Looking for a simplistic recipe to get started

[Mumathomebrew]

This idea probably belongs in the country wine section not beer. I don't know what fruits are readily available near you but a lovely easy kitchen brew is lemons and ginger brewed on a dessert yeast. After the initial busy fermentation, then keep 'feeding' the yeast with sugar, especially brown sugar, very gently until it gives up and drops clear. It makes for a wonderful dessert wine.

Many lovely brews can be made with freely gathered fruits and flowers or from waste peelings and cores. The only expense is the sugar and the yeast, with consideration later for some campden, pectolase and maybe some yeast nutrient. As for equipment, ordinary 2l plastic water bottles with their lids left loose are capable of brewing a decent country wine unbelievably. If you make starter bottles in advance, then one packet of yeast can go far further than one batch, as well as re-using some of the lees or a robbed sample from the last batch for the next starter. Patience and planning is the key for uber economy. Most of my wines cost near to nothing except the sugar and time. Dandelions and parsnip peelings make some of the best wines.

 

[Ian DSouza]

lemons and ginger brewed on a dessert yeast

Thanks. I might try this out. Do you boil ginger and lemons in water before beginning the primary fermentation. What part of the lemon do you use? I was thinking of adding chopped raisins to the mixture to serve as a yeast nutrient.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

I use the lemon zest and the insides but chop off all the white pith, then boil the lot with the sugar to invert it. Chop the ginger finely and pour boiling water on it if you don't boil it with the lemon, to get rid of wild yeasts. Normally making it in random plastic water bottles or even jam jars with random amounts of each fruit. As I use lemons for normal cooking, I don't waste anything, so always rind them first and keep the zest strips covered with neat sugar in a jar. Then they keep for flavouring anything from cakes to wines.

Latest one I've just started is not ginger beer but ginger fear. Recipe as follows but I haven't ever made it this strong before. It may be way too much but I'm about to rack it and will tell you when I do. Bear in mind my wine making is normally a perpetual natural kitchen residue process rather than on purpose. My wines are mostly bitty recipes as the family fruit bowl rots, or when the fruit is on uber cheap yellow sticker at the supermarket, or the free outside gathering is plentiful.

7/5/19 - 2 lemon rinds kept in 8oz sugar + 3 whole lemons & 3 rinds + 8oz sugar. Boiled all to invert. 1lb of ginger root buzzed up in the blender juicer + pectolase + campden
9/5/19 - 1.5 pts old tea from the teapot + 8ox whizzed sultanas (poured boiling water over first to kill any yeasts) + 2oz molasses
Put all into demi and pitched dessert yeast on top neat
11/5/19 + 4 oz sugar neat
17/5/19 Very busy ferment + 8oz sugar neat
21/5/19 + 4oz sugar neat
today = still too busy a ferment to rack really but the lees are taking up half the demijohn so might rack and re-ferment all, or some, of the gingery lees with new lemons or something else. Dunno yet as I don't normally rack until it's quietened down. Might just wait and see but the ginger will deffo be overkill. I suppose I can split it.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Ginger fear

Normal ginger beer. Ordinary bottles work fine with the lids left loose.

 

[MaaZeus]

First you need a fermenting vessel with an airlock. Usually you can find 6 gallon / 30 liter plastic fermenting buckets quite cheap and they work well. Bonus points if it has a spigot, it will reduce the need for siphon, for now.

Coopers Real Ale or Lager kits can be found in super markets here in the west, not sure about india but they are perfect to get started. If you can find Coopers kits in shop, chances are you can find their Brew Enhancer packs too. This is the adjunct that boosts alcohol, the canned kit alone is too weak. If there is no Brew Enhancers then grab a kilo of sugar instead. This is not optimal and will make thinner beer but it will work to get you started and contrary to what some say it can result in a perfectly drinkable beer. You can buy worse stuff from shops.

After you have your equipment there are a lot of videos on youtube how to use the kits. Better show than tell. Channels like Craigtube proved to be invaluable when I first learned to brew with kits few years ago.

