My first ginger beer

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My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 5:05 pm

Hey all,

This is my first post here, about my 2nd ever home brew. My first batch was a Coopers Traditional draught that is ok for a first beer, but for my second batch, I've chosen Morgan's ginger beer (tin). Its been fermenting for two days, and my LHBS gave me a sheet of instructions for general brewing. One of the instructions is to leave your brew to ferment for 2 days at 20L, then fill up to the bottom thread of the neck of the fermentor with water, or a container filled with water to minimise air space.

I did this with my Coopers traditional draught batch, but not sure if I should for my Ginger Beer, as it may weaken the taste/ alcohol.

What I did was:

Added 2kgs of white sugar to 2L of hot water, dissolved fully. Added Morgan's ginger beer can into the water, stirred till fully dissolved, added cold water to fill up to 20L (its a 25L fermenter). I then added zest of 4 limes, one diced birdseye chilli, one whole birdseye chilli, and a piece of grated and peeled fresh ginger (about 4 square centimeters). I added these extras into this mesh sack thing I bought from my LHBS and just dropped the lot in.

After a bit of reading I realise it was probably best to boil the infusion ingredients first, but oh well too late.

I'm keen to know if anyone else has tried similar recipes.

I'm also very interested to find out peoples opinions on the quantities of my ingredients - should I add more chilis/ dried chillis, lime juice, more fresh ginger?

It has been fermenting for almost 2 days, so I'm now at the point where I refer to my LHBS instructions (fill up to the bottom thread of the neck of the fermentor with water, or a container filled with water to minimise air space) and I'm not sure what I should do. Should I just leave it on the 20L mark?

The lady at my LHBS said to give it a good stir each day because the yeast tends to just float to the bottom and sit there unless stirred with GBs. Does that seem right? I was a bit concerned about letting oxygen in there - isn't that the point of the air lock??

Please excuse my naivety, as I said I am virtually a newbie when it comes to home brew and have no experience.

P.s I am wanting the GB to have a nice spicy kick as well as strong ginger and subtle lime taste, not overly sweet but not soda water dry. As it is my first attempt at GB I'm going to try (unless I've nailed the primary infusions) infusing small groups of bottles with small/ large pieces of chilli, maybe some honey, and different priming sugars to see what works best.

I'm assuming the fermentation will take a few weeks, at 22-27 degrees.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby hyjak » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 6:06 pm

Your not in Hobart by any chance are you?
From that ingredient list your going to get a fair chilli hit and that is a pretty small piece of ginger in the scheme of things.
Will refrain from commenting on the filling up of the fermentor for now.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 6:21 pm

I won't.

The whole idea is pretty dumb. Shop at another LHBS or online. This shop doesn't deserve your money. Diluting ANY tin to 25L is not going to make tasty beer and the whole "reduce headspace" idea is not at all based in reality. Your brew will punch out a protective layer of CO2 very quickly and it won;t let any oxygen in unless you, say, were to open it up 2 days later and add a bunch of oxygenated water...

Skip this step for not only this brew but every brew ever.

Also, there are very few yeasts that will produce a nice brew at 27C. 18-20 is a much better temp for a great many of the ale yeasts (there are style exceptions but in general terms this figure works well).

The ginger would have worked better in a boil. The boil extracts the ginger flavours better and also sanitises it to reduce the risk of infection.

As for your recipe, seems nice to me except I prefer raw sugar to white and I put about 1kg of fresh ginger (the water it was boiled in, usually omit the pulp but it works okay when you leave it in, just messy at bottling).

The stirring every day part is ridiculous. This LHBS seems like a bit of a joke. If a brew stalls (stops fermenting early) then you should consider stirring or swirling the whole fermenter but there's no good reason to be opening it up every day. Inviting infection there.

Be aware that your GB will ferment much lower than the Draught so don;t bottle too early. 1000 is not uncommon. Even lower is likely if that kit included dry enzyme.

Best of luck with it, Captain.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 6:41 pm

Thanks for the replies!

Bum, I'm not quite sure what you mean by the GB will ferment much lower than the Draught. I basically just leave it till it has stopped bubbling, then take a hydrometer reading for the next few days to make sure its settled - right?

Maybe I'll add some more fresh crushed ginger. Would I be best to boil some (if so how much) in water (how much water too?)?

What do we think about the 4 lime zests? I'm thinking of adding the juice of one (only have one left) into the brew tomorrow.

And basically, I don't need to worry about adding any water to reduce oxygen space?? Awesome.

Thanks again for the helpful advice
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 6:53 pm

By fermenting lower I mean that a GB's hydrometer reading will be lower than most "normal" beers when the brew has reached final gravity (FG). The Draught would likely have stopped somewhere around 1010, yeah? If the GB were to stop there something would be wrong rather than it being ready to bottle. If that makes sense.

More ginger is always better, IMO, and the juice would probably work well but I'd honestly be inclined towards just letting this one go as is and see what you'd like to change for the next one. I've made kits without any extras and they're still more than serviceable.

And, yeah, you don't need to top up with water to the top of the fermenter. I'm honestly surprised a LHBS-attendant would advise you to do that. Kinda pointless and reduces the perceived quality of their products.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby hyjak » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 7:25 pm

Bum, the LHBS in Hobart offers this exact advice to newbie brewers and the instructions are even handed out in the kits that new brewers buy.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 8:05 pm

Yeah that's where I got it from, they've been very helpful and friendly, maybe I misunderstood the instructions?
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 8:20 pm

Nah, since hyjak had it worked out right away it looks like you're reading it as intended.

