Ginger Beer Advice

[pecanbery]

Hi All,

I'm just getting started and was hoping if anyone could verify the following before I wreck my first batch. I'm starting with ginger beer as the simple sugars seem less complex than most beer recipes... and I like hard ginger beer.

If this is the wrong sub-forum apologies.

Ingredients
1kg dextrose (glucose)
1kg brown cane sugar (mostly sucrose)
250g lactose
250g erythritol
5g champagne yeast EC-1118
1kg fresh ginger
3 lemons

Method
Boil ginger, lemon and sugars with 5l of water for 30 minutes. Let it cool and then strain and add to the fermenter (fermzilla), add 5g of champagne yeast and another 17l of warm water and leave it open for an hour. Seal the fermenter and let it sit for 1-3 weeks at 15-23 degrees.

I've roughly calculated that the end result will be about 5% alcohol and that the lactose and erythritol will remain in the solution for sweetness. I'm completely new to this though so any tips/warnings are appreciated. I'm not clear on how long the fermentation will take either, I've read 1 to 3 weeks but if it was kept at 20 degrees does anyone have a more specific range of time?

If anyone has experience with a fermzilla is it possible to bottle under pressure?

 

[JordanfromOK]

Hi All,

I'm just getting started and was hoping if anyone could verify the following before I wreck my first batch. I'm starting with ginger beer as the simple sugars seem less complex than most beer recipes... and I like hard ginger beer.

If this is the wrong sub-forum apologies.

Ingredients
1kg dextrose (glucose)
1kg brown cane sugar (mostly sucrose)
250g lactose
250g erythritol
5g champagne yeast EC-1118
1kg fresh ginger
3 lemons

Method
Boil ginger, lemon and sugars with 5l of water for 30 minutes. Let it cool and then strain and add to the fermenter (fermzilla), add 5g of champagne yeast and another 17l of warm water and leave it open for an hour. Seal the fermenter and let it sit for 1-3 weeks at 15-23 degrees.

I've roughly calculated that the end result will be about 5% alcohol and that the lactose and erythritol will remain in the solution for sweetness. I'm completely new to this though so any tips/warnings are appreciated. I'm not clear on how long the fermentation will take either, I've read 1 to 3 weeks but if it was kept at 20 degrees does anyone have a more specific range of time?

If anyone has experience with a fermzilla is it possible to bottle under pressure?

Have you pulled the trigger and started this recipe up? I gotta empty some fermenters, but am looking to make another batch of ginger beer next.

 

[pecanbery]

I ended up tweaking the recipe, the brown sugar was overpowering the flavor I was looking for.

New recipe below
1.5kg dextrose (glucose)
0.5kg brown cane sugar (mostly sucrose)
250g lactose
250g erythritol
5g champagne yeast EC-1118
1kg fresh ginger
3 lemons

Method
Skin the ginger and then blend it with some water, you don't need an even puree just a mix of puree and chunky bits. This helps increase the ginger flavor without spending a fortune on ginger. Boil the ginger with 3 sliced lemons, brown sugar, dextrose, lactose and erythritol. Remove the lemons and let it cool down to about 25 degrees. Add the mix to the fermenter along with water so that the total solution is about 25L. Add the yeast and some yeast nutrients and wait about a week depending on your temperatures. Mine ranges from 17C to 28C. Different yeasts will take longer to ferment I suspect.

Notes
Erythritol is a life saver for keeping sweetness, it almost matches table sugar in taste but has no almost no calories and wont ferment. Keeping the ginger in the fermenter makes a stronger ginger flavor. I left lactose in the recipe to balance out the erythritol but I might try skipping it next time.

 

[Abhishek Dewan]

Don’t boil any citrus fruit, they turn bitter and lose flavor. Add lemons after boiling is over. Also add peels of lemons/limes to it and let go to fermenter, they will complement ginger. Peels should be without white rind. Add 4-5 grams of cream of tartar, epsom salt and Himalayan Pink salt to provide nutrients and flavor as well. May I suggest to make a smaller batch in a PET Soda bottle, see how it goes and then scale up to the fermzilla.

