Alcoholic ginger beer

[gingerman]

So on day 4 the airlock is still showing plenty of activity (bubbling). Should I just go ahead and bottle or wait a bit more?

Go ahead and bottle. You don't want this fermenting dry. After 4 days with your OG, you should be good to go.

 

[msa8967]

placed this in the refrigerator to cold crash for 24 hours prior to bottling/kegging.

 

[sneakymeade]

Looks good. Let us know how it tastes. I'm curious how pineapple will taste in the GB.

The pineapple is very faint, but since an acid is necessary to balance the ginger I would think any citrus combination would work like orange, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc. Thank you for your posts, I am very pleased with how this came out.

 

[gingerman]

The pineapple is very faint, but since an acid is necessary to balance the ginger I would think any citrus combination would work like orange, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc. Thank you for your posts, I am very pleased with how this came out.

Nice! Glad it turned out well. I would have thought with 2 cups it'd be more prominent, but I'm glad it turned out well. Did you bottle carb them? Just curious how that went.

I think my next batch is going to use pineapple, lemon peel, lemon juice and cayenne as spices, with all raw sugar. Having read through a couple of the beer clarity threads, I'm also going to try just adding the sugar at flame out next time instead of boiling for 15-20 min.

 

[Likefully]

placed this in the refrigerator to cold crash for 24 hours prior to bottling/kegging.

Did you cold crash when there was still activity in the airlock? And if so, did you add priming sugar when you bottled?

I am nervous to do that (bottle while there is still activity) due to bottle bomb risk.

 

[gingerman]

Did you cold crash when there was still activity in the airlock? And if so, did you add priming sugar when you bottled?

I am nervous to do that (bottle while there is still activity) due to bottle bomb risk.

You shouldn't be aiming to ferment dry with even alcoholic ginger beer, IMO. Shoot for a FG of around 1.02. No priming sugar, as there's plenty left in solution.

Re bottling, just use a plastic bottle as an indicator bottle of pressure, or go all plastic or fliptop. Bottle carb for 2 days, maybe more if you crash first. The plastic indicator bottle will let you know when theyre ready to be refrigerated. Also, those flip top bottles will burp via the rubber seal before they explode so if you must use glass with a sugary bottle carb, use those.

 

[Likefully]

Why don't you want the fermentation to rub dry? What does it do to the flavor?

 

[luke_d]

Yea, I'd like to know as well. I've got a ginger beer fermenting right now. Used US-05 and I'm wondering why to not let it ferment dry? It almost seems like the dryness would complement the ginger?

 

[gingerman]

Why don't you want the fermentation to rub dry? What does it do to the flavor?

With the qualifier that I haven't played with backsweetening yet, and I've only used champagne yeast, I've noticed an inverse correlation between ABV and ginger flavor. At 1-2% it's pronounced and aromatic, at 3-5% it gets more "beery" and is less on top, and over 5% it is more dry and muted. All this was with just over 2 cups/gallon of raw sugar with a SG of about 1.4-1.44.

I'd love to see a boozier, tasty ginger beer but I have yet to find it. I hadn't heard of back sweetening when my few bottles went dry or I would have tried that then.

 

[sneakymeade]

I finished mine with campden and sorbate, then kegged and refrigerated it. Next time I will let it ferment longer to see if the strong hot ginger is affected by a higher alcohol percentage, but at 5.2% it was not. Still burns my throat a little

 

[luke_d]

Can't remember my recipe exactly off the top of my head, but I did a three gallon batch. Using 4 lbs of turbinado sugar, I got an OG of 1.070. Whoa! I have a feeling that if wasn't supposed to be that high. Whatever.

I pitched US-05 and it's been chugging away ever since. I pulled a hydrometer sample last night and it was at about 4.5 ABV and tasted amazing.

 

[sneakymeade]

Can't remember my recipe exactly off the top of my head, but I did a three gallon batch. Using 4 lbs of turbinado sugar, I got an OG of 1.070. Whoa! I have a feeling that if wasn't supposed to be that high.

According to the chart on this page, adding 4lbs of sugar to 3 gallons of water would give you between 1.055 and 1.060, so it wasn't too far off. If you ferment down to 1.008 or so you should have around 8% alcohol; how much ginger did you use?

