Real Ginger Beer, and how much alcohol can the plant tolerate?

[dinnerstick]

the GBP loved its spa treatment, it grew a fair bit and i could see new globlets forming at the liquid/air interface, like tiny snotty whisps. and when i added it to a 4L batch the gravity dropped quicker than i've ever seen. 1.044 to 1.036 in a matter of hours. foaming away. i also added a bit of molasses and eggshell to this batch. it is really going for it. after this batch i think i will have enough to set some aside and dry it to keep as reserve

 

[dinnerstick]

 

[sisuuk]

Awesome! I put some marmite, molassas, organic sugar a little lemon juice and a touch of cream of tartar in mine and for a couple days it was really going.... still not sure how to get growth or long term storage (meaning 1-2 week storage). Thanks for your other posted info.... haven't really looked at it too much, but I will.
yesterday just started a new batch - I am doing 2 liters for 2-3 days, removing the GBP and putting it in another 2 liters for 2-3 days and then combining both batches.... We'll see how that works!

 

[dinnerstick]

I made my best batch ever, and largest at 4 L.
started out with demerara sugar 10% and a few spoons dark molasses, my usual amount of ginger and 1 lemon. OG 1.044. fermented 2 days and then removed the GBP. tasted it, it needed more kick. tripled the ginger and added the juice of 2 more lemons, and let it carry on for three or four more days without the GBP, the gravity kept dropping but now very slowly. at around 1.028 i bottled, some in plastic and some in glass. the glass ones that didn't fit in my lettuce drawer i pasteurized on the stove. haven't tried the cooked ones yet but the normal ones are amazing. the molasses is an absolute must for future batches. also it fermented much better (i think) without a lot of lemon, and adding ingredients after straining off the GBP worked fine. after this batch i have so much ginger beer in reserve and my GBP has grown very large, so i dried half of it for storage, by spreading it on some paper towels. this all seems to be going fine. the one thing i haven't managed is a high abv ginger beer since after i strain off the GBP the stuff starts to look like it's going to go moldy after a few days, since i am not very sterile with my ginger beers. not at all sterile, i should say. still considering making a potent batch with ale yeast but i haven't got around to that yet.

 

[dinnerstick]

this fits into the "if anyone gives a crap" category, but here goes anyways, i didn't know what to do with my very active gbp when i went away for a few weeks, so i put it into some fresh dilute sugar water and in the fridge, changed the sugar water when i got back, and it was roaring almost immediately, first new batch was bubbling away within hours

 

[Rippt530]

Good to see this thread alive, I will be getting some actual GBP instead of using yeast.

 

[dinnerstick]

ice cubes + havana club 7 year dark rum + ginger beer + squeeze of lime

any questions?

 

[Cowbizzoy]

i jusssssst got a plant.....this is way too cool......

Think mines still recovering from the journey over here....kinda sits at the bottom and doesn't do much else...except it makes a lotta bubbles....a lottta....

 

[dinnerstick]

mine did that for a few days, it's funny stuff, picks up momentum over a few batches.

 

[Mizoobrewer]

Just some info for anyone thinking about trying this. There is no federal or any other regulation on selling GBP and many sites individuals out there are less than honest about their GBP. Many sell plain yeast, water Kefir grains or in the case of retro-culture.com a hybrid of water kefir grains. since there is no regulation this is technically not false advertising. some sites i have found in my research to be selling the true ginger beer plant are Gingerbeerplant.net run by Jim MacDonald, he is an active and very helpful member of the yahoo GBP group. HappyHerbalist.com is family run and sells GBP that has been in their family for generations. Only site ive fould based in the US is Yemoos.com, their GBP seems to genuine. Hope this info helps since it seems some people are being mislead about what they are actually purchasing.

 

[dinnerstick]

but ginger beer plant is the same thing as water kefir grains, no? if not what is the difference?

 

[Mizoobrewer]

they are very similar but have some differences. here is a section about the differences from Yemoos.com
Ginger Beer vs Water Kefir

Both are symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast and perform similar
functions of fermenting sugary-water, but that is about where the similarities
end. Just like milk kefir and kombucha are cultures of the same principle yet
totally different, the same can be said for ginger beer and water kefir.

Their shape, translucency, diet preferences, fermenting time and even mineral
preferences differ. The resulting taste is also notably different. Ginger beer
having a more sour bite - some even feel it's like a mix of a tart kombucha and
sweet water kefir. The grains never get nearly as large as water kefir's greatest
size, and do not form the same angular, clear grain - instead they are like a
murky brown puffed rice. They can range in size from tiny little tapioca globs,
to extra big pea-size blobs. GBP also grows much more slowly. It's easy to strain
water kefir in a colander, but you might lose your ginger beer doing the same!
Sometimes, you may even get a kombucha-like scoby on the top at the end of
a ginger beer ferment (depending on time, ingredients and temperature)!

