[FOOD] Brew It Yourself Ginger Beer! QUICK & SIMPLE

Dio

Dio

Veteran Member
MrO and Max

Gents,
I need your expertise,
I follwed Mr O's directions, and using (bakers yeast, added it to my mixture... a week later, no fermentaion...no foam....maybe I added the yeast when the mixture was too hot?
Other than that, I dont know.
it tastes flat, and not sweet at all.
any advise?
 
MaxTheKnife

MaxTheKnife

Membership Revoked
Did it ever bubble at all Magyar? If it's flat and not sweet, it sounds like it's done its thing already. Try adding a quarter cup of sugar and see what it does. Just sprinkle it on top and put the lid back on. If it starts bubbling you're in business! Remember, in order for it to be carbonated when you drink it, you'll have to bottle it and let it sit out at room temp for a day or two before you put it in the fridge. I bottled up the last of mine yesterday and will enjoy it this weekend. Good luck. And for your next batch you might consider using champane or ale yeast for a better brew. That's what I'm going to do. Champane yeast first just to see what it does. Have fun!
 
U

Ultrconservative

Inactive
Max,

Give me more info on bottling this mess.

I experimented with two one gallon batches.

Batch one was half pound of cane sugar and half pound of honey.

Batch two was half pound cane sugar and have pound of corn syrup.

Both jars showed activity on day two (am now at day 2.5). I just added another half pound of sugar to each batch. They both "fizzed" up rapidly.

Teaspoon of clove tastes like way too much. IMO

Anyway, I now have a couple of gallons of rather murky looking, but good smelling and good tasting stuff living in my wifes oven (to maintain temp, it's been in the 50s at night here).

Is the murkyness normal?

Will the beer clear up after bottling?

Can I just siphon it into 12 oz beer bottles with a half teaspoon of cane sugar and refriderate?

Have I done anything to poison my beer?

Geez this seems way to easy.
 
MaxTheKnife

MaxTheKnife

Membership Revoked
Ultraconservative, you're right on the money with the bottling part, except DON'T put it in the fridge until it has 'aged' for at least a day or a week. Otherwise it probably won't settle or carbonate properly. Well, it'll settle either way. But you need to make sure the brew has fermented completely and stopped working altogether before bottling it. The fancy folks use a hydrometer. I just let it stop working and then let it sit a few days and settle down before bottling. And be careful not to contaminate the brew by opening the top while it's settling down before bottling.

Now having said all that, I'll say this. I've been brewing and bottling regular beer in 5-gallon batches and haven't messed with the ginger beer lately. Read my thread below titled 'Homebrew the simple way' for more info. I made a follow-up post the other day and I don't guess the interested parties have seen it yet. This brewing process is very basic and extremely easy. When brewing small one gallon batches you don't have to worry so much about goofing up because you don't lose much at one time. I really enjoyed that batch of ginger beer I brewed up and plan on brewing more in the near future. I agree about the cloves being too much. I think I'm going to cut back to a light sprinkle of cloves and bump up the ginger a bit and see how that goes. This is a fun hobby and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Hope this helps you.
 
U

Ultrconservative

Inactive
Well, I did it!

Bottled the first two batches, let them sit, and then refrigerated them.

It makes good ginger ale. Lightly alcoholic, and the longer they age, the better the carbonation, or so it seems.

I started 2 more gallons last night, one honey and one corn syrup......I couldn't tell the difference in taste between the last batches because of the clove overkill.

This time I used brewers yeast, just a pinch of clove and cinamin, and 1 and a half heaping teaspoons of ginger.

It's bubbling away like crazy this morning. I have the jars rubberbanded down with a sandwich bag over the openings. Every time I open the oven door I can hear the bags hissing from across the room.

One other question, are you sure this is legal?

Seems like way to much fun to be legal!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top