Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
adamzworld
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Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:25 pm

I've got another out of date kit to use and I was thinking about trying to jazz this kit up a bit! Has anyone tried adding root ginger to give it an extra kick, or would that be overkill?

Is there anything else I could consider adding to spice it up a bit?

Cheers

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Wed Oct 24, 2018 10:27 pm

When I say adding root ginger, I was meaning that I'd peel it first then grate it and boil it up in warer then add it to the wort. Has anyone tried doing something similar?

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LeeH
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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by LeeH » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:28 am

I made ginger wine with grated raw ginger, never bothered boiling it or anything.


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PhilB
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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by PhilB » Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:30 pm

Hi adamzworld

Here's what I've done with one of those kits a couple of times now ... I boil up 200-ish g grated ginger root, with the juice and rind of a lemon, a cinnamon stick and 15g of crushed coriander seeds, all boiled in a ltr or two of water for around 10-15 minutes ... all of that goes into the FV (no sieving) and 1 can of Coopers Ginger Beer Kit gets added along with 500g DME, 1kg brown sugar and 250g malto-dextrin ... that gets diluted to 20 ltrs and fermented with the kit yeast :?

The Coopers kit is full of artificial sweeteners (you can make that kit as a "non-alcoholic" ginger beer by diluting and only adding priming sugar for carbonation if you want, but made up like this it'll end up 4-ish% ABV) but the extra spices (I feel) and the body from the DME and malto-dextrin help to cover that "artificial" taste up a bit ... MrsB and I like the resulting drink, ends up a little like a sort of alcoholic version of a Fentiman's Ginger Beer, but other people that have tried it have disliked the taste of the artificial sweeteners :?

I guess now that you have the kit though, you're going to need to do something with it ... good luck with whatever you decide :wink:

Cheers, PhilB

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:42 pm

LeeH wrote:
Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:28 am
I made ginger wine with grated raw ginger, never bothered boiling it or anything.

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Thanks for the reply Lee, I guess maybe the ginger is similar to hops and has antibacterial qualities.

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:45 pm

PhilB wrote:
Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:30 pm
Hi adamzworld

Here's what I've done with one of those kits a couple of times now ... I boil up 200-ish g grated ginger root, with the juice and rind of a lemon, a cinnamon stick and 15g of crushed coriander seeds, all boiled in a ltr or two of water for around 10-15 minutes ... all of that goes into the FV (no sieving) and 1 can of Coopers Ginger Beer Kit gets added along with 500g DME, 1kg brown sugar and 250g malto-dextrin ... that gets diluted to 20 ltrs and fermented with the kit yeast :?

The Coopers kit is full of artificial sweeteners (you can make that kit as a "non-alcoholic" ginger beer by diluting and only adding priming sugar for carbonation if you want, but made up like this it'll end up 4-ish% ABV) but the extra spices (I feel) and the body from the DME and malto-dextrin help to cover that "artificial" taste up a bit ... MrsB and I like the resulting drink, ends up a little like a sort of alcoholic version of a Fentiman's Ginger Beer, but other people that have tried it have disliked the taste of the artificial sweeteners :?

I guess now that you have the kit though, you're going to need to do something with it ... good luck with whatever you decide :wink:

Cheers, PhilB
Thanks Phil,

This sounds like a cracking recipe. I love ginger so the idea of adding the extra root ginger definitely appeals. Presumably you brewed it short to 20 litres to get the abv up to 4%?

I'm hoping to get this done as a Christmas tipple so the cinnamon stick will definitely give it some festive flavour!

I'll let you know how it turns out.


Cheers,



Adam

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Thu Oct 25, 2018 7:45 pm

PhilB wrote:
Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:30 pm
Hi adamzworld

Here's what I've done with one of those kits a couple of times now ... I boil up 200-ish g grated ginger root, with the juice and rind of a lemon, a cinnamon stick and 15g of crushed coriander seeds, all boiled in a ltr or two of water for around 10-15 minutes ... all of that goes into the FV (no sieving) and 1 can of Coopers Ginger Beer Kit gets added along with 500g DME, 1kg brown sugar and 250g malto-dextrin ... that gets diluted to 20 ltrs and fermented with the kit yeast :?

