Ginger germ for fermenting beer?

[OpenSights]

I just brewed my first attempt at a alcohol ginger beer. I know I need to adjust the recipe, didn’t taste the way I wanted to. Won my club competition for lawnmower beer, but I still don’t like it.
Since I just started getting into starters, I got thinking about using some DME to make a wild ginger yeast.
I’m thinking about starting small, building up to 1200ml, decant and add more wort, repeat until I get a good colony.
Any thoughts or advice?

Cheers!

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Funnily enough I've just had a glass of a ginger beer I've just made. I used a Notty yeast on it to see if that tasted the same as a normal ginger beer. Mine was way too dry with no residual sugar at all, but it tasted ok once I'd put some runny dark honey in it. I suppose if it were a grain beer then it needs mashing higher to get some unfermentable sugars left. I think that's the right way round. I'm not sure how to do that with just ginger for beer though.

If it were a ginger wine then I'd probably just keep step feeding the yeast some sugar until it gave up, then bottle it. I haven't done a proper ginger beer plant for years. I've got notes on how somewhere and I'll look for them.

 

[OpenSights]

Funnily enough I've just had a glass of a ginger beer I've just made. I used a Notty yeast on it to see if that tasted the same as a normal ginger beer. Mine was way too dry with no residual sugar at all, but it tasted ok once I'd put some runny dark honey in it. I suppose if it were a grain beer then it needs mashing higher to get some unfermentable sugars left. I think that's the right way round. I'm not sure how to do that with just ginger for beer though.

If it were a ginger wine then I'd probably just keep step feeding the yeast some sugar until it gave up, then bottle it. I haven't done a proper ginger beer plant for years. I've got notes on how somewhere and I'll look for them.

I thought about using Nottingham, but decided on s-04.
I don’t have the recipe in front of me, but it was based off a 18th century recipe. A little malt, molasses, brown sugar, lemon zest, ginger and water.

I probably won’t start the experiment for a week or two. Have other plans for my stir plate.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Found it... these are nearly undecipherable scruffy notes in a very old book

Ginger beer plant.... Use glass not plastic? (Don't know why I've written that).

Put into an airtight bottle....
8 sultanas
juice of 2 lemons
1tsp lemon pulp
4tsp sugar
2tsp ground ginger
2 cups cold water
Let ferment for 3 days
Then daily for a week, add...
2tsp ground ginger + 4tsp sugar

*To make the ginger beer...
Put 4 cups boiling water, juice of 4 lemons and 4 cups sugar in a large container.
Strain the 'plant' contents through muslin and squeeze dry, add 28 cups water.
Bottle and seal. Makes about 12 bottles which will be ready in 5 days.
(sounds like a bottle bomb recipe so DO use plastic I'd suggest or at least corks in a champagne type bottle. I do have a recollection of me tying down a cork into a demijohn as a teenager and my dad having to cut the ropes with a parang in the garden. The stuff shot up in feet not inches)

Halve the squeezed plant and put in a jar with 2 cups of cold water.
Feed each week for 2 weeks with 2 tsp ginger and 4 tsp sugar.
Repeat from *

 

[Mumathomebrew]

I'd love to do a beer hybrid too. Some residual sweetness could be from the grain.
I've found what i did for this overly dry one.

1500ml water
4" fresh ginger
1019g brown sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
It wasn't Notty, it was S05 yeast dregs from a beer
At 67g sugar per L it was about 4% ish

The ones I've made recently in the last few years have been sugar step fed sweet wines? using dessert yeast which can be step fed up to about 18%+++ for a really sugary sweet ginger liqueur. Then mixed with soda water for the fizz. A bit like an alcoholic cordial.

 

[OpenSights]

When I made the ginger beer I used 32oz chopped ginger and 1oz lemon peel. Taking OG the taste was like a battle between lemon and ginger. Thankfully the lemon faded and the ginger was up front. For a session beer it had way more body or mouthfeel than I cared for.

Found it... these are nearly undecipherable scruffy notes in a very old book

Ginger beer plant.... Use glass not plastic? (Don't know why I've written that).

Put into an airtight bottle....
8 sultanas
juice of 2 lemons
1tsp lemon pulp
4tsp sugar
2tsp ground ginger
2 cups cold water
Let ferment for 3 days
Then daily for a week, add...
2tsp ground ginger + 4tsp sugar

*To make the ginger beer...
Put 4 cups boiling water, juice of 4 lemons and 4 cups sugar in a large container.
Strain the 'plant' contents through muslin and squeeze dry, add 28 cups water.
Bottle and seal. Makes about 12 bottles which will be ready in 5 days.
(sounds like a bottle bomb recipe so DO use plastic I'd suggest or at least corks in a champagne type bottle. I do have a recollection of me tying down a cork into a demijohn as a teenager and my dad having to cut the ropes with a parang in the garden. The stuff shot up in feet not inches)

Halve the squeezed plant and put in a jar with 2 cups of cold water.
Feed each week for 2 weeks with 2 tsp ginger and 4 tsp sugar.
Repeat from *

I’m going to print this off! When I get sick, one of my favorite things is cranberry juice and ginger ale!

 

[Mumathomebrew]

I love historical recipes so I'll do an 18th c one at the same time-ish as you and we can compare notes.

 

[OpenSights]

I’ll see about sending you some early American recipes.

This was my inspiration for my ginger beer:

https://youtu.be/mfnHCdc3BgA

Check out other stuff from Townsends. Lots of good stuff! My son and I made the mushroom catchup... he hates mushrooms, but loves what we made!