady hydrometer reading would be OK?

Plan to use carbonation drops as I have a few about and they're convenient.

Smells great - I LOVE ginger beer, the crabbies alcoholic one takes magners and those kind of 'ciders over ice' for a really refreshing summer drink... Hoping the coopers kit comes out good.

[mickhew]

Hello.Where have you heard that ? I mean, going from FV to pressure barrel, then to bottle ? The only way I've seen/done beer kits, is from FV to pressure barrel, or from FV to bottle, or from FV to bottling bucket to bottle. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you? or might be something I've not heard of, either way myself, or someone else wil be able to help with your brew.
Mick

[lancsSteve]

Hello.Where have you heard that ? I mean, going from FV to pressure barrel, then to bottle ? The only way I've seen/done beer kits, is from FV to pressure barrel, or from FV to bottle, or from FV to bottling bucket to bottle. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you? or might be something I've not heard of, either way myself, or someone else wil be able to help with your brew.
Mick

Hmm - guess I've over-applied Graham Wheeler's 'you need to keg it before bottling' mantra inappropriately to kits. Previously I've racked off from a primary to a secondary fermenter/bottling bucket to get the kit beer off the trub and make bottling easier. The instructions/admonition in Wheeler's "Home Brewing" (CAMRA)is pretty harsh:

"The barbaric home-brew practice of bottling straight from the fermenting vessel should be avoided if at all possible. All beer destined to be bottled shold be matured in cask first and should have dropped bright before bottling. The maturation process requires some undesirable substances to be given off to the atmosphere. These substances are volatile, and are purged out of the ale by excess carbon dioxide coming out of the solution when the cask is vented a couple of days prior to bottling (or drinking). Obviously this cannot happen if the ale is shoved into a sealed bottle shortly after fermentation. Even the worst commercial breweries mature their beers in a maturation tank before bottling"
Graham Wheeler "Home Brewing" p 114 (CAMRA, 1993)

So not quite clear if this is just all-grain, extract or kit... Problem with the kits is you're best off to ignore some of the instructions (like sprinkling yeast direct, bottling quickly, ready in 3 weeks etc.) if you want a decent beer - but once you start ignoring some instructions it's harder to know which to stick to!
And of course as Chris has pointed out (thanks again Chris) Ginger Ale is a different thing - it's about a little alcohol and a lot of fizz and bite not maturation and the complexity of ales.