Favouite Ginger Beer recipies....(+ poll)

[silkworm]

I've had a good look at the archives discussing Ginger beer and it seems like there are a few good recipies out there. Considering avoiding any artificial sweetners after Olivers experience)
My first attempt is now used to clean the BBQ which saves on using the beer I'm drinking.
It was...
1 can Tooheys Larger
1 can Brewsters
500g honey
800g Ginger fresh crushed
20 litres tap water (to make 23litre)
Method:
Brought 1.5 litres of water to boil with 600g ginger for 30mins.
Added last of ginger just before straining with coffee plunger into fermenter.
Dissolved honey, Brewsters Sugar, and can with hot water from ginger.
Added water and ice to 23 litres and pitch temp of 28c.
Pitched yeast. Verdict- 0/10 undrinkable.

I'm keen to make a GB something like an alcoholic Bunderberg. Something not too dry with a full rounded flavour and about 2-5 % alc would be ideal.
I've read that the secret is making something called a 'Mother' which is fermenting mixture that lasts for years and is just topped up every now and then with Ginger and sugar?????

The following is a summery of the recipies I've found here at HB&B.
I would love some follow-up from those that have made them, how good they were, drawbacks. It's a bit of a case of once bitten twice shy.

Many Thanks
Silk
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Ginger Beer
Can of Morgans Ginger Beer
1kg Dextrose
500g finely grated ginger root
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp cinnamon
6 cloves
2 Chillies
Boiled the lot for 30 min, then all in...
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Ginger Snap for 23 Litres

Coopers Nut Brown
500g Crystal 40
500 ml honey
1 kg Pale liquid Malt
24 g Centennial (12 for 15 min, 12 for 1 min)
8 inches peeled fresh Ginger
Cinnimon Stick

Adjust as you like really
Make as normal
add Cinnimon with Crystal malt as bringing to boil
Ginger in the boil (1 hr)
I used a good ale yeast
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Grandma's

-1/2 litre water
-a dozen sultanas
-juice of two lemons
-2 teaspoons ground ginger
-1/2 cup sugar
-yeast (NOT SURE WHAT SORT HERE????? wine,larger,ale,Champagne)
Put in a large covered jar, like a starter.
Every day for a weeek add
-2 teaspoons sugar
-2 teaspoons ground ginger

After a week add
-juice of 4 lemons
-several cups sugar (The cause of explosions)
-top up to 9 litres and bottle.
When it didn't ferment out and explode it was very similar to bundanerg ginger beer
I had thought of doing something like this with some lactose for sweetness and fermenting it out fully before bottling
_______________________________

[undercover1]

Silk,
Have made three batches- one can mix (can't remember which, but it was awful) two using a ginger starter, one of which was OK (gingery, spicy, not too sweet) the other decided to commit suicide every time you touched a bottle.
Those two were made using a recipe similar to your "Grandma's". Note you do not need to add yeast.
There is a lot of stuff on Google about making ye olde gynger beere, using a mother.
Lot of farting about for very little result was my final assessment, I'm afraid. And if you use a plastic fermenter it's very hard to get the smell out.

[Grabbie]

I have one going at the moment it's a Coopers can - can't say that I can taste the artificial sweetner - but that could be because current alc % is 6.7% and it's still fermenting

[Dogger Dan]

Bit partial towards that Ginger Snap one.

Thinking maybe could use a bit more ginger if one was to keep it for the long haul

Dogger

[mentalmayham]

Put my first Ginger beer down last week-end, smelt bloodly beautiful every time I opened my brew fridge to check it.
Pretty simple recipe to;
Black rock cider kit
1kg white sugar(on the advice of my HBS)
500gms honey
3lt apple juice
Topped up to 23lt in the fermenter
Just hoping it tastes as good as it smelt, will bottle this week-end and taste in about a month.

[Oliver]

Put my first Ginger beer down last week-end, smelt bloodly beautiful every time I opened my brew fridge to check it.
Pretty simple recipe to;
Black rock cider kit
1kg white sugar(on the advice of my HBS)
500gms honey
3lt apple juice
Topped up to 23lt in the fermenter
Just hoping it tastes as good as it smelt, will bottle this week-end and taste in about a month.

Um, that sounds more like a cider recipe to me! Or am I missing something?

