Ginger Ale (kegged)

[rdavidw]

I made this three days ago and it came out amazing!

I brought 5.5 gallons of RO water to 150F in my MT.
I used a food processor on a cores grate for the following:
2.8lbs of ginger, not peeled
5 limes, not peeled
2.5 lemons, not peeled
I added that to my MT and then added:
5 cups of brown sugar
1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulphite to kill wild yeast

I then turned on a pump from the false bottom to back to the top of the MT and let it run for about an hour. I then kept the lid on and let it sit for about another ten hours. I then disconnected the pump from the return and put it in a keg, no need to strain any further. I chilled it to 37F overnight and then forced carbonated it.

Boom! Amazing and super easy to make. I tasted it before it was carbonated and it was ok but a little bitter in the after taste. After it was carbonated it was perfect.

 

[afss]

I made this three days ago and it came out amazing!

I brought 5.5 gallons of RO water to 150F in my MT.
I used a food processor on a cores grate for the following:
2.8lbs of ginger, not peeled
5 limes, not peeled
2.5 lemons, not peeled
I added that to my MT and then added:
5 cups of brown sugar
1/4 tsp of potassium metabisulphite to kill wild yeast

I then turned on a pump from the false bottom to back to the top of the MT and let it run for about an hour. I then kept the lid on and let it sit for about another ten hours. I then disconnected the pump from the return and put it in a keg, no need to strain any further. I chilled it to 37F overnight and then forced carbonated it.

Boom! Amazing and super easy to make. I tasted it before it was carbonated and it was ok but a little bitter in the after taste. After it was carbonated it was perfect.

Im going to try this, maybe tonight. just wondering when you say not peeled, did you put the whole thing including the pith through the processor and into the mash?
thanks

 

[hafmpty]

Im going to try this, maybe tonight. just wondering when you say not peeled, did you put the whole thing including the pith through the processor and into the mash?
thanks

When I made mine, I didn't peel the Ginger. Just washed it well & scrubbed it with a firm-bristle plastic brush to get the loose skin off. Then into the blender!

For the lemons & limes though I used a zester to get the zest off. That went into the blender too along with the lemon and lime juice. Pith didn't go in. Yuck.

 

[afss]

what volume do most folks carb this too in the keg. I took a bit of it last night and chilled it and forced it in the soda stream... its got some serious potential. I ended up suing 2 lbs dark sugar and 1 pound light brown sugar and am so far happy with the results.

Also has anyone tried stewing jalapeno or other peppers with it? if so what and what ratio and how were the results.

I spend days looking for a good recipe and couldn't find one that sounded good or had much feed back on it, I'm so glad i found this one. its friggin amazing so far.

 

[MMBB]

Has anyone used a masticating juicer instead of using blended/shredded ginger and stabilized the juice with campden? I'd like to compare the flavor of ginger beer that hasn't seen any heat vs. making a ginger tea.

 

[jharmon203]

Has anyone used a masticating juicer instead of using blended/shredded fresh sugar and stabilized the juice with campden? I'd like to compare the flavor of ginger beer that hasn't seen any heat vs. making a ginger tea.

Are you trying to preserve more ginger flavor or nutrients by doing this? I can say using the blender still has quite the ginger punch.

 

[MMBB]

Are you trying to preserve more ginger flavor or nutrients by doing this? I can say using the blender still has quite the ginger punch.

More of the ginger punch and heat but also making clean up/brewing a little easier and somewhat, hopefully, more exact. Taking extraction with water out of the mix and using juice might be more consistent.

 

[Beekeeper]

what volume do most folks carb this too in the keg. I took a bit of it last night and chilled it and forced it in the soda stream... its got some serious potential.

I am wondering the same. Made some over a week ago, and it has been under 15# at about 45 F in my keezer since then, but doesn't seem to hold any bubbles at all. On day one also tried some with the soda stream. (Made a mess with that!) Seems that all of the carbonation wanted to leave the solution in a hurry. Would filtering have helped? (nucleation sites?)

 

[bleme]

I do mine at 30psi, with a 30' line.

 

[KYBLUE]

Made a five gallon batch early Tuesday morning. Was planning ti let it sit in the fridge under 30psi for a couple of weeks but couldn't stand it.

Here it is Wednesday evening and i just had a pint after shooting 60psi to the keg and shaking it back down to 30 twice.

Very good tasting and I still expect it to get even better with a little time to condition and fully absorb the co2 into solution.

Cheer

 

[laurentobias]

Maybe someone already asked about this, but is there a difference here between ginger beer and ginger ale?

 

[MMBB]

Maybe someone already asked about this, but is there a difference here between ginger beer and ginger ale?

