Alcoholic ginger beer

[gingerman]

Thanks for answering all of my questions. I am going to give this a shot tomorrow.

Nice! Let us know how it goes.

I went and tried both of my hopped ginger brews (with the Cote de Blanc and with the Champagne Yeast) last night after bottling/refrigeration. Not super impressed with the addition of hops (although they taste better with the Cote de Blanc yeast than the CY), but that may be an artifact of fermenting them too dry (5%) as well. Just not a great taste all around. Maybe they'll mellow with time. I'd say for your first batch, stick with my recipe above with Champagne Yeast and you'll be good.

Also, and this may seem obvious but it took me about 5 batches to realize it, splurge on the most expensive ginger you can find at whole foods. It makes a huge difference in the final product. Also, shoot for 2.5% ABV (48-72 hour ferment) for max ginger taste, up to maybe 3.5-4%. Just a couple tips I'd wish I'd received earlier in my experimentation.

 

[sneakymeade]

Ginger Libation from Green River Ambrosia; it runs 8-9%, mildly sweet, and as far as I know the only way to get it is to visit Massachusetts. Being a mead, wine, and beer maker, I definitely would love to be able to reproduce their ginger beer, going to start with Gingerman's recipe in small batches.

 

[msa8967]

So this was for my 2.5 gallon trial batch. Let me know if you have any comments.

1.75 lbs of fresh ginger (peeled and run through the food processor)
1 oz of crushed coriander
1/4 oz of lemon peel zest
1 gram of grains of paradise
2 cups dark brown sugar
3 cups turbo sugar

Boil for 15 minutes and champagne yeast was added at 100 F. I let this go for 4 days and then keg.

I saved all of the processed ginger and spices into jars to store cold. I have placed these in fine mesh bags in my kegs if I ever feel the ginger flavor starts to fade or needs to be sharper.

 

[gingerman]

Looks solid. I like the spices. May have to try those next time. Also, good call on retaining the ginger. That could be useful if you're looking for >4% beer, as the ginger flavor is diminished significantly at higher ABV in my experience.

One thing that I've read that most of the aromatics in ginger are near the skin, so I only minimally prune my ginger before blending it skin and all. Or at least, that's how I justify skipping the pain of peeling so much ginger.

 

[msa8967]

Looks solid. I like the spices. May have to try those next time. Also, good call on retaining the ginger. That could be useful if you're looking for >4% beer, as the ginger flavor is diminished significantly at higher ABV in my experience.

One thing that I've read that most of the aromatics in ginger are near the skin, so I only minimally prune my ginger before blending it skin and all. Or at least, that's how I justify skipping the pain of peeling so much ginger.

Leaving the skin on would be much less work. I will try that next time. For my ginger ale soda I placed the root and spices in a pair of panty hose stockings that I have boiled the color out of. This goes into my keg to help keep the sharp ginger edge present as I drink the soda. If I can get this session style ginger beer to come out well then I may have to add another tap line to keezer.

 

[xfjxdgykfdhu]

Well traditionally Ginger beer has been soda with a hell of a ginger kick.

 

[sneakymeade]

One thing that I've read that most of the aromatics in ginger are near the skin, so I only minimally prune my ginger before blending it skin and all. Or at least, that's how I justify skipping the pain of peeling so much ginger.

This is interesting because I would have worried the skin might contribute an off flavor, and you are absolutely right about how hard it is to peel that much ginger. Making my first batch tonite, here is my recipe, inspired by gingerman and the Ginger Libation label:

3 gallon batch

2lbs fresh ginger, chopped in food processor
4lbs turbinado sugar
2cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup key lime juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar for head retention
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Red Star Champagne yeast
3 gallons water
Start gravity of 1.052

Brought sugar, water, and ginger to a boil, turned off the flame and let steep for 1 hour. Added juices, cream of tartar, and cayenne, then strained into fermenter. Let cool overnight and pitched yeast. If all goes well, I will stop fermentation at 1.008 and have 6% ABV and a decent amount of residual sweetness. The turbinado sugar is 95.7% fermentable, so if it tastes too sweet I will let it go a little further. My total cost for the ingredients from Whole Foods here in Charlotte NC was around $24.

