Home Brew

[Ken L]

Well, yesterday bottled a trial batch of Ginger Cider.

2L value apple juice.

Juice of a lemon.

450g sugar.

150g fresh grated ginger - boiled with the sugar and then sieved out.

1 tsp Glycerine

1 tsp Pectolase

half a tsp nutrient

2 dstsp Canderell

GP yeast.

Top up to one gallon.

 

Looks like slightly cloudy cat pee at the moment but has a pleasant slightly sweet light ginger flavour and should go very well over ice as a cooler once the secondary fermentation is finnished and it drops clear.

 

Didn't bother with any gravity readings for the trial but I got a good strong fermentation and before sweetening it was dry. Eight days from pitching the yeast to bottleing and if I'd left it another couple of days I reckon I would have had to stir up a bit of sediment to make sure I got a secondary.

 

Will taste test properly next week as I doubt that it will need much conditioning and if it's OK, I'll do another batch with proper SG readings so I can reproduce it.

Edited July 25, 2010 by Ken L

[chesters1]

mines cooled from yesterday waiting for the yeast to be added.

not a complicated ginger beer recipe

2 lemons

1.5 oz cream of tartar

2oz ginger (i like ginger)

1lb sugar

about a gallon of boiling water .

 

today bung in yeast bottle when fermentation decreases.

 

i wish i had that old formulary it had some great recipes in it for cordials etc

thats lucky found some 24 year old yeast from my last lot ,the last house was all electric so unsuitable for the "improved" alcohol we were into back then ,i always start the yeast off in warm water and a little sugar and it maybe starting to live after its long wait

 

yep some things happening ,it maybe far older than above i remember not using "ordinary" wine yeast in favour of a port / champagne mix as it could live with a far higher alcohol content ,could be over 30 years old.

i dont use glass or air locks for ginger beer it will just be done in the stainless pot it was made in it wont be around long enough to go off

 

chesters1 doesnt throw much away you never know when it may come in handy will be my epitaph

Edited July 25, 2010 by chesters1

[Ken L]

I looked at a few ginger beer recipies but couldn't shake the feeling that even with a little glycerine added they might be a bit "thin" - so I added the apple juice as a base.

 

I assume that when you say ginger, you mean fresh ginger but a lot of recipies call for a mix of fresh and dried. Have you tried this ?

[chesters1]

no i never use dried anything but yeast ,all the (whats the word) flavours that evaporate are missing so the final brew is vastly different to fresh.

no problem mixing juices but avoid strawberry beer

my mate did a 40 pint lager kit then realised he had used 50 pints of water so he chucked in a bottle of strawberry cordial (bluuurp) we then realised even crap could be made drinkable with err heat

Edited July 25, 2010 by chesters1

[Ken L]

I've drunk what are suposedly the best fruit beers in the world in Belgium and wasn't impressed.

I definatly won't be adding them to my home brew list.

 

I have been reading some of the stuff about wines made from cordials like Ribeana though. I'd never have believed it but apparently they ferment quite well if you boil off the preservatives before starting.

You live and learn-and with Ribeana on offer at £1.27 a litre at the moment, I just might give it a shot.

[Ken L]

Well, I just cracked open a bottle of my Ginger Cider and it's the dogs doodah's.

It tastes clean. Its clear and sparkling. it's not to dry because I back sweetened it with the non-fermentable sweetener and it has a nice spicey taste of ginger at the end.

It has quite a kick too.

 

I will definatly be doing it again - probably an 18L batch this time.

[Zigs]

Well, yesterday bottled a trial batch of Ginger Cider.

2L value apple juice.

Juice of a lemon.

450g sugar.

150g fresh grated ginger - boiled with the sugar and then sieved out.

1 tsp Glycerine

1 tsp Pectolase

half a tsp nutrient

2 dstsp Canderell

GP yeast.

Top up to one gallon.

 

Looks like slightly cloudy cat pee at the moment but has a pleasant slightly sweet light ginger flavour and should go very well over ice as a cooler once the secondary fermentation is finnished and it drops clear.

 

Didn't bother with any gravity readings for the trial but I got a good strong fermentation and before sweetening it was dry. Eight days from pitching the yeast to bottleing and if I'd left it another couple of days I reckon I would have had to stir up a bit of sediment to make sure I got a secondary.

 

Will taste test properly next week as I doubt that it will need much conditioning and if it's OK, I'll do another batch with proper SG readings so I can reproduce it.

 

You sure about using canderell Ken ?

 

http://www.greenfacts.org/en/aspartame/l-2/aspartame-1.htm#3

 

Liquorice would be a safer sweetener mate

[Ken L]

Yep. I read up on some of those "Concerns" a while back. They've been circulating for at least three years and I've never heared of a properly controlled study that's found anything significant and there's not been so much as a twitch from the American FDA or any other similar agency.

Given the Americans famous predeiliction for litigation and the huge quantities of Aspartame that are consumed globally, I would be rather suprised if the odd glass of ginger cider did me or anybody else any singificanf harM...*@$~#......

[chesters1]

Well, I just cracked open a bottle of my Ginger Cider and it's the dogs doodah's.

It tastes clean. Its clear and sparkling. it's not to dry because I back sweetened it with the non-fermentable sweetener and it has a nice spicey taste of ginger at the end.

It has quite a kick too.

 

I will definatly be doing it again - probably an 18L batch this time.

mines still gently fizzing in the shed as its not heated ,probably got a heating mat or two in the loft but can't be bothered to look

Edited July 30, 2010 by chesters1

[captain cojones]

thanks for an interesting thread guys! i dont make my own as im surrounded by good quality wine, and its often free in the way of perks.

but its fasinating to read of all the different flavours.