Try them both, and see for yourself!

from a little google searching water kefir grains seems to be composed of different microbes than GBP and also seems to be more diverse in its composition from culture to culture, similar to kombucha mushrooms.

 

[dinnerstick]

interesting, but i would need to do a blind test to see if there is a difference! since i am not about to analyze the organisms in the grains... i only have the retro culture strain which i use for ginger beer and water keffir. they fit the description above for gbp but i imagine there is a hell of a lot of variation in size and color even within the same strain, depending on how you treat them and what you brew with them.

 

[spetri]

I know this thread is a bit old now but.... I just finished making my first GB wort. I'm making two different batches of 6L ea. I put the GBP in when the wort was in the 90's, I hope that didn't hurt my little buddies. I kept some on the side in case.

 

[saramc]

Hi all.... I know I have been away, and have had limited posting here so my credibility is likely NULL. BUT, water kefir grains and true GBP are not even close. Their visible structure is completely different and their cellular make-up is quite different. I am quite active in the kefir krowd http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kefir_making/ and do a lot of work with milk kefir and water kefir--two completely different grains. And I have done the side-by-side comparison with GBP vs WKG (water kefir grains). Taste is similar, but the grain activity is completely different (visually and growth-wise).
Ginger beer plant, real GBP, is its own entity. When dinnerstick posted the photo of his GBP in the container I knew on sight that it was a water kefir grain or hybrid, the grains are too large and have edges, GBP are small and round--remind me of cream of rice (if you are familiar). For those who have the water kefir grains, they may remind you of pieces of rock candy-translucent, jagged lumps, some round (you can Google photos of water kefir grains), WKG also change in color depending on the solution they are in. GBP also reproduce/grow at a much slower rate when compared to WKG. http://www.yemoos.com/gingerbeerproductpage.html, has a good photo of what WKG vs GBP looks like...go to the link, scroll down, 2nd photo--right hand:WKG and left hand:lightly colored grains are GBP. In my side-by-side comparison, the GBP doubled in volume after 3 batches which took 5-7 days each, that was the most rapid increase I ever saw; compared to WKGm which double in volume, for me, every other ferment (48 hours). I continue to use WKG to this day (GBP died a kitchen death in 2011 thanks to DH).
Here is a list of just SOME of the cultures identified in water kefir:
Lactobacillus brevis (identified as the species responsible for the production of the polysaccharide matrix that forms the WK grains),Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus, Lactobacillus alactosus, Lactobacillus casei casei, Lactobacillus pseudoplantarum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus lactis, Streptococcus cremeris, Leuconostoc mesenteroide, Saccharomyces florentinus, Saccharomyces pretoriensis, Kloeckera apiculata,Candida lambica, C. valida & possibly others One of the biggest benefits from WATER KEFIR is the probiotic load you get from the combo of these organisms.
I hope some of this helps clear the water when it comes to GBP vs WKG. Did you know there are also MILK KEFIR GRAINS---probiotic laden fermented milk, consistency of buttermilk, like a super tangy yogurt.

 

[fumanchu]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, and I hate to break it to you, but I remember reading retro culture's GBP was not true GBP, it is water kefir grains, which are similar, but NOT the same. I don't endorse any one seller, but I'm positive gingerbeerplant.net's culture is real, because I have one, and it's awesome. You can go to the yahoo group GBP to find more info.

 

[lowlife]

If someone wants ginger beer plant, the real thing.... Ill trade for yeast. I traded with Saramc recently for her kefir. They taste nothing alike. I need kolsch or WLP540 Abbey IV Ale Yeast yeast. Mine originates from yemoos and is very healthy. PM if interested. Id do other trades for other stuff as well.

 

[Konstabel]

I just ordered some GBP. It will my first go at this. I will be reading through this thread as I go along to learn as much as I can.

Looking forward to experiment with the real deal!

 

[topspacking]

INGREDIENTS:-
About 1/4 pound ginger, peeled
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
About 2 quarts water
Equipment:
a Micro-plane grater; a funnel; a clean 2-liter plastic bottle with cap

PREPARATION METHOD:-
Grate enough ginger using Micro plane to measure 3 1/2 tablespoons, then put in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl to collect juice, pressing on solids and then discarding.
Place funnel in neck of bottle and pour in 3 tablespoons ginger juice (reserve any remaining for another use). Add sugar, lemon juice, yeast, and a pinch of salt.
Fill bottle with water, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space at top. Remove funnel and screw cap on tightly. Gently shake bottle to dissolve sugar.
Let stand at room temperature until plastic feels hard and no longer indents when squeezed, 24 to 36 hours.
Chill ginger beer until very cold.