Alcoholic ginger beer

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I dont have the equipment to carbonate. I really want to do it the natural way.

Is this recipe too dry? Because I want it to be sweet in the end. Not soda-sweet, but refreshingly sweet. My inspiration for doing this is Hollows and Fentimans ginger beer. I just want one which is slightly stronger.

Should I add as much as 500 g more sugar before bottling? Also, do people add a second ammount of fresh ginger at some point? I see some people on youtube are disappointed with the lack of ginger taste, and I want to make sure it tastes ginger.

If I bottle this, should I buy some tablet that kills the yeast? Or is it safe to put in bottles that might stand for weeks and weeks in room temperature?
 
Natural carbonation requires bottling with a very specific amount of sugar left in solution, because yeast will eat any sugar that's left and convert it to the CO2 that carbonates your drink. If you want a sweet final product, you either need to sweeten with something yeast can't eat (artificial sweetener or lots of lactose), or you need to fridge or pasteurize your bottles when they reach the correct level of carbonation. If you fridge them, they have to stay in the fridge until consumed. Otherwise, they will continue fermenting and explode. There are good threads on pasteurization technique, especially in the cider forum. Getting the carb right before heating/cooling is tricky, I suggest using a plastic dummy bottle and then also opening one of the glass bottles to confirm.
 
^+1 the pasteurization thread is a sticky in the cider forum. It is really easy to do I had to do it with a root beer that I made. Beer good information about though.
 
I totes blew up a bottle of non-hard root beer the other week, but I did have the bath on direct heat (I figured all the water was enough to buffer against that!). And then I found out my plastic bottle was the only one that was actually carbed in the first place. Still not sure what happened there.

So I will maintain it is tricky, whether that is true or not. Either way, it's not idiot-proof (Exhibit A, standing right here).
 
Yeah you were suppose to take it off the heat while the bottles were in it lol lessons learner. Yes though you can still mess it up, especially if you over carb as well.
 
Yeah, I bet. Hey, Ramius if you're still reading heed fearwig's warnings lol.
 
Isnt the camden tablets another option? That will stop the yeast right?
But will they prevent carbonation?
 
It will more or less stop the yeast, by my understanding, but yeah, you can't get carbonation that way, so it defeats your purpose. That's a still wine thing only, so I accordingly don't have much experience with it.
 
How about letting the ginger beer actually carbonate first, then applying a camden tablet? And then bottle it? Does that work?

I might make a smaller batch, because I cant fit 20 bottles of ginger beer in my fridge.
 
You would have to uncap each bottle and add the right sit if crunched up camdon tablet to each bottle and then recap each bottle plus their would be a lingering silver Snell that would be produced by the Camden tablet and you would lose a lot of your carbonation.
 
Yes--no one does that. (Does anyone do that?)

Uncap a beer and half the carbonation is basically gone. I wouldn't drink a beer with a whole campden tablet in it, anyway.
 
So how can I prevent my ginger beers from exploding?

How are these bottles sold in the store at room temperature?
 
The way the manufacture does it is through pasteurization. You can do this a well. Pasteurization is easy abd can be done on a stove top you just have to be cautious when doing it. Follow the godliness posted in the cider forums and you should be fine. Here is the link
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=193295
Hope this helps you.
 
Ramius said:
So how can I prevent my ginger beers from exploding?

How are these bottles sold in the store at room temperature?
Click to expand...


fearwig said:
There are good threads on pasteurization technique, especially in the cider forum. Getting the carb right before heating/cooling is tricky, I suggest using a plastic dummy bottle and then also opening one of the glass bottles to confirm.
Click to expand...

eyup. Commercial sweet beers are both pasteurized and force carbonated. You can carbonate naturally and pasteurize in the bottle.
 
Im glad to hear about this. Now Im much more willing to start brewing. But does this keep the already carbonated bubbles there? Do they not die with the boiling?

My goal is to basically improve upon the Hollows and Fentimans ginger beer. Just make it stronger. Im seriously addicted to it. I could have three bottles in a row. But thats botanicly brewed. So I rather not force carbonate it.

But say I have a 10 liter batch that has been sitting for two weeks. And lost all sweetness. How much sugar should I add to revive the sweetness, before bottling? Should I add the same ammount as I did first: 500 grams?
 
When it's done, take some and put it in a glass till and add slowly to taste.
Alternatively, measure the gravity of fentimans if it's sweet enough for you and use a og calculator and priming calculator to determine the amount of sugar to add.
 
Ramius said:
Im glad to hear about this. Now Im much more willing to start brewing. But does this keep the already carbonated bubbles there? Do they not die with the boiling?

My goal is to basically improve upon the Hollows and Fentimans ginger beer. Just make it stronger. Im seriously addicted to it. I could have three bottles in a row. But thats botanicly brewed. So I rather not force carbonate it.

But say I have a 10 liter batch that has been sitting for two weeks. And lost all sweetness. How much sugar should I add to revive the sweetness, before bottling? Should I add the same ammount as I did first: 500 grams?
Click to expand...


First, buy a hydrometer and a thief. These are absolutely necessary tools to not only measure sweetness but also check the progress your yeast is making in any batch.