The Coopers kit is full of artificial sweeteners (you can make that kit as a "non-alcoholic" ginger beer by diluting and only adding priming sugar for carbonation if you want, but made up like this it'll end up 4-ish% ABV) but the extra spices (I feel) and the body from the DME and malto-dextrin help to cover that "artificial" taste up a bit ... MrsB and I like the resulting drink, ends up a little like a sort of alcoholic version of a Fentiman's Ginger Beer, but other people that have tried it have disliked the taste of the artificial sweeteners :?

I guess now that you have the kit though, you're going to need to do something with it ... good luck with whatever you decide :wink:

Cheers, PhilB
Thanks Phil,

This sounds like a cracking recipe. I love ginger so the idea of adding the extra root ginger definitely appeals. Presumably you brewed it short to 20 litres to get the abv up to 4%?

I'm hoping to get this done as a Christmas tipple so the cinnamon stick will definitely give it some festive flavour!

I'll let you know how it turns out.


Cheers,



Adam

adamzworld
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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:18 pm

Can I ask what the malto-dextrin does? If I don't have any then could I just add 250g more brown sugar as a substitute?

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Thu Oct 25, 2018 8:52 pm

Also I've got a bag of DME which is unopened but has gone hard. It's past is BBE date, but I never pay much attention to those and I'd hate to chuck it! Should I break it up first or just chuck it in the boiling water and hope it disolves?!

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by PhilB » Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:28 am

Hi Adam

Maltodextrin is an unfermentable sugar, it adds a bit of body and helps with head retention ... as explained over there ...
Chris Colby, in Beer and Wine Journal (link) wrote:To decrease fermentability, you would add ingredients to your recipe that yield unfermentable carbohydrates in the wort. Maltodextrin is one such ingredient. Maltodextrin is a carbohydrate that brewers yeast cannot ferment. It is a white powder (that is fairly hard to dissolve), which is flavorless to slightly sweet. All it does is increase your final gravity and add mouthfeel. Many old-school homebrew recipes called for maltodextrin, but fewer modern recipes do. You tend to see it most often in recipes for dark, malty beers. Adding up to 8.0 oz. (230 g) to a 5 gallon (19 L) beer will yield a more “chewy” beer, without overdoing it and ending up with an overly viscous concoction. Maltodextrin also reputedly helps with your foam.
... if you don't have it and can't get it (if you don't have a nearby homebrew shop, body-builders and gym-jockeys use it as an energy booster apparently, so you might well find it in your local chemist or stockist of those protein powder supplements)... then you could just leave it out and you'd end up with a slightly thinner Ginger Beer :? ... alternatively, you could use a kilo of beer kit enhancer and 250-500g of sugar, instead of the sugar and maltodextrin (since beer kit enhancer is 1/3 - 1/2 maltodextrin anyway) :?

As for the DME ... out of date kit, out of date DME, chuck it all in, what else are you going to do with it :wink: ... if you're worried about it not dissolving, chuck it in to the pan with the other stuff you're boiling. 15 mins on the stove should get any lumps dissolved :wink:

Hope it goes well for you,
Cheers, PhilB

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:03 pm

Thanks Phil, appreciate the response and that's great that I can use I up the DME. I've got 2 X 1kg bags and they're both rock solid lumps! If I can use the DME in place of the maltodextrin then I'll chuck a whole bag of DME in with the sugar, ginger etc and boil it all up together.

I've cleaned out on pressure barrel for my wherry to go in so will clean the other one out tomorrow in prep for the ginger 🍺

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by PhilB » Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:30 pm

Hi Adam

2 kilos of DME, and no extra sugar or maltodextrin, will probably be delicious :wink:

Cheers, PhilB

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:37 pm

Cheers Phil,

If you don't think that will be overkill then I might as well chuck the whole lot in!

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:18 pm

Off to do this tonight. Will keep you posted how it turns out.

Thanks again for the pointers

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Re: Coopers Ginger Beer kit

Post by adamzworld » Wed Nov 07, 2018 12:27 am

[url][/https://photos.app.goo.gl/tD3eLYT5Er1768g8A]

Before and after boil!

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