 

[samuelcollins]

I've made this a few times. I like a lot of ginger heat. You can reduce the ginger if you don't like it that bold. Try this:

5 gal batch

2 lbs fresh ginger, cut into slices
17 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 vanilla bean, split
1 packet champagne yeast

Boil 2 lb ginger for about 30 mins. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar and spices. Cool, transfer to fermenter, pitch yeast.

After fermentation is complete, rack to a secondary, crush and add 5 campden tablets to kill any remaining yeast. You can also add another lb of fresh ginger if you really like the ginger flavor. Let it sit for about 2 weeks (1 week if not using more ginger). Boil a small amount of water and add sugar needed for desired sweetness. Add to keg, then rack the ginger beer on top. Force carbonate @ 30 PSI (serving pressure).

Good luck!

Wow

 

[gingerman]

Ok as an update to my earlier comments and fermenting GB dry, I tried the one remaining bottle of my hopped ginger beer (made with cote de blanc yeast) this morning, a couple months after bottling and refrigerating. A week after bottling, it was a mess of flavors. The hops were too prominent, the ginger didn't taste like ginger very much, etc.

But after a couple months (and apparent continued fermentation to dryness), its a whole other thing now. It tastes like a strong Saison or high ABV Belgian beer. No ginger taste whatsoever, but it tasted like a very very good Belgian beer. I still strongly prefer a non- to low-alcohol GB just for the ginger flavor, but the hopped, dry GB that aged a couple months is also delicious.

 

[Likefully]

But after a couple months (and apparent continued fermentation to dryness)

This makes sense. What is left of My batch has been in the bottle for a few weeks now and SWMBO commented that she thinks it tastes like it has fermented more. It definitely has got dryer and the bite from the cayenne tastes more gingerly authentic now, if that makes sense.

 

[Dsully82]

Ginger Libation from Green River Ambrosia; it runs 8-9%, mildly sweet, and as far as I know the only way to get it is to visit Massachusetts. Being a mead, wine, and beer maker, I definitely would love to be able to reproduce their ginger beer, going to start with Gingerman's recipe in small batches.

Any luck on cloning Ginger Libation? I'd been studying in MA, and now I'm back living in CO. Ginger Libation blew my mind and I'd love to make something similar.

 

[sneakymeade]

Any luck on cloning Ginger Libation? I'd been studying in MA, and now I'm back living in CO. Ginger Libation blew my mind and I'd love to make something similar.

Ginger Libation is close to 9% alcohol, mine was much weaker. I love it, but most people who try it think it has too much ginger in it. Taste wise, I think it is pretty close; close enough that if you liked the Ginger Libation you will like how my recipe came out, I would boost the sugar and shoot for a 1.070 or even a little higher, leave the ginger the same, and make adjustments on your second batch. My stuff is a couple months old now, and still has that hot ginger flavor. The only thing I am going to do different next time is shoot for more alcohol. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[johnnyrains]

You shouldn't be aiming to ferment dry with even alcoholic ginger beer, IMO. Shoot for a FG of around 1.02. No priming sugar, as there's plenty left in solution. Re bottling, just use a plastic bottle as an indicator bottle of pressure, or go all plastic or fliptop. Bottle carb for 2 days, maybe more if you crash first. The plastic indicator bottle will let you know when theyre ready to be refrigerated. Also, those flip top bottles will burp via the rubber seal before they explode so if you must use glass with a sugary bottle carb, use those.

I am pretty new to all this.

I am in the process of making my second batch of GB. First one is revolting at the moment. Kind of a sour taste and smell.

I am wondering about campden tablets to stop the fermentation, but concerned that that will kill any yeast to carbonate In bottles. Or should I cold crash, whatever that is.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ProfessorWoland]

I've been following this thread with interest. If I was to make 5 imperial gallons of alcoholic ginger beer have we a recommendation of the best recipe?

 

[Likefully]

I've been following this thread with interest. If I was to make 5 imperial gallons of alcoholic ginger beer have we a recommendation of the best recipe?

As I have only made one batch, I don't know the recipe I followed was the best, but it came out very tasty.

