Hi brewers, Im new on here but not new to home brew. I am looking for advice/links on successful use of fresh ginger root
FWIW I managed to source some ginger root £5/kg from Tesco (yes of all places?) but otherwise found it expensive on EB >£10/kg etc
I wanted to make Ginger juice at first as I found you couldnt buy it readily (I didnt want any artificial chemical cordial). The other thing I notice is that Ginger Ale (soda) has a soapy taste, not all that pleasant IMHO. I thought it prudent to peel the root (PITA) and then cut into chunks mixed with tap water and liquidised. This worked well and I used a sieve mesh to strain the fibrous stuff out and put liquid in plastic 1L PET bottles (saved from recycle). This went well and after a couple of days on room shelf it settled to mostly clear with ca 10% sludge at base. I decanted into new bottles and that was it. The taste was quite bitter but I found that 50mL into 1L dilution plus a little tab of stevia made it suprisingly effective when used with ice tea.
So that is now my starting point FWIW. (2kg root makes 5L of strong juice). OBTW it doesnt naturally start fermenting and if I add it to some fresh squeezed OJ from a carton diluted 1:2 then I can keep this in a handy sport bottle and it doesnt start fermenting (as OJ does itself after a few days - becomes sour and upalletable)
Now I want to proceed to making a Ginger Bug, but I have to start with pure ingredients, eg tap water dechlorinated by standing for 24hrs and using organic root.
Now here's where I fall flat
AFAIK Imported Ginger root is normally washed and irradiated to kill off bugs before importation to UK. I tried a few sources of (so called) organic) root but the O seems like a recipe for price gouging and scams. Enquiries in EB UK showed me the sellers didnt understand my query and couldnt provide evidence of Organic provenance let alone about radiation (UV?)
Can anyone advise here?
How can I make a Ginger Bug based in UK?
BTW I also want to progress to fresh Tumeric roots if I can get the basic process right.
I am a big follower of natural food processes and IMHO a lot of home brewing custom is guided heavily towards commercial exploitation and the pursuit of high ABV goals.
I had an OH who was Belgian and went across there many times to Ghent and Bruges. Belgium is a hugely underestimated country for very many reasons but on this forum, for its 1000 year old tradition of brewing ale. I was told that there are 365 traditional breweries scattered around, almost one in every small town and they are fiercely protected against Big Corps. I am sure on here I dont need to go Uber over Belgian Beers - but hope you see where I am coming from
What did we used to say about Watneys Red Barrel - like making love in a punt - I used to live opposite the Mortlake Stag brewery
Guidance will be much appreciated
Cheers
FWIW I managed to source some ginger root £5/kg from Tesco (yes of all places?) but otherwise found it expensive on EB >£10/kg etc
I wanted to make Ginger juice at first as I found you couldnt buy it readily (I didnt want any artificial chemical cordial). The other thing I notice is that Ginger Ale (soda) has a soapy taste, not all that pleasant IMHO. I thought it prudent to peel the root (PITA) and then cut into chunks mixed with tap water and liquidised. This worked well and I used a sieve mesh to strain the fibrous stuff out and put liquid in plastic 1L PET bottles (saved from recycle). This went well and after a couple of days on room shelf it settled to mostly clear with ca 10% sludge at base. I decanted into new bottles and that was it. The taste was quite bitter but I found that 50mL into 1L dilution plus a little tab of stevia made it suprisingly effective when used with ice tea.
So that is now my starting point FWIW. (2kg root makes 5L of strong juice). OBTW it doesnt naturally start fermenting and if I add it to some fresh squeezed OJ from a carton diluted 1:2 then I can keep this in a handy sport bottle and it doesnt start fermenting (as OJ does itself after a few days - becomes sour and upalletable)
Now I want to proceed to making a Ginger Bug, but I have to start with pure ingredients, eg tap water dechlorinated by standing for 24hrs and using organic root.
Now here's where I fall flat
AFAIK Imported Ginger root is normally washed and irradiated to kill off bugs before importation to UK. I tried a few sources of (so called) organic) root but the O seems like a recipe for price gouging and scams. Enquiries in EB UK showed me the sellers didnt understand my query and couldnt provide evidence of Organic provenance let alone about radiation (UV?)
Can anyone advise here?
How can I make a Ginger Bug based in UK?
BTW I also want to progress to fresh Tumeric roots if I can get the basic process right.
I am a big follower of natural food processes and IMHO a lot of home brewing custom is guided heavily towards commercial exploitation and the pursuit of high ABV goals.
I had an OH who was Belgian and went across there many times to Ghent and Bruges. Belgium is a hugely underestimated country for very many reasons but on this forum, for its 1000 year old tradition of brewing ale. I was told that there are 365 traditional breweries scattered around, almost one in every small town and they are fiercely protected against Big Corps. I am sure on here I dont need to go Uber over Belgian Beers - but hope you see where I am coming from
What did we used to say about Watneys Red Barrel - like making love in a punt - I used to live opposite the Mortlake Stag brewery
Guidance will be much appreciated
Cheers