Second, use the hydrometer. You want the final grav to be about 1.015-1.02ish. Commercial ginger beers like fentemans are even sweeter, probably 1.028-1.032ish, but 1.020-1.026 will give you a plenty sweet beer that makes the ginger flavor pop. If you want to match fentemans exactly, just pour some into the thief and measure with the hydrometer, then adjust your batch to match the final gravity.

Finally "botanically brewed" just means fentemans added botanical (flowering plant) extracts to the beer. What you're thinking of is bottle carbonation.

The key to bottle carbing ginger beer is NOT managing sugar level but managing temperature. You can have a total sugar bomb sealed in a cold fridge. Also, use a plastic tester bottle. Generally, you want to bottle using flip top/Grolsch bottles, let them sit sealed at room temp for 24-48 hours (depending on plastic bottle hardness), then refrigerate to below about 38ish before drinking. CO2 is more soluble in colder liquid, so it's important to chill thoroughly, open ice cold and serve cold to maximize carbonation.

I say 38ish because even at low fridge temps, fermentation with CY in the sugary drink continues, albeit much slower. I keep my beer fridge super cool at 30ish to halt all fermentation, but that's only because I have a lot of ginger beer in there at a time. Good luck!


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And then one day, your power goes out...

*boom* *boom* *boom*

I don't know, man. I like shelf-stable drinks!
 
I'm not saying don't pasteurize. I'm saying it's not absolutely necessary, if you refrigerate properly.

Also, really you'll have to have the power off for a few days at least before popping bottles would be an issue. In that time you could vent or drink whatever was in there.

Shelf stable is great if it's necessary, but it's far from labor neutral. Might as well educate the alternatives to it as well, no? Especially with misinformation just a few posts prior about fermenting dry, controlling sugar, etc.


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No, I get you, I just wouldn't do it unless I had a lot of fridge space I guess.

Before I went through all that I'd consider getting a CO2 tank and a carbonater cap too, but that's just me. That way you can just bulk pasteurize in a pot, and that's almost labor neutral (in my mind). I am only a recent force carb convert, but man, for sodas, it's the way to go (and beer too). The fact that I can even make seltzer on demand also buys me a lot of good will with my wife.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wonder if theres a slight taste difference here. Do americans prefer real bubly beer? I dont want my ginger beer to be as bubbly as a bottle of Pepsi. And I kind of taste the difference between beers that has carbonated naturally and beers with added carbonation.
 
Ramius said:
I wonder if theres a slight taste difference here. Do americans prefer real bubly beer? I dont want my ginger beer to be as bubbly as a bottle of Pepsi. And I kind of taste the difference between beers that has carbonated naturally and beers with added carbonation.
Click to expand...

I would like enough carbonation for it to have a decent head that stays for a bit. I dont want to get into force carbing yet. I like the idea of doing as much as I can naturally. What country are yoy from? I qm pretty much using Crabbies as my gold standard..
 
guitarzan_1971 said:
I would like enough carbonation for it to have a decent head that stays for a bit. I dont want to get into force carbing yet. I like the idea of doing as much as I can naturally. What country are yoy from? I qm pretty much using Crabbies as my gold standard..
Click to expand...

Im from Norway. Where we during the last few years have pretty much rebelled against the pilsner culture that has dominated our beer scene for far too long. So anything resembling pils, like forced carbonation, is a no no for me.

Crabbies is my second fav. But I think it tastes too much cinnamon and too little ginger. Hollows and Fentimans is my inspiration. I just want it a little bit stronger.
 
That's a weird sentiment. Force carbonation is not about the amount of carbonation; you can force carbonate to one volume or four, same as bottle priming, it can be a little or a lot. It's not in-line carbonation like you get from a soda fountain.

I just had a force carbonated dunkelweizen and a force carbonated belgian blond the other day, there was nothing pilsner-like about them, certainly nothing Pepsi-like. Most bottled beers are force carbonated, the exceptions are mainly fancy Belgians and hefes and rarely some American craft styles. "Natural" carbonation doesn't contribute to the flavor, unless you are drinking the sediment (which you might want in a hefe, I suppose). If you want to age certain strong belgians there may be good reason to bottle prime, otherwise the preference is purely about your equipment.

Now if you don't have access to CO2, I can see why you might be inclined to say, "I like it the natural way" to console yourself. That's fine, but let's admit our reasoning. :)

But given that we are talking about sweet drinks here, you either need to 1) force carb or 2) pasteurize or 3) keep the beverage in your fridge all the time so it doesn't explode. If you do #1, there are no downsides (whatever you seem to think) and there is the upside of no bottle sediment. If you do #2, you probably moderate some of the spicy ginger flavor, but it'll still be good. If you do #3--well, if that works for you, go for it, I don't like it.
 
Thanks for your post!
My interest in making these beverage is to go back to the historical roots of the craft. While I see the value of force carbing I'm trying to do this as a way to return to the times of old. I want to work within nature to create my product and not resort to technology to do so. Brewing is an art to me and my interest is in the creation of it. Maybe some day I'll use the more modern methods but right now I'm happy with what I am doing. I started this because I like beer. I also have read too many books and seen too many movies about technology some day falling apart and I like the idea of having the knowledge to make beer, wine, spirits, bread, and cheese without technology. I have not deluded myself and my motivation to brew as I am brewing is not simply because I don't have the equipment.
 