I boiled 15L water with 1.4kg ginger, 1.8kg sugar, .5 teaspoon cayenne pepper and added about a cup of a mixture of lemon and lime into the fermenter. I added a few litres of water to get the total volume in the fermenter to 18L before pitching.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

As I have only made one batch, I don't know the recipe I followed was the best, but it came out very tasty.

I boiled 15L water with 1.4kg ginger, 1.8kg sugar, .5 teaspoon cayenne pepper and added about a cup of a mixture of lemon and lime into the fermenter. I added a few litres of water to get the total volume in the fermenter to 18L before pitching.

I might try and but with an added 500g of light LME for some body and take to 20L.

What yeast did you use?

 

[gingerman]

Johnny - sounds like a sanitation issue? Is it bubbling or just foul? Make sure to wash everything in a rinse from the homebrew store. I've never messed with tablets but yes that would prevent bottle carbing/pressurizing.

Prof - the red star champagne yeast works best. 1 g/gallon.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

Ok, here's what I'm going to try;

2 kilos of ginger (blended)
1 kilo granulated sugar
1.5 kilo tin of Dry LME
500g honey
Zest and juice of two lemons
Zest and juice of two lime
1 table spoon cayenne pepper powder
1 table spoon cardamom powder

Champaign yeast and yeast nutrient

Made to 18 litres.

 

[Likefully]

Ok, here's what I'm going to try;

2 kilos of ginger (blended)
1 kilo granulated sugar
1.5 kilo tin of Dry LME
500g honey
Zest and juice of two lemons
Zest and juice of two lime
1 table spoon cayenne pepper powder
1 table spoon cardamom powder

Champaign yeast and yeast nutrient

Made to 18 litres.

I used less than a teaspoon of cayenne for the same volume and that was bordering on too hot for most people.

Otherwise this recipe looks good and I would love to hear how it comes out. With that much fermentables and yeast I would guess you are aiming for something with a high alcohol content?

 

[ProfessorWoland]

I used less than a teaspoon of cayenne for the same volume and that was bordering on too hot for most people.

Otherwise this recipe looks good and I would love to hear how it comes out. With that much fermentables and yeast I would guess you are aiming for something with a high alcohol content?

Thanks for the advice! I'll knock it down to a teaspoon on the pepper.

I'd like a high alcohol volume (when I made the Coopers kit one everyone liked the taste but was disappointed by the ABV) but also hoping the malt and honey will do something to combat the bitterness people complain about.

Plus I like the idea of having one big experiment

This will be by first brew which isn't kit based so I'd thought I'd go mental with it.

Any idea what sort of ABV I could expect? I'm still quite n00bish.

 

[dyqik]

Also, those flip top bottles will burp via the rubber seal before they explode so if you must use glass with a sugary bottle carb, use those.

This isn't guaranteed. I've lost an entire batch of natural ginger beer to bottle bombs in flip top 1l bottles.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

With that much fermentables and yeast I would guess you are aiming for something with a high alcohol content?

OG is only 1.050 at 32°C

Just waiting for it to cool to pitch yeast.

 

[Likefully]

OG is only 1.050 at 32°C

Just waiting for it to cool to pitch yeast.

How did it come out?

 

[jon]

Has anyone thought to try adding ginger later in the fermentation? I know some folks rack their brews onto fruit to get more fruit flavor than if fermented with the fruit in the primary.

I just bought a bunch of ginger thinking to make ginger cider. I have a batch that I have neglected in a carbon for a little while, was going to rack to add a few pounds of ginger to it and see what happens. Back sweeten with fresh cider and add lemon juice to acidity if it needs it. Then into the keg...

I'm thinking that doing all the ginger in the primary is just Going to loose a lot of flavor...

 

[ProfessorWoland]

How did it come out?

It's still at primary. I'm going to take a gravity reading later today and I'm looking to hopefully bottle next week.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

Has anyone thought to try adding ginger later in the fermentation? I know some folks rack their brews onto fruit to get more fruit flavor than if fermented with the fruit in the primary.

I just bought a bunch of ginger thinking to make ginger cider. I have a batch that I have neglected in a carbon for a little while, was going to rack to add a few pounds of ginger to it and see what happens. Back sweeten with fresh cider and add lemon juice to acidity if it needs it. Then into the keg...

I'm thinking that doing all the ginger in the primary is just Going to loose a lot of flavor...