I'm sure they're nice people who mean well (and are even offering advice that they follow) but the two instructions under question are really pointless/detrimental.

Still shop there but perhaps have a think about not using them as your only information source.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby warra48 » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 8:26 pm

No, you did not misunderstand the instructions from your local HB shop.
The fact is the instructions are C.R.A.P. and should not be followed. I'll never understand why so many local HB shops are so ignorant of brewing basics, and publish this sort of rubbish. Even the instructions issued by the kit manufacturers contain lots of misleading information! They're designed to get a quick start to fermentation and to ensure it's over as fast as possible. That doesn't necessarily make good beer.

Please go back and read Bum's post, it's the advice to follow!
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby hyjak » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 8:30 pm

Here are the instructions offered, http://www.thbs.intas.net/beer_how_to.htm
The people are nice enough and they have the best range of brew supplies in Hobart but some of the advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Best thing about the store is they have an extensive brew book library which anyone can borrow from (2 weeks only) making it a great resource for scoping books before laying out your coin for them.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 8:38 pm

hyjak wrote:http://www.thbs.intas.net/beer_how_to.htm

Wow. I guess they really don't want people to brew extract batches, huh?

There's some shockers in there but most of it is at least on par with the (decidedly sub-par) instructions on most tins (as correctly pointed out by warra above).

That book library is a tops idea though.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Sunday Feb 05, 2012 10:24 pm

Well all I can say is I'm glad I signed up to this forum rather than relying on that dodgy advice. Why the hell would they try to encourage bad beer? And why do fermenters mostly come in 25L size when the majority of mixes are for 20L?

Thanks again for all the awesome advice
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Monday Feb 06, 2012 7:22 am

Well, I'm sure that's how they brew and they think it is alright. Have a read of this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3814 I haven't read it in a while (and not all of it will apply to you just yet) but I remember it being mostly pretty sound. Should be a better starting point - even if you don't end up applying all of it to your process.

Fermenters come different sizes (mine is 30L) but you need a bit of headspace for krausen formation (that brown foam that forms on top of the brew). Without some headspace the krausen can shoot out of the airlock - some yeasts/brews are more prone to this than others.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Friday Feb 10, 2012 2:10 pm

Back again after a week in the fermenter.

I've been doing a few hydro readings and its down to 1.020 today (og was 1.041). Been tasting as I go too, and TBH its nothing special yet - no chilli or lime taste, just a dull ginger taste and its very sweet. I assume the sweetness will lessen as fermentation finishes, but as for the lack of infused flavours, I'm considering boiling up some more chilli lime and lots more fresh ginger with one litre of water (the brew has gone down to a bit over 19L does that even matter?).

Is this a good idea or is it too late? Any advice on the quantities? Otherwise I could either add more raw products into the mesh sack, or let it be and continue as planned and experiment with extra infusions in-bottle. Judging by the hydro readings, it should take about another week till fermentation ends right? Temp varies from 21-26 degrees.

Is it perhaps possible that my infused flavours will become stronger over time?

Thanks again for all the help and apologies for all the newbie questions.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Friday Feb 10, 2012 3:24 pm

No need to apologise. All good questions.

All flavours will come forward more as the sweetness subsides. Your brew is pretty much only just halfway done now - plenty of time for the flavours to change.

I wouldn't be adding anything now but if you were to boil up some ginger and add it the brew wouldn't be ruined but to boil up enough ginger to make a difference you'd be adding more than the 1L you've mentioned which will dilute what flavours/alc you already have. I'd definitely be sitting on the chilli for the time being.

Good luck with it.
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My first ginger beer

Postby bullfrog » Friday Feb 10, 2012 5:05 pm

Agree with bum's post. I also find that ginger beers have more bite once carbonated, too, so even a taste of the final hydro sample isn't an accurate gauge of what the final product will be like.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Friday Feb 10, 2012 7:40 pm

^very true - especially the part where he agreed with me! ;)
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Captain Morgan » Friday Feb 10, 2012 9:59 pm

Thanks again for the replies.

Bum, couldn't I just boil a large amount of ginger in 1L - making it very potent? I'm not very familiar with the boiling process, I assumed it was just "boil however much water with however much ginger (depending on desired potency) for 20 mins or so then strain, and add to the brew?

I'll hold off on the chilli, but I reeeeeeeeeally want a nice fresh kick of ginger... (annoyed at the home brew shop telling me to only add a 4cm squared piece!)
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My first ginger beer

Postby bullfrog » Friday Feb 10, 2012 10:41 pm

Again, captain, let it finish fermenting and carbonating before you start guessing at what it needs more of.

Taking hydro samples mid-ferment is pointless. If you know that it still has longer to go with the fermenting process then the taste from the hydro tube isn't going to be much use to you.

Once it's been in the bottle for a month or two, then start formulating your ideas on how you might improve it.
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Re: My first ginger beer

Postby Bum » Friday Feb 10, 2012 11:04 pm

Bullfrog has pretty much nailed it but I must admit to being both a panicker and a tinkerer so I'll answer your questions even though bullfrog's post is the one to go with.

No reason you couldn't do a boil that way but I've always found better results with a larger boil. I'm not sure this is one of those situations where 'less is more'. 1 hour is also the boil length I recommend - more boil = more ginger in the liquid.

Having said that, I've done straight GB kits before (different brand) and there was a definite ginger character - I wouldn't stress too much. I'm sure it'll be a good'un. The main possible flaw I see is your stated upper ferment temps - arguably less of an issue with GBs but I do prefer to ferment mine cooler than that.
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