 

[Oldschoolrocker]

I ended up tweaking the recipe, the brown sugar was overpowering the flavor I was looking for.

New recipe below
1.5kg dextrose (glucose)
0.5kg brown cane sugar (mostly sucrose)
250g lactose
250g erythritol
5g champagne yeast EC-1118
1kg fresh ginger
3 lemons

Method
Skin the ginger and then blend it with some water, you don't need an even puree just a mix of puree and chunky bits. This helps increase the ginger flavor without spending a fortune on ginger. Boil the ginger with 3 sliced lemons, brown sugar, dextrose, lactose and erythritol. Remove the lemons and let it cool down to about 25 degrees. Add the mix to the fermenter along with water so that the total solution is about 25L. Add the yeast and some yeast nutrients and wait about a week depending on your temperatures. Mine ranges from 17C to 28C. Different yeasts will take longer to ferment I suspect.

Notes
Erythritol is a life saver for keeping sweetness, it almost matches table sugar in taste but has no almost no calories and wont ferment. Keeping the ginger in the fermenter makes a stronger ginger flavor. I left lactose in the recipe to balance out the erythritol but I might try skipping it next time.

I know I'm late, but I leave out the lactose in my ginger beer. It changes the mouthfeel, to something I don't need in a GB. I do back sweeten with Splenda though. I also dry hop with fresh ginger ( sliced paper thin on my mandoline) and crystallized ginger( more concentrated Ginger flavour), and lime zest. Sometimes a Cinnamon stick.. I prefer the crisp feel without the lactose. I also use the lightest raw sugar I can find. I don't need molasses in my GB either.

 

[TheInnKeeper]

I know I'm late, but I leave out the lactose in my ginger beer. It changes the mouthfeel, to something I don't need in a GB. I do back sweeten with Splenda though. I also dry hop with fresh ginger ( sliced paper thin on my mandoline) and crystallized ginger( more concentrated Ginger flavour), and lime zest. Sometimes a Cinnamon stick.. I prefer the crisp feel without the lactose. I also use the lightest raw sugar I can find. I don't need molasses in my GB either. ✌

I’d love to have your step by step recipe, I’d be putting into a 2.5 gal keg.....would be great if you could get up to like 7%

 

[Oldschoolrocker]

Sorry, I didn't even see your reply. If you're still interested, here's my recipe and some notes. BTW, I usually brew non beers in one gallon batches, so this recipe is too. Easy to scale from one though...
Ginger Girl (One gallon)
1.25 gallons water(I use filtered rap water, and never had an issue)
4 oz Crystallized ginger + 4 for dry hop(chopped fine, more concentrated ginger flavour)
10-12 oz fresh ginger + 10-12 for dry hop(grated or sliced very thin)
Zest of 2 limes
Juice of one lime
1 pound Cane sugar
Yeastex 0.4 g
Steep the ginger, lime zest, juice in 1.25 gallons of water just below a boil for 20-30 minutes.
Remove the bag of ginger or strain liquid and return to pot.
Add sugar and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Add yeast nutrient as soon as it begins boiling.
Cool, and pitch. (EC-1118 Is what I use now. One 6g pack in one gallon.)
After 24 hours I add 0.4 g of Yeastex in one once of sterilized water.
After 48 hours, and 72 hours, I add the same Yeastex slurry. I let it ferment for 10 days before checking SG. That's when I add another 10-12 oz of fresh ginger and another 4 oz of crystallized ginger. If SG isnt quite there, I add another slurry. 14 days and it's usually ready to go, either way. I don't bother cold crashing or fining because I like the haze that comes naturally.
I bottle with 26 grams of dextrose and add 1/2 cup of Splenda for some sweetness.(it's pretty dry)
Conditioned 7 days at room temperature, than cooled for 7 days. Ready to go! This brew has some heat, so expect it!
OG - 1.039
FG - 1.001
ABV - 4.9 -5%
I use Yeastex, which has a smaller dosage than "yeast nutrient", so you might need to look at that.
I don't see why you couldn't ramp up the ABV with more sugar and the right yeast and pitch rate. And increased yeast nutrient.
✌