Oliver

[Dogger Dan]

My daughter grew cucumbers this year so she swears. They look an aweful lot like pumpkins, round and orange. Think I will be the only Dad carving cucumbers for Haloween

If mentalmayham says its a ginger beer, who am I to argue

Dogger

[mentalmayham]

sorry guys had 1 of those awful blonde moments, wish i could use the excuse that it was late and i was pissed but it was 7:00am when i posted that and not even I'm that keen on a Sunday morning
P.S It did taste pretty good when I bottled yesterday

[Dogger Dan]

Thats all that counts

Dogger

[mentalmayham]

Getting back to ginger beer, have done 1 awhile back.Basic 1 just a Coopers kit & kilo, seemed to go pretty well, fermented ok, tasted good when bottled, but jez do u think I could get the thing to carbonate. Left in bottle for 6 months then tossed, dont like flat beer of any type.

[Dogger Dan]

Ahhh,

can I say blend beer?

Dogger

[silkworm]

It seems the secret is to round off the flavour with spices. Some Cinnimon and fruit (lemons, maybe apples, saltanas).
Dogger Dan is Centennial a type of Hops?
Would a saffale be good for the snap mix?
Cheers
Silk

[Dogger Dan]

Silk,

yes they are, consider then super charged cascade, large citrus flavour.

yes to the yeast option to, it would be fine

Dogger

[Chris]

Coopers ginger beer kit has a good ginger bite, but still tastes of artificial sweetners- even at 8.5%. Also, coopers ginger does not like to carbonate much. I'd be disappointed if I could remember the 3 days I took to drink it.

The 'Grandma' ginger beer (or ginger beer plant) works nicely for flavour, but only ever bottle in PET. Those bastards go off with a BANG!

The best ginger beer by FAR is the Country Brewers alcoholic ginger beer. Its got even more bite (so much that it hurts) if you use the ginger booster kit from CB. Damn good stuff.

[silkworm]

Thanks guys for the tips
I'm steering towards a spicy combination of a can (not Coopers) with fruit, spice, and a Ginger Beer Plant I'll post the recipe and results when they come in. I the meantime I've beer to make.
Silk

[Daron]

Dare I ask, and I must on direction from the minister for war, but does anyone have a recipe that doesn't have alcohol in it? I've kept about 20 BUndaberg ginger beer bottles on the promise of making some GB.

Everyone here is making some fancy rocket fuel, but I erckon the kids might be taken off me if I let them try this stuff.

IF anyone can suggest a bunaberg clone please let me know.

[silkworm]

Daron,
Ther are a few recipies online for Non alcohol Ginger Beer. I am guessing that the recipies that do not have yeast are non alcoholic. Can anyone confirm this....
Most recipes are similar (see links at end of post) I haven't tried to make any of these...
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http://thegreenman.net.au/mt/ginger_beer_recipe.htm
In a jar place 8 sultanas, juice of two lemons, 1 teaspoon of lemon pulp, 4 teaspoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger, 2 cups of cold water. Cover lightly with a cloth.

leave for 3 or 4 days in warm weather when it should be starting to ferment. Then each day for a week add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and 4 teaspoons of sugar to the plant. It should be ready at the end of the week to make into beer.
To make the ginger beer

Place 4 cups of sugar into a very large bowl and add 4 cups of boiling water. Add the jiuce of four lemons. Strain the liquid from the plant by passing it through muslin or other fine cloth. Squeeze the plant dry and reserve dry material. Add 28 cups of cold water to the bowl, then add the liquid you extracted from the plant.

Mix and bottle in air tight bottles. You can use old beer bottles or bottles with screw tops. Store in a cool dark place for at least 2 weeks. Makes approximately 10 bottles.
Keeping the plant alive

Halve the plant in the cloth and place it back in the jar with 2 cups of cold water. Continue feeding with 4 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ginger for one week. Then you are ready to make your next batch of beer.
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http://www.recipesource.com/side-dishes/beverages/alcohol/01/rec0110.html
http://www.recipegal.com/beverages/Ginger-Beer-Plant.htm
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2000/archives/2000/food,_health_&_nutrition/ginger_beer__the_french_alternative

[Daron]

Thanks for that. Will get cracking... or let my wife get onto it

[silkworm]

Daron,
On most sites it states in BIG LETTERS bottle in PET or cork bottles not cap to avoid explosions!
Might be of concern.

[Tony]

Hi Daron,

I said this on another topic somewhere, but you can make up the commercial GB kits as (relatively) non-alcoholic by mixing in 300g of sugar in 23L and bottling straight away.

They will still be in the region of 0.5% ABV. I'm not sure that it's possible to get 0% ABV and carbonated without kegging

Tony