Root ginger has an incredibly strong flavour so I don't think you'll have to worry about it at primary.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

How did it come out?

The gravity is down to 1.005. It has a firey kick to it and an almost flowery taste at times. It is missing something though.

I'm going to add the lines and lemon I forgot with the priming sugar when I put it into a bottling bucket and hope that improves it.

 

[Hanglow]

I have tried a number of times to get a good alcoholic ginger beer and my most recent batch was the best. The previous ones were far too dry and I didn't want to use malt as a base as I thought that would be too malty/grainy/beery etc and wouldn't suit what I was aiming for. So this time to stop it from drying out too much I tried using rice maltose syrup that I bought from Seewoo - in Glasgow at The Point if you know it prof! It's cheap too at £1 or so for 450g. FG is 1.014, so lots of body.


12l
1kg sugar
2 x rice maltose (900g in total i think)
1.2kg root ginger
3 hot chillis
6 tea bags
juice 3 lemons
nutrient
campden for water treatment
youngs cider yeast

ginger was grated and boiled in the water for about 10 minutes, teabags left in as it cooled along with the lemon juice.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

...that I bought from Seewoo - in Glasgow at The Point if you know it prof!

I know it really well as I go there to get Sui Mai

Hello other Glasgow poster!

 

[Likefully]

The gravity is down to 1.005. It has a firey kick to it and an almost flowery taste at times. It is missing something though.

I'm going to add the lines and lemon I forgot with the priming sugar when I put it into a bottling bucket and hope that improves it.

Perhaps bottle now (before fermentation is complete) and just add the lime and lemon juice. No priming sugar. Leave the bottles out for 2 days and then into the fridge.

 

[Icewalker]

I figured I'd throw in my recipe. As a young lad I used to like the Christmas treat of Stones Ginger wine and lemonade at my Nans. So I figured I'd try to get a ginger beer in that ball park.

Here's where I went for a 5 gallon batch.

2 lbs Root Ginger - grated
4 lbs Dark brown sugar
1 lb white sugar
3 1/2 lbs golden LME (had it lying around)
1 lb Clover Honey
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lime juice
5 tsp yeast nutrient
1 packet gelatin (clarification)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 packet Red Start Champagne yeast

Brought the ginger root and juices to a boil in 2 gallons of water. Keep on a rolling boil for around 1/2 hour.

Take off heat.

Add sugar, honey and LME - stir in well.

Return to the heat and keep a slow rolling boil for around 3/4 hour.

Chill wort to around 100 Deg

Add to 3 gallons of water in fermenter.

Add yeast nutrient and pitch (reconstituted) champagne yeast.


Absolutely no idea how this is going to turn out. Did it on a whim today Sometimes it's better not to brew with the wife bending your ear. I forgot to take an OG reading

Depending on how this one turns out I'm going to brew another. Will post pics and figure out an ABV once it's done. I'm thinking at least a week in the primary. Then take it from there. I didn't filter at all so the ginger root is still in there.

 

[krackin]

Looks good. I'm finding 4 weeks in the fermenter is a good idea. It doesn't seem to stick around long after bottling. Aging really helps bring out the lime which seems lost otherwise. I haven't tried OJ yet. Cascade late additions are very good too. I just got some MO LME to try but so far I'm like AG better than extract or PM. I use US-05. I'm also playing with real ginger plant from Yemoos, which is a completely different concoction entirely and very very good.

 

[Icewalker]

36 hours and fermentation seems to have ground to a halt. Just noticed that the champagne yeast was almost a year old .... ahhhhhh. What to do?

a) leave alone - up temp on fermenter and see what happens.

b) Add fresh champagne yeast and stir

c) Call it a day - go to secondary and leave alone for a few weeks


I'm kind of leaning towards b only because 36 hours just doesn't seem to be that long. Anyone have any ideas?

thanks

Jeff

 

[gingerman]

36 hours and fermentation seems to have ground to a halt. Just noticed that the champagne yeast was almost a year old .... ahhhhhh. What to do? a) leave alone - up temp on fermenter and see what happens. b) Add fresh champagne yeast and stir c) Call it a day - go to secondary and leave alone for a few weeks I'm kind of leaning towards b only because 36 hours just doesn't seem to be that long. Anyone have any ideas? thanks Jeff

I've pitched yeast too warm before (111 F) and noticed no activity 36 hours later. I just pitched a whole new packet (reconstituted) and stirred to oxygenate for 3-4 min.