**update 7/30**
OK so after 7 days of fermenting the gravity was at 1.014, the taste was wonderful, so I pulled it out, finished it, and kegged it. Just waiting on it to carbonate, should take a week, the taste is very hot and strong ginger, alcohol at 5.2%, a fair amount of sweetness, and just a slight hint of pineapple. VERY happy with how this turned out.

 

[gingerman]

This is interesting because I would have worried the skin might contribute an off flavor, and you are absolutely right about how hard it is to peel that much ginger. Making my first batch tonite, here is my recipe, inspired by gingerman and the Ginger Libation label:

3 gallon batch

2lbs fresh ginger, chopped in food processor
4lbs turbinado sugar
2cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup key lime juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar for head retention
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Red Star Champagne yeast
3 gallons water
Start gravity of 1.052

Brought sugar, water, and ginger to a boil, turned off the flame and let steep for 1 hour. Added juices, cream of tartar, and cayenne, then strained into fermenter. Let cool overnight and pitched yeast. If all goes well, I will stop fermentation at 1.008 and have 6% ABV and a decent amount of residual sweetness. The turbinado sugar is 95.7% fermentable, so if it tastes too sweet I will let it go a little further. My total cost for the ingredients from Whole Foods here in Charlotte NC was around $24.

Looks good. Let us know how it tastes. I'm curious how pineapple will taste in the GB.

Also, probably should note that I'm pretty sure the cream of tartar is an artifact from older recipes for making invert sugar, not head retention. It doesn't hurt at all to add it from my experience, but its just an acid and I don't think it aides head retention.

 

[gingerman]

This is interesting because I would have worried the skin might contribute an off flavor, and you are absolutely right about how hard it is to peel that much ginger. Making my first batch tonite, here is my recipe, inspired by gingerman and the Ginger Libation label:

3 gallon batch

2lbs fresh ginger, chopped in food processor
4lbs turbinado sugar
2cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup key lime juice
1/2 tsp cream of tartar for head retention
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Red Star Champagne yeast
3 gallons water
Start gravity of 1.052

Brought sugar, water, and ginger to a boil, turned off the flame and let steep for 1 hour. Added juices, cream of tartar, and cayenne, then strained into fermenter. Let cool overnight and pitched yeast. If all goes well, I will stop fermentation at 1.008 and have 6% ABV and a decent amount of residual sweetness. The turbinado sugar is 95.7% fermentable, so if it tastes too sweet I will let it go a little further. My total cost for the ingredients from Whole Foods here in Charlotte NC was around $24.

Sorry for the double post. Couple more questions/comments for ya.

Remember to adjust your target FG a bit higher than you're aiming for if you're going to bottle carb it, as it'll take a couple days in the bottle to pressurize. Of course if you're kegging/crashing, that's a moot point.

Also, if you're bottle carbing and I haven't said it in this thread, make sure to fill a plastic bottle 80-90% full and use as a tester. This will give you a dead on accurate indicator for your glass bottles' pressure, and let you know when to refrigerate them.

And thinking more on head retention, perhaps maltodextrin would work? Haven't played with that yet. I think Splenda is mostly maltodextrin, and it couldn't hurt to add a bit to a couple bottles and see if there's a difference.

But if it's properly carbonated, there shouldn't be any issues with head retention in the recipe as is.

 

[msa8967]

So on day 4 the airlock is still showing plenty of activity (bubbling). Should I just go ahead and bottle or wait a bit more?

 

[gingerman]

So on day 4 the airlock is still showing plenty of activity (bubbling). Should I just go ahead and bottle or wait a bit more?

Go ahead and bottle. You don't want this fermenting dry. After 4 days with your OG, you should be good to go.

 

[msa8967]

placed this in the refrigerator to cold crash for 24 hours prior to bottling/kegging.

 

[sneakymeade]

Looks good. Let us know how it tastes. I'm curious how pineapple will taste in the GB.