I agree with that. With the collapse of technology the man who has the knowledge to brew and create alcoholic spirits will be highly valued because we will all need a stiff drink.


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Pretty sure sweet ginger beer is not a beverage with a centuries-old tradition. Sugar-sweet and carbonated, for the reasons described, are not often historically paired (because they will blow up your vessel unless you do something to stop that from happening). So if you want to honor the traditions of your mighty forefathers and all that, you should probably start by not looking at a recipe for what is essentially alcoholic soda pop. If I rolled my eyes any harder they'd probably pop out.

Rambunctious said:
I agree with that. With the collapse of technology the man who has the knowledge to brew and create alcoholic spirits will be highly valued because we will all need a stiff drink.
Click to expand...

With the collapse of technology (oh god, preppers), you will have to drink something other than this drink, unless you learn to pasteurize.
 
I case you were unaware ginger beer has history in the Caribbean sea where pirates of yesteryear drank a beverage called a dark and stormy. This beverage consists of ginger beer and rum. I make mine with Cruzan blackstrap rum. The ginger beer and rum were both brought back to Europe by sailors and still has a following.


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So you're honoring the tradition of a ginger-rum cocktail drink by carbonating alcoholic ginger beer (soda) in the bottle instead of with CO2. Even though the rum drink is not any kind of beer, and is not carbonated with alcohol in it, but rather it is liquor mixed with ginger beer (which is force carbonated).

Moreover, the dark and stormy was probably invented by a tiki bar employee in a Jimmy Buffet shirt, not Bluebeard himself.

I mean you see why I'm groaning, right? I really don't care how you do it, I'm just pursuing the point on principle, it's really a very silly thing to say.
 
Please do some homework, and stop trolling for an argument. Ginger beer is a centuries old beverage. A traditional ginger beer plant can be used to make this beverage. No it is not brewed in the traditional sense of beer with grains boiled for hours to extract the sugars and then fermented. But it is a fermented beverage that this thread has been devoted to its discussion. Not methods of carbonation or historic value or weather it is a beer or not. Discuss those elseware.


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I am not sure what juju is but yes ginger beer is quite ginger flavored. My recipe listed earlier in this thread is my take on a traditional Jamaican recipe lots of ginger and citrus flavors. Semi sweet. 5-8% A.B.V.


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Ramius said:
Im glad to hear about this. Now Im much more willing to start brewing. But does this keep the already carbonated bubbles there? Do they not die with the boiling?

My goal is to basically improve upon the Hollows and Fentimans ginger beer. Just make it stronger. Im seriously addicted to it. I could have three bottles in a row. But thats botanicly brewed. So I rather not force carbonate it.

But say I have a 10 liter batch that has been sitting for two weeks. And lost all sweetness. How much sugar should I add to revive the sweetness, before bottling? Should I add the same ammount as I did first: 500 grams?
Click to expand...


I highly recommend reading the pasteurization thread on the cider page before you attempt this and injure yourself or others...


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Rambunctious said:
Please do some homework, and stop trolling for an argument. Ginger beer is a centuries old beverage. A traditional ginger beer plant can be used to make this beverage. No it is not brewed in the traditional sense of beer with grains boiled for hours to extract the sugars and then fermented. But it is a fermented beverage that this thread has been devoted to its discussion. Not methods of carbonation or historic value or weather it is a beer or not. Discuss those elseware.


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Click to expand...

I am concerned that it sounds like you don't know what you're going to be doing here, and that could lead to exploding bottles.

I don't think there has ever been a "traditional" beverage that was bottled under pressure (from natural carbonation) and then pasteurized. Nor were there "traditional" refrigerators. So I strongly suggest you read some of my posts before you wind up with very untraditional glass shards in your body. This is a sugar-sweet drink, which means you have to stop fermentation in the bottle once you get the desired carbonation. If you don't, your bottle overcarbonates, and then it blows up.

If you reply with "can I just put some campden tablets in it" I am going to throw my arms up so hard they might fly off.
 
passedpawn said:
Please keep it civil in here. I think all facets of ginger beer are interesting, including the history of it, and they are probably germane to the discussion.

BTW, does ginger beer taste like ginger? I never had it.
Click to expand...

Ginger beer is a very very strong, spicy (usually sweeter) ginger ale. It is common in Jamaica. It is soda, though, not beer. It is absolutely force carbonated. If someone makes it without force carbonating it (I don't know who, maybe someone does, but almost certainly not in large-scale practice), they have to pasteurize or permanently refrigerate it when they reach the desired level of carbonation, or else they will have exploding bottles of glass. That's not good, unless you don't like to breathe or live or any of those crazy things.
 
I find yeast fermented ginger beer to be best dried out. I prefer my plant fermented ginger beer to be somewhat sweetened. Both are very good and very different and to which no comparison can be made. I recommend that anyone interested in ginger beer try both as time allows.
 

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