 

[bracconiere]

been a while, but i'm pretty sure i have distant memories of fermenting apple juice with preservatives with a big enough pitch....

(and yeast need nutrients, sugar and yeast is not going to ferment....I once did a 16% wheat germ/ sugar wash when i was traveling on vacation, mixed it with coke. not too bad. just boil some wheat germ, few hands full, in water. then dump that into a bucket with about 15lb's of sugar. top up the 5 gal bucket with water. add yeast, wait till it stops fizzing...mix with coke, drink! congrats, your a drug lord! )

 

[Ian DSouza]

7/5/19 - 2 lemon rinds kept in 8oz sugar + 3 whole lemons & 3 rinds + 8oz sugar. Boiled all to invert. 1lb of ginger root buzzed up in the blender juicer + pectolase + campden
9/5/19 - 1.5 pts old tea from the teapot + 8ox whizzed sultanas (poured boiling water over first to kill any yeasts) + 2oz molasses
Put all into demi and pitched dessert yeast on top neat
11/5/19 + 4 oz sugar neat
17/5/19 Very busy ferment + 8oz sugar neat
21/5/19 + 4oz sugar neat

Thanks for sharing your recipe. Does the tea act as a yeast nutrient? Also, the final product have a kick from the caffeine?

just boil some wheat germ, few hands full, in water

I will get hold of some unprocessed grain soon. My local grocery doesn't seem to be selling it.

 

[Ian DSouza]

Channels like Craigtube proved to be invaluable when I first learned to brew with kits few years ago.

Yup Craigtube is very helpful.

 

[Ian DSouza]

c

 

[Ian DSouza]

I just thought I would get back regarding my "brew" of sugar solution. I mixed ~375-400g of sugar in ~500-550ml of water and added regular baker's yeast. I used a small coke bottle with the cap left loose to vent out gases. I let it "brew" for the past 10 days. I just decided to taste test it. It has a slight flavor profile of apple juice or cider (I didn't add any apple). It's also cloyingly sweet. I guess the amount of sugar was a bit too much. The brew is still murky white but a lot of the yeast has settled down. It has a mild effervescence. There is also mild aftertaste of the baker's yeast. At the moment, I can't say if it will get me high or not.

 

[McKnuckle]

Next time consult a chaptalization calculator (helps you determine amount of sugar to add to reach a particular concentration). That amount of sugar in 500mL will produce about 70 Brix. That’s about 1.355 SG. Way, way beyond the range of wine or beer in terms of starting gravity.

This being said, You now most likely have a very sweet but also very alcoholic beverage.

 

[Ian DSouza]

will produce about 70 Brix. That’s about 1.355 SG.

I figured how you arrived at the 70 Brix value. Can you please tell me how you evaluated the specific gravity to be 1.355. I checked a few chaptalization charts like this one: https://www.winemakersdepot.com/Brix-Chart-W72.aspx / They don't seem to have a specific gravity value. Also, what's ideal starting SG for beer/wine?

 

[z-bob]

You can always add more water. And maybe some dried hibiscus or tamarind or sour mango or whatever strong flavored fruit is available there to give it some taste.

 

[Ian DSouza]

You can always add more water

Yes, I added some water to counteract the sweetness.

 

[BruceH]

You could brew Kvass. It's a very simple brew using dark rye bread toast, sugar, and yeast. I used to make it with wild yeast.

It would take 3 days to ferment if I used a wild yeast starter, 7 days if I just let wild yeast from the air ferment it. Some people use baking yeast.

I used 4 slices of very darkly toasted dark rye bread, 1/2 cup of sugar, and a half gallon of warm water per batch.

It tastes like a mildly fermented lemonade to me.

 

[McKnuckle]

Ian, try this useful Brix to SG calculator: https://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/

Charts won’t help since it’s out of range. Normal beer OG is 1.030-1.120, typically centering around 1.050.