The pineapple is very faint, but since an acid is necessary to balance the ginger I would think any citrus combination would work like orange, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc. Thank you for your posts, I am very pleased with how this came out.

 

[gingerman]

The pineapple is very faint, but since an acid is necessary to balance the ginger I would think any citrus combination would work like orange, lemon, lime, pineapple, etc. Thank you for your posts, I am very pleased with how this came out.

Nice! Glad it turned out well. I would have thought with 2 cups it'd be more prominent, but I'm glad it turned out well. Did you bottle carb them? Just curious how that went.

I think my next batch is going to use pineapple, lemon peel, lemon juice and cayenne as spices, with all raw sugar. Having read through a couple of the beer clarity threads, I'm also going to try just adding the sugar at flame out next time instead of boiling for 15-20 min.

 

[Likefully]

placed this in the refrigerator to cold crash for 24 hours prior to bottling/kegging.

Did you cold crash when there was still activity in the airlock? And if so, did you add priming sugar when you bottled?

I am nervous to do that (bottle while there is still activity) due to bottle bomb risk.

 

[gingerman]

Did you cold crash when there was still activity in the airlock? And if so, did you add priming sugar when you bottled?

I am nervous to do that (bottle while there is still activity) due to bottle bomb risk.

You shouldn't be aiming to ferment dry with even alcoholic ginger beer, IMO. Shoot for a FG of around 1.02. No priming sugar, as there's plenty left in solution.

Re bottling, just use a plastic bottle as an indicator bottle of pressure, or go all plastic or fliptop. Bottle carb for 2 days, maybe more if you crash first. The plastic indicator bottle will let you know when theyre ready to be refrigerated. Also, those flip top bottles will burp via the rubber seal before they explode so if you must use glass with a sugary bottle carb, use those.

 

[Likefully]

Why don't you want the fermentation to rub dry? What does it do to the flavor?

 

[luke_d]

Yea, I'd like to know as well. I've got a ginger beer fermenting right now. Used US-05 and I'm wondering why to not let it ferment dry? It almost seems like the dryness would complement the ginger?

 

[gingerman]

Why don't you want the fermentation to rub dry? What does it do to the flavor?

With the qualifier that I haven't played with backsweetening yet, and I've only used champagne yeast, I've noticed an inverse correlation between ABV and ginger flavor. At 1-2% it's pronounced and aromatic, at 3-5% it gets more "beery" and is less on top, and over 5% it is more dry and muted. All this was with just over 2 cups/gallon of raw sugar with a SG of about 1.4-1.44.

I'd love to see a boozier, tasty ginger beer but I have yet to find it. I hadn't heard of back sweetening when my few bottles went dry or I would have tried that then.

 

[sneakymeade]

I finished mine with campden and sorbate, then kegged and refrigerated it. Next time I will let it ferment longer to see if the strong hot ginger is affected by a higher alcohol percentage, but at 5.2% it was not. Still burns my throat a little

 

[luke_d]

Can't remember my recipe exactly off the top of my head, but I did a three gallon batch. Using 4 lbs of turbinado sugar, I got an OG of 1.070. Whoa! I have a feeling that if wasn't supposed to be that high. Whatever.

I pitched US-05 and it's been chugging away ever since. I pulled a hydrometer sample last night and it was at about 4.5 ABV and tasted amazing.

 

[sneakymeade]

Can't remember my recipe exactly off the top of my head, but I did a three gallon batch. Using 4 lbs of turbinado sugar, I got an OG of 1.070. Whoa! I have a feeling that if wasn't supposed to be that high.

According to the chart on this page, adding 4lbs of sugar to 3 gallons of water would give you between 1.055 and 1.060, so it wasn't too far off. If you ferment down to 1.008 or so you should have around 8% alcohol; how much ginger did you use?

 

[samuelcollins]

I've made this a few times. I like a lot of ginger heat. You can reduce the ginger if you don't like it that bold. Try this:

5 gal batch

2 lbs fresh ginger, cut into slices
17 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 vanilla bean, split
1 packet champagne yeast

Boil 2 lb ginger for about 30 mins. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar and spices. Cool, transfer to fermenter, pitch yeast.