Ginger Beer can be fermented and alcoholic and or it can be non-alcoholic. The non-alcoholic varieties I've tried tend to be cloudy and have more ginger flavor than ginger ale.
Ginger Ale is non-alcoholic soda

 

[laurentobias]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I'd like to brew ginger beer (non-alcoholic) for the kiddo to keep in my kegerator alongside some beers. Has anyone brewed ginger beer and is the recipe similar to the ginger ale recipe in this thread?

 

[NTBeer]

I think the difference of ginger ale being lighter and ginger beer stronger is mostly a commercial one. Recipes may not adhere to that naming convention.

 

[TandemTails]

Brewed up my version of this today. I made this several years ago but decided to make another batch now that I figured out how to cram 3 kegs into my 2 tap kegerator. We like ours a little more citrus forward, hence much more than the original recipe called for. I also use a little less sugar.

* 2 gallons water
* 1 lb 4oz Turbinado
* 4 oz brown sugar
* 1.2 lb ginger (peeled, then juiced. I added the juice and pulp to the pot)
* 3 lemons (zest and juice)
* 3 limes (zest and juice)
* pinch of each: epsom salt, gypsum, calcium chloride

I brought it up to 160+ degrees, added everything (zest and ginger pulp went into the hop sack), stirred until the sugar dissolved and let sit at temp for 30 minutes. I then removed from the heat and let cool for a few hours before transferring to a keg and force carbonating.

I'll carbonate at 20 psi for a few days before trying it.

 

[bleme]

I made a batch based on this and it is the BOMB!
My 5 gallon recipe:
2.5# of unpeeled ginger root, blended
6 lemons, zest and juice
6 limes, zest and juice
2# dark brown sugar
1# white sugar

I heated my water to 180F, turned off the flame, and clipped my 5gal paint strainer bag in place. I cut the ginger into big "coins" because my blender sucks, filled my blender with "coins", covered with scooped out hot water, blended and poured inside the bag. Repeated till ginger was gone, scooping liquid from outside the bag and pouring inside the bag. Then I added the juice and zest, swirled the bag around for 10 minutes or so, then pulled it and squeezed all the liquid I could out. Finally, I stirred in the sugar and then poured in the keg.

While I liked this level of ginger, it was too 'hot' for several in my family. I dropped the ginger to 1.5lbs and it is a real crowd pleaser, and still much more ginger-y than Canada Dry/Schweppes. It also took me much more than 10 minutes to zest and juice so it steeped at about 183F for much longer.

 

[bleme]

* pinch of each: epsom salt, gypsum, calcium chloride

I wish I had seen this a few days ago - this is an intriguing addition that I could see adding a little depth. How did it turn out?

 

[TandemTails]

I wish I had seen this a few days ago - this is an intriguing addition that I could see adding a little depth. How did it turn out?

I've made the recipe probably 5 times now (just made another batch a week ago but used granulated sugar instead of turbinado). I can't say for certain if it really makes much of a difference, but I figure if I'm starting with filtered water it probably does add a little something to it.

We do it for brewing, so why not with sodas, lol.

 

[hawkwing]

Is there a consensus on what’s better between white and brown sugar?

 

[hawkwing]

I was also thinking about caramelized white sugar, vanilla and salt.

Thoughts?

 

[laurentobias]

Mix of turbinado and brown is a good mix. Haven’t tried vanilla but it sounds like a good addition.

 

[hawkwing]

I made a batch of this. It’s delicious but albeit had a little heat. My kids don’t like it because of that. I love it but I’d rather not have the heat as well. It’s way better than store ginger ale.

I will have to post some pictures later. It’s fairly clear like a store ginger ale. I made a 19L batch for the keg. I used a micro plane grater to zest six lemons and six limes. I juiced them into a pot with about 1.5 gal of water. I grated approximately 1.75 lbs of ginger that I did not peel. I heated this to a boil and turned off to cool overnight. I added some pectic enzyme water to top up. I baked 4lbs white sugar for about 4-5 hours to caramelize and added it. About 2 lbs white sugar raw to sweeten. Caramelizing the sugar must reduce the sugar content as it’s leas sweet than 5 lbs of white sugar. I added about half a tsp salt and a tablespoon of vanilla. I mixed some gelatin with hot water and stirred in hoping it would help clear it. I left it for a day and put into a keg. It probably would have cleared more if I left it. It’s pretty clear coming out of the keg now. More clear than when I put it in I think. Unfortunately my kids want cola next time. And I don’t want to make another tap soda. Keeping them for beer and cider.

 

[jesseb]

Planning to make this recipe soon! But I want to make it a bit more healthy and leave out the sugar. I've read someone made it with some artificial sweetener like stavia, but how is it without any sweeteners?

 

[bleme]

Planning to make this recipe soon! But I want to make it a bit more healthy and leave out the sugar. I've read someone made it with some artificial sweetener like stavia, but how is it without any sweeteners?

I think you would want to cut the other ingredients back a bit as you won't have the sugar to balance things. Maybe in half? It's got to be better than all those store bought seltzers that taste like nothing...