GBeerBrewer
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I've been brewing my own Ginger Beer for some time (Recipe ratio is a gallon of water:378 g sugar: 13 cm ginger:2 tbsp ginger beer plant) using a plant (SCOBY-like organism, not a ginger bug - mixture of ginger,sugar,yeast and water) and just recently decided that it'd be a good idea to start measuring the alcoholic content of my final brew. Making the ginger beer is a three step process:
I decided to take my initial measurements after primary fermentation (before pouring into the carboy but after I've added about 15 grams of filtered fresh ginger juice, to kick up the spiciness a bit) and my final measurements before bottling since I figured that the anaerobic fermentation stage was when the bulk of the conversion to alcohol would take place (some definitely happens during the primary fermentation stage since the yeast in the SCOBY converts the sugars into alcohol that the bacteria can consume). Here are my measurements:
- October 4th (before 2nd ferment)
-October 25th (before Bottling)
Now, maybe I should've taken a measurement before primary fermentation but, still. It's quite odd that My final gravity is greater than my starting gravity, isn't it? This yields (nonsensical) negative ABV calculation!
What gives?
i. primary fermentation (aerobic, in a cloth-covered jar with the ginger beer plant)[a three to four week process until the liquid reaches a pH of 3-3.5)
ii. secondary fermentation (anaerobic, in a glass carboy with an airlock and the GBP removed) [a process equal in length to the previous one]
iii. bottling (to induce carbonation) [a 4-5 day process before refrigerating, though sometimes I've let it go on for a few weeks to get the beer to drop a bit in sweetness]
ii. secondary fermentation (anaerobic, in a glass carboy with an airlock and the GBP removed) [a process equal in length to the previous one]
iii. bottling (to induce carbonation) [a 4-5 day process before refrigerating, though sometimes I've let it go on for a few weeks to get the beer to drop a bit in sweetness]
I decided to take my initial measurements after primary fermentation (before pouring into the carboy but after I've added about 15 grams of filtered fresh ginger juice, to kick up the spiciness a bit) and my final measurements before bottling since I figured that the anaerobic fermentation stage was when the bulk of the conversion to alcohol would take place (some definitely happens during the primary fermentation stage since the yeast in the SCOBY converts the sugars into alcohol that the bacteria can consume). Here are my measurements:
- October 4th (before 2nd ferment)
- pH:3
- Refractometer
-Brix: 6.1
-SG: 1.025 - Hydrometer
-Sp. GR: 1.022
-P.ABV: 4.3 %
-Brix: 6
-October 25th (before Bottling)
- pH:3
- Refractometer
-Brix: 10.9
-SG: 1.043 - Hydrometer
-Sp.GR:1.044
-P.ABV: 6%
-Brix: 11
Now, maybe I should've taken a measurement before primary fermentation but, still. It's quite odd that My final gravity is greater than my starting gravity, isn't it? This yields (nonsensical) negative ABV calculation!
What gives?