After fermentation is complete, rack to a secondary, crush and add 5 campden tablets to kill any remaining yeast. You can also add another lb of fresh ginger if you really like the ginger flavor. Let it sit for about 2 weeks (1 week if not using more ginger). Boil a small amount of water and add sugar needed for desired sweetness. Add to keg, then rack the ginger beer on top. Force carbonate @ 30 PSI (serving pressure).

Good luck!

Wow

 

[gingerman]

Ok as an update to my earlier comments and fermenting GB dry, I tried the one remaining bottle of my hopped ginger beer (made with cote de blanc yeast) this morning, a couple months after bottling and refrigerating. A week after bottling, it was a mess of flavors. The hops were too prominent, the ginger didn't taste like ginger very much, etc.

But after a couple months (and apparent continued fermentation to dryness), its a whole other thing now. It tastes like a strong Saison or high ABV Belgian beer. No ginger taste whatsoever, but it tasted like a very very good Belgian beer. I still strongly prefer a non- to low-alcohol GB just for the ginger flavor, but the hopped, dry GB that aged a couple months is also delicious.

 

[Likefully]

But after a couple months (and apparent continued fermentation to dryness)

This makes sense. What is left of My batch has been in the bottle for a few weeks now and SWMBO commented that she thinks it tastes like it has fermented more. It definitely has got dryer and the bite from the cayenne tastes more gingerly authentic now, if that makes sense.

 

[Dsully82]

Ginger Libation from Green River Ambrosia; it runs 8-9%, mildly sweet, and as far as I know the only way to get it is to visit Massachusetts. Being a mead, wine, and beer maker, I definitely would love to be able to reproduce their ginger beer, going to start with Gingerman's recipe in small batches.

Any luck on cloning Ginger Libation? I'd been studying in MA, and now I'm back living in CO. Ginger Libation blew my mind and I'd love to make something similar.

 

[sneakymeade]

Any luck on cloning Ginger Libation? I'd been studying in MA, and now I'm back living in CO. Ginger Libation blew my mind and I'd love to make something similar.

Ginger Libation is close to 9% alcohol, mine was much weaker. I love it, but most people who try it think it has too much ginger in it. Taste wise, I think it is pretty close; close enough that if you liked the Ginger Libation you will like how my recipe came out, I would boost the sugar and shoot for a 1.070 or even a little higher, leave the ginger the same, and make adjustments on your second batch. My stuff is a couple months old now, and still has that hot ginger flavor. The only thing I am going to do different next time is shoot for more alcohol. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[johnnyrains]

You shouldn't be aiming to ferment dry with even alcoholic ginger beer, IMO. Shoot for a FG of around 1.02. No priming sugar, as there's plenty left in solution. Re bottling, just use a plastic bottle as an indicator bottle of pressure, or go all plastic or fliptop. Bottle carb for 2 days, maybe more if you crash first. The plastic indicator bottle will let you know when theyre ready to be refrigerated. Also, those flip top bottles will burp via the rubber seal before they explode so if you must use glass with a sugary bottle carb, use those.

I am pretty new to all this.

I am in the process of making my second batch of GB. First one is revolting at the moment. Kind of a sour taste and smell.

I am wondering about campden tablets to stop the fermentation, but concerned that that will kill any yeast to carbonate In bottles. Or should I cold crash, whatever that is.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ProfessorWoland]

I've been following this thread with interest. If I was to make 5 imperial gallons of alcoholic ginger beer have we a recommendation of the best recipe?

 

[Likefully]

I've been following this thread with interest. If I was to make 5 imperial gallons of alcoholic ginger beer have we a recommendation of the best recipe?

As I have only made one batch, I don't know the recipe I followed was the best, but it came out very tasty.

I boiled 15L water with 1.4kg ginger, 1.8kg sugar, .5 teaspoon cayenne pepper and added about a cup of a mixture of lemon and lime into the fermenter. I added a few litres of water to get the total volume in the fermenter to 18L before pitching.