1st ginger beer

[jlragon]

I just made my first ginger beer. I popped open a bottle plenty of bubbles. The smell was very strong with ginger. I tasted it and it reminded me of cough syrup. Not pleasant. Very Spicy and too strong.

I fermented in the bottles 3 days. I'm not sure what I screwed up.

 

[DaveC73]

Did you make a traditional ginger beer (using a ginger bug and all that) or ginger cider or something else? I make a sparkling ginger drink (still not sure what to call it) that works well. What was your recipe/method?

 

[jlragon]

I made the ginger bug recipe.

Chopped ginger, sugar, little fresh lemon juice. Distilled water and 1 cup of ginger bug.

 

[DaveC73]

If you had the process/recipe that would be helpful. But for starters, how much ginger per gallon did you use? I typically use 4 oz per gallon and that turns out to be plenty gingery/spicy.

 

[jlragon]

I may have used too much. I also took the advice of putting the ginger in a food processor and pureed instead of chopping.
I'm going to try another round with less ginger and chop it instead of pureed.

 

[lumpher]

3 days? The number 1 ingredient for homebrewing is patience. The ginger taste takes months to mellow out and blend in. Give it 3 months or so. You'll have a totally different beer by then.

 

[z-bob]

I just made my first ginger beer. I popped open a bottle plenty of bubbles. The smell was very strong with ginger. I tasted it and it reminded me of cough syrup. Not pleasant. Very Spicy and too strong.

I fermented in the bottles 3 days. I'm not sure what I screwed up.

You didn't necessarily screw anything up, it might just not be ready yet. OTOH, if it's only 3 days old and it's in bottles, you might have bottle bombs. What exactly did you do?

 

[DaveC73]

The puree may have been overkill. I've settled on grating the ginger. It seems to be a nice compromise.

 

[JulianDave]

It seems that you're making a non-alcoholic 'beer', more like a ginger ale. The other way to go is to actually do a fermentation to produce ~6% ABV, then bottle with a little sugar to produce carbonation.

I have been experimenting with the later and had good results with adding pineapple juice, orange juice and honey, then fermenting. I'm not a fan of using a ginger bug so use a cultured wine yeast. I also use a blender to liquify the ginger, skin and all, then bring it to a simmer to help extract flavor and get rid of any wild yeast/bacteria. Then strain before fermenting.

 

[scotch_neat71]

I just tasted my first ginger beer and it turned out wonderfully. I used a variant of City Steaders (YouTube channel) recipe. It is an alcohol version, in case that's not your thing. My ABV was 7%

 

[The Original Slim]

This is the video I've been thinking about following myself. Comforting to know someone here has followed their video and it turned out well. How did you vary from their process, if you don't mind my asking?

I just wish I could find a video with all the equipment listed in the description. I don't want to buy a kit, but would really like to know "everything that is needed start to finish. That's equipment and all ingredients". It can be hard to follow along watching and trying to write everything down at the same time.

Did you do a gallon, or did you go with larger? Do you remember how long it took you start to finish?

 

[Sculptorofstone]

You didn't necessarily screw anything up, it might just not be ready yet. OTOH, if it's only 3 days old and it's in bottles, you might have bottle bombs. What exactly did you do?

Yikes! I just this morning bottled my ginger beer, as per the recipe on this forum, and I think that given what you’ve just said, I’ll be having bottle bombs go off in my basement. The SG read 1.052 after adding the sugar. Holy cow, I hope I didn’t screw up. Any thoughts on this? Or have I just made no alcohol ginger ale? I am a newbie.

 

[Jeroen79]

I am also intrested in trying to make a ginger beer, can sombody share a complete recipe for a successful version?

 

[lumpher]

I am also intrested in trying to make a ginger beer, can sombody share a complete recipe for a successful version?

Are you looking for a dark, amber, light, or lager?

 

[Rish]

Yikes! I just this morning bottled my ginger beer, as per the recipe on this forum, and I think that given what you’ve just said, I’ll be having bottle bombs go off in my basement. The SG read 1.052 after adding the sugar. Holy cow, I hope I didn’t screw up. Any thoughts on this? Or have I just made no alcohol ginger ale? I am a newbie.

I think if you bottled at sg 1.052 you should put it back in your fermenter and let it finish fermenting then bottle it with priming sugar. I'm sure you're in bottle bomb territory. Good luck!

 

[Jeroen79]

Are you looking for a dark, amber, light, or lager?

Doesn't really matter, as long as it is spicy and tasty.

 

[z-bob]

I think if you bottled at sg 1.052 you should put it back in your fermenter and let it finish fermenting then bottle it with priming sugar. I'm sure you're in bottle bomb territory. Good luck!

I agree with this, but if in strong bottles, stored refrigerated, and drank quickly (a week or so) it's not too bad. I recommend plastic bottles if he tries this again.

 

[Sculptorofstone]

I think if you bottled at sg 1.052 you should put it back in your fermenter and let it finish fermenting then bottle it with priming sugar. I'm sure you're in bottle bomb territory. Good luck!

Thank you for responding! Will do that today.

 

[Sculptorofstone]

I agree with this, but if in strong bottles, stored refrigerated, and drank quickly (a week or so) it's not too bad. I recommend plastic bottles if he tries this again.

Thank you! I bottled in swing top glass pints. It’s in a warm place. I’ll empty them out today and ferment further. Ugh.