2% alcohol ginger beer. how get 5%-10% ?

[lemon_]

hi,

see this video, they made easy ginger beer. he tested it and its only 2% alcohol.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-4Hb5GFFk[/ame]


How can I get it to at least 5%

thanks

 

[Dixon9717]

I made a basic amber ale once that I put in secondary with crystallized ginger for a week before bottling. Don't have the recipe at hand right now but tasted pretty good after about 2 months in the bottle.

 

[torilen]

The ginger beer I make is a 1 gallon batch. I use 4 cups of sugar (roughly 28.4oz) and 2 lemons, zested and juiced (roughly 1-2oz juice).

On a ABV calculator, based on 1 gallon and at least 85% efficiency (which should be more than enough, considering you're not mashing grains), it comes out to roughly 8% ABV.

I can say for a fact that, while I don't have any hydrometer readings for mine yet, it gives a pretty good buzz.

Hope that helps.

 

[lemon_]

The ginger beer I make is a 1 gallon batch. I use 4 cups of sugar (roughly 28.4oz) and 2 lemons, zested and juiced (roughly 1-2oz juice).

On a ABV calculator, based on 1 gallon and at least 85% efficiency (which should be more than enough, considering you're not mashing grains), it comes out to roughly 8% ABV.

I can say for a fact that, while I don't have any hydrometer readings for mine yet, it gives a pretty good buzz.

Hope that helps.

thank you kindly,

may you please give instructions on how to make a ginger alcohol beer please? I have never made a brew before.

thank you.

 

[torilen]

Ginger beer is about as simple as it gets, honestly.

I use 3/4-1lb of ginger, sliced thin...leave the skin on (for color)
Put 1 gallon of water in a pot big enough to hold it. Turn the heat on
to medium-high and put in 4 cups of sugar. Slice the ginger...stir the
water every so often to make sure the sugar doesn't burn to the bottom.
By the time you get the ginger sliced, the water should be just getting
warm. Put the ginger in and keep stirring until the sugar is not visible
any longer.

Zest two lemons and put the zest in. Keep stirring.

Wait until the water starts to boil, and turn to medium...keep at a simmer
for about 40 minutes or so. If you like more ginger flavor/ginger burn, leave it on for a bit longer...if you don't like as much, turn it off sooner.

Once you take the pot off the heat, juice two lemons (same two lemons you zested) and put the juice in and stir in good. (You're putting the juice in after it is cooked so you don't lose as much of the vibrant flavor of the juice.

Now just let it cool down to room temperature (this could take a while). Once it is cool, strain it and put it in a fermenter. Pour 1/3 of a packet of yeast (I've had the best luck with premier cuvee, so far). You can use a bit of nutrient if you want, but I haven't needed it before. Just make sure the liquid is cool before putting the yeast in - if not, the yeast will not work well (found that out the hard way my last batch).

That's just about it. It should ferment for 6 to 9 days...maybe 10 days. I haven't had to let it go longer than 8 so far, and it had good alcohol in it.

 

[rickbath]

Im very new to brewing and prior to brewing my first kit beer, i decided to make alcoholic ginger beer. Infact i just bottled it about 4 days ago and it reached to 9.1% ABV.


Let me share you my recipe.

2 cups of peeled, grated ginger
10 big limes squeezed
1kg of corn sugar
0.5kg of brown sugar (non-crystalised version)

I boiled all the contents above with about 4-5 litres of water.
That was for about 20-30 mins on medium heat.

Once done, i let it cool and empty all (including ginger, except limes) into my fermentation bucket. Im using a 15l fermenter and i topped up cold water to the 7-8l mark. So, scale up or down to your requirement.

I used safale S-04 yeast.

Again im sure there are better ways to get this achieved.
After a couple of batches of beer, i might make another batch with some modifications perhaps with sugar types.

 

[torilen]

Limes in ginger beer - interesting. I may try that with my next batch, or do a small batch to see how I like it.

 

[MangoCats]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm also brewing ginger beer by similar recipes to the above, and I have bottled it into 6 750ml "growler" bottles, leaving a fair amount of air at the top of each bottle - total ginger/sugar/yeast mix was about 4 liters, so each bottle has about 670ml in it.

I'm wondering how often I should be "burping" the bottles during fermentation? Will the extra air space be a good or bad thing? I can see how it might keep the pressures lower, but I can also see how a LOT of air might be blowing out during burping.

 

[Whitty51]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm also brewing ginger beer by similar recipes to the above, and I have bottled it into 6 750ml "growler" bottles, leaving a fair amount of air at the top of each bottle - total ginger/sugar/yeast mix was about 4 liters, so each bottle has about 670ml in it.

I'm wondering how often I should be "burping" the bottles during fermentation? Will the extra air space be a good or bad thing? I can see how it might keep the pressures lower, but I can also see how a LOT of air might be blowing out during burping.

