Ginger beer lack of body

[johnybravo]

Wonder if someone could offer some advice. I've made an alcoholic ginger beer which tastes great once sweetened but has a severe lack of body to it.
I used:
2 gallons of water
180g of brown sugar
600g of ginger
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
Yeast

I brought super and ginger to the boil turned of heat and then steeped for an hour before allowing to cool.

Should I have used DME instead of super?
Should I have added cream of tartar?
Would I have used maltodextrine?

Thanks in advance!
John

 

[tomsan]

How long do you leave it to condition? Certainly with cider it takes time for the depth of flavour to develop.

 

[Yooper]

There isn't anything in the recipe to form body.

It's sugar water.

You can add some malto dextrine if you want to add some "thickness" to it.

 

[johnybravo]

Thanks for your answers, it's only been conditioning for a week or so but as I suspected just like yooper said, it is just flavoured sugar water. I'll order some maltodextrin and try adding it. The only stuff I can find online(in the uk) is coopers body bru unless anyone else knows of a supplier....

 

[JackieTreehorn77]

I figured ginger beer would lack soul, not body.


I'll show myself out......

 

[rhys333]

My very first kick at the brewing hobby was a malt extract based ginger beer. Substituting light DME for the sugar will give you a nice light coloured beer as your base, as well as some body (compared with the sugar). Adding a touch of maltodextrin will increase the body some more as Yooper mentions, if you think you need it. A small amount of brown sugar in proportion to the DME will add a little character, but the more you add the less body you'll have in the finished beer. I've never actually used lemon juice in a beer myself, but the zest alone should give you some nice lemony character. Also, not sure if you're using an ale yeast or something else, but a nice ale yeast should leave you with just the right amount of residual sugars in your finished beer. Hmmm, I'm thinking I need to brew me up a ginger beer now.

 

[justenoughforme]

Did you use any source of yeast nutrient ?

what ABV did it end up at ?

consider making it out of apple juice if you have it local, instead of water : )

 

[johnybravo]

Didn't use a any yeast nutrient and got about 5%. Maltodextrin and some sweetener has done the trick! thanks for your help.

 

[TheMadKing]

That's ok, just mix it with vodka and lime in a copper mug and it'll taste better