Sorry to put this in the Cider forum but I know it wouldn't fit in the beer forums.
I made a test batch 8 liters (2 gallons? +/-) of Ginger beer.
fresh ginger grated ( 7cm +/-) should have paid attention.
2 cups of brown sugar
7.9 liters of water.
Local Bread yeast (10grams or 1 packet)(I know most people will object to this but it worked 100%, my land lady had a taste right out the primary and she couldn't taste the yeast)
Procedure:
Grated the ginger and squeezed out all the juice. Then took the pulp and put it in a bowl and added 100 ml of boiling water and put a lid on. apparently you loose flavor if the oils evaporate. Left that for an hour. I went to health store that has a home brew shelf. we dont have home brew shops in South Africa. Dissolved two cups of brown sugar in hot water then added the ginger juice, ginger pulp that had been soaking and the sugar water in my primary. Then filled it up with warm water. I then added 1 pack (10grams) of bread yeast. It was bubbling within 2 hours. After 4 days it slowed right down to 3 or 4 bubbles per minute and they were small compared to when it was in full tilt. So I decided to check the gravity. It is sitting just above 1.000.
So I tasted it and wow it is dry. first sip was not the best. Then had a second sip, it tasted better. So I took it down stairs to my land lady, She has volunteered to be a Guinea pig for all my brews especially the beers. She sipped it, coughed a bit and said that it was dry and could be a bit sweeter. The ginger flavor is there and leaves a nice burn in your mouth and throat, like a ginger beer should.
So Im going to sweeten it with what ever the health shop has that will not ferment and carb it in the bottle with some table sugar or carbing drops. I have some in my brewing kit that i wont need for my beer.
Any comments? I could use another yeast, I could leave it to ferment a bit more but I dont want it any dryer.
Let me know your thoughts.
Evochild
I made a test batch 8 liters (2 gallons? +/-) of Ginger beer.
fresh ginger grated ( 7cm +/-) should have paid attention.
2 cups of brown sugar
7.9 liters of water.
Local Bread yeast (10grams or 1 packet)(I know most people will object to this but it worked 100%, my land lady had a taste right out the primary and she couldn't taste the yeast)
Procedure:
Grated the ginger and squeezed out all the juice. Then took the pulp and put it in a bowl and added 100 ml of boiling water and put a lid on. apparently you loose flavor if the oils evaporate. Left that for an hour. I went to health store that has a home brew shelf. we dont have home brew shops in South Africa. Dissolved two cups of brown sugar in hot water then added the ginger juice, ginger pulp that had been soaking and the sugar water in my primary. Then filled it up with warm water. I then added 1 pack (10grams) of bread yeast. It was bubbling within 2 hours. After 4 days it slowed right down to 3 or 4 bubbles per minute and they were small compared to when it was in full tilt. So I decided to check the gravity. It is sitting just above 1.000.
So I tasted it and wow it is dry. first sip was not the best. Then had a second sip, it tasted better. So I took it down stairs to my land lady, She has volunteered to be a Guinea pig for all my brews especially the beers. She sipped it, coughed a bit and said that it was dry and could be a bit sweeter. The ginger flavor is there and leaves a nice burn in your mouth and throat, like a ginger beer should.
So Im going to sweeten it with what ever the health shop has that will not ferment and carb it in the bottle with some table sugar or carbing drops. I have some in my brewing kit that i wont need for my beer.
Any comments? I could use another yeast, I could leave it to ferment a bit more but I dont want it any dryer.
Let me know your thoughts.
Evochild