As a homebrewer i keep seeing this “burping “ the bottle thing and I wouldn’t do that at all. But also how long are you letting your ginger beer ferment before bottling?

 

[shoengine]

@MangoCats Are you doing primary fermentation in the bottle?

 

[MangoCats]

Primary fermentation is in a gallon jug with a bubbler-airlock on it. As for how long? That has been varying per batch. When I would only do the primary fermentation for a week or two, the secondary ferment in the bottle was very active and would lead to dramatic eruptions when opened by somebody who wasn't expecting it. My last few batches have stayed in the gallon jug until nearly still, so "burping" doesn't seem to be necessary for those. I do prefer the beverage when it has carbonation, in addition to the bubbles in my opinion the extra acid improves the flavor. However, getting a controlled amount of carbonation captured during F2 in the bottle seems more art than science, at least with the scientific tools I have at my disposal.

 

[khannon]

I've also added molasses to my ginger beer for yeast nutrient and to add some flavor. I keep it on tap as one of 5 options all the time for a gluten free option.

It's also great for making Dark and stormies with a dark rum, or the occasional Moscow mule. Another thing that seems to be pretty popular here is adding a few drops of the seltzer flavorings from Sodastream to make a raspberry ginger ale,

 

[5flatKat]

I've also added molasses to my ginger beer for yeast nutrient and to add some flavor. I keep it on tap as one of 5 options all the time for a gluten free option.

It's also great for making Dark and stormies with a dark rum, or the occasional Moscow mule. Another thing that seems to be pretty popular here is adding a few drops of the seltzer flavorings from Sodastream to make a raspberry ginger ale,

I'm wanting to do the same & brew a 5.5 gal batch for one of my taps... What % abv do you get & would you mind sharing your recipe?

 

[MangoCats]

I've also added molasses to my ginger beer for yeast nutrient and to add some flavor.

As I understand it, the difference between white, light brown, and dark brown sugar all comes down to how much molasses is left in vs refined out of the sugar.

I tried making my recipe with dark brown sugar and it actually somewhat overwhelmed the ginger flavor with molasses flavor - fine if that's what you like, but I like the balance better with straight light brown sugar.

 

[khannon]

I'm wanting to do the same & brew a 5.5 gal batch for one of my taps... What % abv do you get & would you mind sharing your recipe?

So, over the past few(or more) years, I've probably brewed this ~7-8 times in 10G(~40l) batches. The base varies between 7-10%abv based on mood, yeast, etc..

The base recipe is as follows
x lbs sugar. I tend to use organic cane or beet sugar, usually not bleached. More on the specific amount following recipe.
4 limes(through the vitamix to a pulp)
4 lemons(with the limes)
3-4 lbs ginger, thinly sliced(sometimes frozen depending on when I get it and when I brew).

For sugar it is 1lb/gallon = 1.040 sg. so I adjust depending on how strong I want it..

I tend to start my boil, add ginger. When I get to a boil, I pull some off to add to some sugar, then add the solution back to the boil, repeat until all sugar is added. Boil time is roughly an hour when all sugars are added. Then I add the lemons and limes with 10-15 mins left to the boil.

I will also add yeast nutrients at 15 mins.

I tend to then whirlpool and transfer hot to the fermentor(I have a 1/2bbl keg dedicated to ginger beer fermenting). So no chill. Let it cool to pitching temp, add yeast, wait until done, transfer to kegs, carb(high), chill and serve.

I've played with yeast, I think so far belle saison is the favorite, followed by S04(with molasses). I will do late additions of molasses or others, pineapple juice seems to not ferment out and leaves some sweetness.

The base with lavlin(sp?) champagne yeast ends with a dry "Reed's" ginger ale like beverage. Where with some molasses and using S04 you get something sweeter, with a different character.

Of the things I found,
Boiling the citrus fruit for a while with the solution adds something.
Leaving the ginger in the boil kettle and not transferring it to the fermentor lessens the ginger flavor some, but is much easier to deal with.
Sugar adds volume even when dissolved, and in a 10G batch shooting for 10% abv, you are adding in excess of 22 lbs of sugar. This is a not insignificant volume of addition.
Yeast nutrient and patience are important when doing higher abv.
Due(I think) to the lack of proteins, this requires a higher carb level. I keep mine on tap at ~30PSI@~38F. this leaves it with decent carbonation. The head dissipates quickly(like soda).
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/golden-barrel-organic-cane-sugar-50-lb/104SUGORG50.html is a great place for bulk sugar. Also great for stainless sinks/tables, glassware, silverware etc.. They offer free shipping the ends up as ~2-3day fedex ground.

I have not bottled. Though after ferment, sometimes I end with more then 2 kegs. I throw the rest into 1G apple juice jugs, and they tend to disappear from the beer fridge quickly even though they are "flat". I do have 2 adult children(and partners/friends), so things turn over pretty quick.