Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer Clone

[altron305]

Just thought I'd give an update on my ginger beer. I followed jcoxen's recipe, thanks so much man. I let it ferment for 2 weeks. Then to try something different I back sweetened to taste with Xylitol, which is non fermentable, and bottle conditioned it. In two weeks I popped one open, perfectly carbbed. It tastes almost exactly like crabbies. I had them side by side and mine was a little spicier and not quite as sweet but really close. I could make it right on with more back sweetener. The color is different but Crabbies says on the bottle they add coloring. This is gonna be a regular in my house cause it's so easy to make. Thanks jcoxen.

I know this is a very old thread..
So I also followed jcoxen's recipe, doubling it for a 2 gal batch, that I'm planning on bottling in 16oz swing top bottles and then storing in refrig for making Moscow Mules.
My question is for Kurds2408:
How much Xylitol should I add? You mentioned to sweeten to taste, but I have no idea where to start. I am looking to match the sweetness of Crabbie's so how much did you use for 1 gal? And would you add more?
It's been fermenting nicely now for about a week, and I was going to begin checking final OG's.
When bottle conditioning, did you keep it at same fermenting temp?

 

[kurds_2408]

Hey man. Very cool you're making it. While it has been a while since I've made it I do think it's great. I am however out of town for a couple days and can't remember exactly how much Xylitol. It was somewhere around 1/2 pound for 1 gal. I will check my notes when I get home. I determined how much by measuring out 1 cup of ginger beer and adding Xylitol in measured amounts until I liked the tastes. Scaled from there.

And I left the bottles at ferm temp for a couple weeks. When they seemed carved good I put them all in the fridge just in case there was any sugar left in them. I was scared for bottle bombs.

 

[John Spiegel]

Tried a couple different versions of a ginger beer. My most recent 5 gal recipe:

Steep 2 Lb. Ginger in 2.5 gal water at 150 F for 30 min.
Bring to boil. Add 3 Lb. Sugar and 1 Lb Honey
Boil for 15
Fill with cooling water to 5 gal
Ferment 1 Week
SG 1.030 (wanted a session beer)
FG 1.000
I back sweetened to 1.010. Added some gelatin in the keg to clarify. Waiting for that.

Initial impression is that the ginger flavor is a bit more muted than it has been in the past - I think that's the honey. I want to experiment with dry hopping ginger, maybe adding a steeping grain to the current recipe for body and color, or maybe even trying an amber ale recipe and using ginger either as the hops or as a dry hop. See what happens.

 

[Metalhead_brewer]

Tried a couple different versions of a ginger beer. My most recent 5 gal recipe:

Steep 2 Lb. Ginger in 2.5 gal water at 150 F for 30 min.
Bring to boil. Add 3 Lb. Sugar and 1 Lb Honey
Boil for 15
Fill with cooling water to 5 gal
Ferment 1 Week
SG 1.030 (wanted a session beer)
FG 1.000
I back sweetened to 1.010. Added some gelatin in the keg to clarify. Waiting for that.

Initial impression is that the ginger flavor is a bit more muted than it has been in the past - I think that's the honey. I want to experiment with dry hopping ginger, maybe adding a steeping grain to the current recipe for body and color, or maybe even trying an amber ale recipe and using ginger either as the hops or as a dry hop. See what happens.

wich yeast you used for this?

 

[John Spiegel]

wich yeast you used for this?

I used US-O4 for this particular batch. Gelatin didn't clarify hardly at all - probably the milkiness of the ginger is to blame for that.

 

[Metalhead_brewer]

I used US-O4 for this particular batch. Gelatin didn't clarify hardly at all - probably the milkiness of the ginger is to blame for that.

i don't know if any, how much pectine does ginger has, maybe thats the cause of turbity as pectine won't come off with clarifyng methods as gelatin or cold crashing.

 

[John Spiegel]

i don't know if any, how much pectine does ginger has, maybe thats the cause of turbity as pectine won't come off with clarifyng methods as gelatin or cold crashing.

Just an update: gelatin took some time, but worked great. Looks and tastes more like a cider Or spritzer now.