Ginger Brew: what went wrong?

[mxyzptlk]

I believe I've just had my first unsuccessful batch, after maybe 18 batches now. It was a fairly straightforward recipe, so I am trying to figure out what went wrong. In fact, I've had a success with an almost indentical yarrow based brew. The recipe was adapted from "sacred and herbal healing beers" and the idea was to brew a "hard" ginger ale. My ingredients were basically brown sugar, freshly grated ginger (which I froze first to make it easier to grate), cream of tartar, and yeast. Add some yeast nutrient to help it along.

There appeared to be something wrong from the very start as it never got off to a very vigorous fermentation. Instead, it bubbled slowly and consistently for way too long, perhaps a couple months. When it finally stopped I figured it was o.k. to bottle. Well, after 10 days in the bottle, I have flat ginger water. No signs of carbonation. The bubbling would indicate that I had active yeast would it not? and I figured it was too soon to add more yeast at bottling time - or was I wrong?

So is this batch destined for the drain or what?

Fortunetly this brew only cost me $10, so I won't be too disapointed if it is my first bad batch, but my yarrow beer worked using almost the same ingredients except for yarrow instead of ginger- so WHAT WENT WRONG??


any input would be apreciated- and yes, I did sanitize everything!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Hmmmm? Did you take hydrometer readings along the way?

 

[casebrew]

How cold has it been? My last batch didn't carbonate til the overnight temp in my room got back up to 70. In summer, a couple days do it.

If you can't wait for some warmth, or if that don't help- maybe all the yeast settled in the long ferment, so- Pour all the bottles back into a bucket, add yeast, re bottle.

 

[homebrewer_99]

How cold has it been? My last batch didn't carbonate til the overnight temp in my room got back up to 70. In summer, a couple days do it.

If you can't wait for some warmth, or if that don't help- maybe all the yeast settled in the long ferment, so- Pour all the bottles back into a bucket, add yeast, re bottle.

I agree that the cold temp may have somethig to do with it, but DON'T dump all your beer. Move the bottles to a warmer place. How about near the furnace? How about near a heat source of some kind?

 

[mxyzptlk]

will try moving the bottles upstairs...

my basement temperatures seem sufficient for most yeast,
but come to think of it, I think I had to move this one upstairs to get some activity out of it in the primary, so this may be the problem

 

[mxyzptlk]

just an update: after a week upstairs -
very slightly carbonated.

Took a hydrometer reading pretty darn close to 1.00

so is it just taking it's time or what?

decided to leave the bottles in the closet another week see what happens.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Slightly carbonated is better than flat. Your on the right track.

Let me ask you, how did you prime your brew? Corn sugar or DME? What amount/how much did you use?

 

[mxyzptlk]

I used 5 oz corn sugar

 

[homebrewer_99]

...and the temp during conditioning? Was it around 70? If it was lower then it'll take a longer time. That's the reason we told you to move it to a warmer place. But you knew that.

 

[DragonTail]

I've had some brews take up to a month at around 70F to get good carbonation. With the long ferment that you had, the yeast may just be "tired". Since you have some carbonation now, after a week, wait another week and then try one. It should get a little better.

 

[david_42]

All good advice. I'm 1 for 2 on ginger beer myself. The second batch I used candied ginger, it was ok, but not something I'd take to a Brew Crew meeting.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Just wanted to thanks everyone - last night I enjoyed a carbonated hard ginger ale., and it was good!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Another happy customer!