Guarana

[Timbothirroul]

I posted previously in another thread:
I am a big fan of Guarana Antarctica when in Brazil.
I brew bottles of non- alcoholic Ginger beer.
My goal is to produce Guarana soft drink using the basic Ginger Beer idea.
The problem is to know how much Guarana to add (there are on-line sources for it) and how much sugar.
I am thinking make about 5-10 litres at a time. Say 10-30 g of guarana seed powder. and about 250 g sugar. Use a ginger beer or wine yeast.
It will be non-alcoholic
​

I was encouraged from that to start a new thread. Here it is.

I purchased 450g of Guarana powder. To get an idea I put half a teaspoon in some small bottles of Ginger Beer I was making. The problem was, and still is, that the powder sinks to the bottom of the bottle.

Yesterday I made my first trial:
11.24 Litres of water
300 g of dextrose
4g of SN9 wine yeast
100 g of Guarana powder seeped in hot water for half an hour.

I mixed the sugar, guarana 'tea' with hot water, filled it with cold water and then added the yeast.
Left sit for 3 hours then bottled with two teaspoons of dextrose in each 750ml bottle.

The guarana still sank to the bottom and partially clogged the outlet. Next time I will need a way of extracting the essence from the powder without the sediment. Maybe use muslin.

Any feedback or ideas would be more than welcome.

I will wait for three weeks before trying.

Cheers

 

[daft]

You can buy guarana syrup from amazon dot com . This site talks about Brazilians mixing syrup plus powder in milkshakes, but I suppose it could precip out in thinner drinks http://www.grasshuttreasures.com/guarana.html
(they say competitors add filler to the powder and don't grind it as finely to dissolve)

I wish Coke would sell the gurana syrup I sampled for free at their Atlanta museum... more gutsy and intense than Antarctica, but not like those yucky energy drinks. Arghhh, I didn't know it was all you could drink, or I would still be there: http://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/explore/explore-inside/explore-taste-it/

 

[Timbothirroul]

Thanks for the syrup idea. I will definitely try that when the powder runs out. I will make the next batch with a really well brewed, rather than seeped, mixture.
The previous set was a great success .....

As fire extinguishers!!!

I should have had a hint when one of the bottles exploded while fermenting. My first ever explosion.

I opened the first bottle in a newly renovated kitchen and coated the whole lot with the mess.
I took the rest outside and opened them. They would spurt out forcefully. The longest being 5 metres from me.
The little amount that remained tasted like soda water.

Learning points:

Less sugar
Less yeast
Really brew the guarana powder to form a syrup
​

Any other advice more than welcome

 

[Timbothirroul]

I have finally got up the courage to do another batch.

This time I boiled up the guarana powder with water. Adding more and more water until it got to what I thought a reasonable consistency.

I used the same recipe as last time, however i did not prime the bottles.

I put the bottles under the house in case of explosions!

 

[juca]

Hey, you have a better experience with the Guarana? I’m trying the ginger with Guarana powder and the always get this “thing” in the bottom of the bottle

 

[Timbothirroul]

Hey, you have a better experience with the Guarana? I’m trying the ginger with Guarana powder and the always get this “thing” in the bottom of the bottle

Hey, I have given up. The problem is is that Guarana is a fermentable. So it will react with sugar to produce CO₂. HOWEVER, reducing the sugar content means the yeast hasn't enough to do its thing.
To answer your problem, long-time stewing the powder before adding to brew doesn't prevent the 'thing' in the bottom.
Using a non sugar sweetener to the result on drinking made the brew drinkable. But it doesn't taste like the real thing.
Sorry.

 

[juca]

Hey, I have given up. The problem is is that Guarana is a fermentable. So it will react with sugar to produce CO₂. HOWEVER, reducing the sugar content means the yeast hasn't enough to do its thing.
To answer your problem, long-time stewing the powder before adding to brew doesn't prevent the 'thing' in the bottom.
Using a non sugar sweetener to the result on drinking made the brew drinkable. But it doesn't taste like the real thing.
Sorry.