Alcoholic ginger beer with short fermentation and keg-able

[PaulMcArthur]

Hi all, been browsing the site and forum for a while but just signed up. Good to be here.

I have a question - i fancy making an alcoholic ginger beer for christmas day. i want to brew up a keg's worth, about 40 pints. First of all, is it possible to keg it then just pour out over ice instead of bottling?

Second of all, what is the shortest possible time for primary and secondary fermentation and does anyone have any great recipes for this?

If i'm completely off the mark and this isn't possible then... well, disappointment!

Cheers

[second2none]

I love ginger beer and have been making it a while now and I still haven't perfected it...
The bottom line is that all your sugar gets fermented and you're left with an ultra bitter drink,
I tried using artificial sweeteners but they make the brew taste worse.

The most successful GB I've made has been fromhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A634664
Which is an old fashion gingerbeer “plant” and is well worth a go
Would recommend using plastic pop bottles instead of ur keg because this is an extremely active ferment!

Once the bottles are hard they should be put in the fridge and drank straight away while there are still sugars present, Mine ended up being around 5%

The addition of cream of tartar gives the brew a white / opaque traditional colour
and for firey GB add a few sprinkles of cayenne pepper.
I would strongly recommend making smaller batches and changing the recipe in the second section rather than trying to make 40pints and not totally loving the outcome!

Either way please post the recipe you decide to go with
ohh and we've talked about ginger beer here before there are some good recipes here:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=37279&p=401053&hili ... er#p401053

[PaulMcArthur]

Oh awesome, thanks very much! The only question i have is about the plastic bottles - are they strong enough to hold that power of fermentation? Am i not going to end up with ginger beer wallpaper?

[richc]

Ginger beer is the only thing I've ever known to explode plastic botles, nearly blew up a friend of mine with one years ago...

[PaulMcArthur]

Jings, well, I'd want to avoid that then! But otherwise, I'll need to buy glass bottles and a capper. Too pricy just now. Absolutely no way to keg up a batch, taking a gamble on whether or not it's going to be disgusting?

[second2none]

Yeah if you use like plastic squash bottles the presure blows the bottom of the bottle out so it becomes round and the bottles fall onto their side ... this falling action fizzes up the ginger beer and blows the lid right off
thats why i said use fizzy drinks bottles! just release the lids ever week (few days) and you will be great! GLASS BOTTLES WILL BLOW TOO UNDER THESE PRESURES AND THATS NOT A PRETTY SITE!

OK if you want a big batch of GB have a look at http://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com ... cipes.html
they have loads of good old recipes... just replace bakes yeast with ale or wine yeast and ur on to a winner!

Put into a kettle, two ounces of powdered ginger (or more if is not very strong),
half an ounce of cream of tartar, two large lemons cut in slices, two pounds of broken loaf sugar,
and one gallon of soft water.
Simmer them over a slow fire for half an hour.
When the liquor is nearly cold, stir into it a large tablespoonful of the best yeast. Bottle for use.

Was the one I've just made with some cyanne pepper! it turned out ok ... but extra dry!

[PaulMcArthur]

I'm going to try this now! Have no idea why I'm so addicted to ginger beer just now. Something about the warmth inside and the cold outside I'd imagine! Thanks for all your help, second2none!

[Bayerd]

2 ltr plastic bottles are definately your best bet, as they get rock hard release some of the pressure. Do not use glass bottles, there's more than a good chance of them exploding.

[second2none]

I just thought I might say.. one of my batches of GB I wanted to be perfect, so I racked it and let it clear about 5 times.
The end product was clear but I'd racked all of the gingerpowder out of the brew and left it tasteless.
Just a warning, use ur best judgement, leave a tiny bit of sediment to keep in the flavour.

[minimag]

Just done my best batch of ginger beer, clear, sweet, fizzy and with zest.

The secret?, 500 gm grated fresh ginger, about 20 ml concentrated lemon juice, 1.5kg sugar boiled in 4l water, topped up to 19l with cold water, pitched with bread yeast, fermented dry, added potassium sorbate and 3 crushed campden tablets, left for 48 hrs, fined and transferred to 2nd vessel after another 48 hours, transferred to cornie keg, sweetened to taste then left at 30 PSI for 1 week. Worked for me

[oneilldave]

Just done my best batch of ginger beer, clear, sweet, fizzy and with zest.

The secret? ... and 3 crushed campden tablets ...

I made some GB and also used the campden tablets in the final brew. I let the final gravity come down to about 1005 to leave some trace of sweentness and then killed all further fermentation with the tablets. I fined it, racked it off the sediment, bottled it (yes, glass bottles!) and none blew and it was pure fire in a glass when poured. I didn't use any powered ginger and only used grated root ginger. It finished up at around 9.5% and made a few people fall over!

I am most certainly going to do the same again soon!!!

[BeerBaller]

[quote="Bayerd"]2 ltr plastic bottles are definately your best bet, as they get rock hard release some of the pressure. Do not use glass bottles, there's more than a good chance of them exploding.[/quote]

I agree. Plastic bottles work best since they've already been exposed to pressure. Soda bottles can work. Just make sure that they're properly sanitized.
Source: http://www.thedrugspot.com/alcohol/alco ... ation.html

[Gordonmull]

Second2none, I love the cayenne pepper idea!. i've been dying for a HOT ginger beer for a while and that (now I think about it) is the perfect solution. I think some dorset naga and ginger will be a perfect combo!