here is my latest: 1.5 liter batch, 10% sugar (=around 1.040); half white sugar and half dark brown. 1.5 limes and 2 thumb sized ginger chunks, juiced. its bubbling away but oddly the gravity hasn't gone down that much in 2 days. it's really delicious now, the murky bitterness from the brown sugar and lime is very different from the clean sourness of lemon and ginger alone. (speaking of murky this stuff looks like puddle water!) could use a bit more ginger since the other flavors in here are so strong. want to get it down to around 1.028ish, i think that's where i like the final sugar level.
sisuuk: let me know how the fermentation carries on after you remove the plant, i am curious. and the serrano sounds great. when you open a carbonated bottle and sniff it, the little aerosol droplets of spice are going to fly up your nose and you are going to sneeze. guaranteed. what is the cream of tartar for? do the peppercorns work? it gives me the idea of fresh green peppercorns from the thai deli.
and that just gave me the idea of galangal, which of course is the cousin of ginger but a bit more savory, like turmeric a little,... i'm going to try this: thai galangal beer; galangal, ginger, green peppercorns, lime, red chilis, palm sugar!