One thing I noticed is that you have a TON of sugar in there. I make pretty much your recipe, without the LME. So, about half the sugar (I only ferment for a couple days for low ABV ginger beer though). I know some yeasts have trouble working in too sugary an environment. Not sure if that's the case here, though.

I'd definitely try b first, and then you could always do c. Adding more yeast won't really impact the flavor or anything, from my experience.

Let us know how it turns out! I'm curious about the LME and how it affects the flavor. Maybe you can still get the OG too. I'm curious exactly what all that sugar and LME comes to in 5 gallons. Good luck!

 

[gingerman]

Thanks for pointing me to Crabbies. I wasn't aware of any alcoholic ginger beer in the US. I've been playing with a sessionable (read: 3.5%ish) ginger beer. It's pretty tasty, and makes the best Moscow Mule I've ever tasted, hands down. Here's my recipe, taken from the 'Ginger "Beer" (with wine yeast)' thread.
1. Mix 3 lbs high quality ginger into 2.5 gallons water (I do it in batches in the blender)
2. Add 10 cups turbinado sugar, or 8 c turb, 2 brown sugar. Generally, 2 cups/gallon is mildly sweet. I usually add a few squirts of honey to the boil as well. A little honey goes a long way in this recipe, btw.
3. Add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for a kick if you want it, pinches of sea salt and other spices. I've been adding 1 tsp cream of tartar, but I don't think that's needed after reading through threads here.
4. Boil all that for 15 minutes, then cool for 120. Strain, Transfer to fermenter, double the water, and add 1 cup each of lemon and lime juice. Add yeast (Red Star Champagne Yeast) when temp is right (I shoot for 101). Usually OG is around 1.044 here.
5. Ferment for 48 hours (stirring/aerating regularly) for "Ginger Ale" at around 1.3% ABV, or 96 hours for about 3.3%. Go longer for stronger. I haven't yet tried to fully ferment and adding late sugar yet. Alcoholic potency isn't my primary goal. 3.3 sessionable is.
6. Here is where I would advise to bottle pressurize for 24-48 hours, but since you're kegging, just keg that, leaving as much sediment on the bottom as possible. A little doesn't hurt, of course.

As an update to my last recipe in the noble pursuit of the tasty alcoholic ginger beer, I just finished a batch that's my best yet. Building on others' subsequent comments (and more foraging through the forum), here are my changes from my orig recipe above.
- no more cream of tartar. It had no purpose.
- cayenne bumped to 1/2 tsp+ to stand up to the sweeter FG I want (1.024-1.026 at bottling). 1 tsp of cayenne would be a solid, hot ginger beer.
- added 1/2 tsp high quality vanilla just for smoothness; added the zest of 1 lemon to the boil
- 1/2 cup each of lemon and lime, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, added after splarging to 5 gallons.
- Upped sugar almost 50% to 2700g total. This brought the OG to 1.05-1.052. Added sugar after flameout. Also, used ~80% organic cane and ~20% turbinado for a much yellower brew.
- fermented for 106 hours down to 1.024. Bottled for a day, until plastic test bottles were hard, then chilled. ABV was 3.99% before bottling. Likely 4.5% by the time it went into the fridge.

After 24 hrs of refrigeration, it's damn delicious. Sweet and spicy and highly drinkable. It's less sweet than crabbie's (which I couldn't imagine drinking more than one of), with different aromatics. But yeah, this one's the winner so far. And there's probably enough left over sweetness to go higher ABV while still tasting good. But 1.05 down to 1.024 for 4-5% seems to be the best combo I've found so far.

One other thing I've picked up since beginning down this road with sugary ferments is that the fermentation doesn't stop in the fridge, even at my fridge's lowest setting. It slows down significantly, but with all that sugar and the resilient champagne yeast, there's still activity going on (as evidenced by some 3 week chilled, overcarbbed bottles). So I've been putting the "back of the fridge" beers in a bit early in anticipation that they'll mature over the next couple weeks. Those beers I intend to drink sooner, I leave out for another few extra hours to fully carb before refrigerating. The more you know, and so on.