Thread: Ginger Beer Brewers

Originally Posted by Gra

...So come on lets hear from the ginger beer brewers amongst us

Same as my Tooheys Old, I buy ready rolled.... hard to beat the Bundaberg stuff.

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

hard to beat the Bundaberg stuff.

Try the Cascade stuff too Cliff. I used to be a Bundy man but it's got a bit sweet for me.
BTW, I used to brew ginger beer using shredded ginger, brewers yeast and sugar, I'll see if I can dig out the recipe. I bottled half of it at half fermentation as a sweet beer and let the rest ferment out which ended up being like a beautiful ginger champagne.
Cheers
Michael

mic-d

That would be great, I have been curious about the old way of doing it

Ginger Beer.
To make the ginger beer "plant", place in a jar eight sultanas, juice of two lemons, one teaspoon lemon pulp, four teaspoons sugar, two teaspoons ground ginger and two cups cold water. Cover lightly with a cloth. In warm weaher, leave three or four days by which time it should be starting to ferment.
Then each day for one week, add two teaspoons ground ginger and four teaspoons sugar to the "plant". It should be ready at the end of the week to make into beer.
To make beer, place four cups of sugar, four cups of boiling water and the juice of four lemons into a large bowl. Stir untill sugar is dissolved. Strain the plant into it through a fine cloth, squeeze dry. Add 28 cups of cold water and stir. Pour into bottles and cork down.
Leave two weeks before using.
To keep the "plant" alive for another batch of beer, halve the "plant" in the cloth and place in a jar with two cups cold water. Continue to feed it with four teaspoons sugar and two tablespoons groung ginger for one week.

This is one that my father used when I was a child, but I can't remember how it turned out.

tameriska

You are a legend, every recipe I have seen say's add ginger beer plant, but none tell you how to make the plant.



Will have to try that with my next brew.

Tameriska,

I can't remember if that is the same recipie we used, but my Grandparents, mother and myself all had the plants for our own kids. It turns out fine, but its a bit like those dragons of yours, dont meddle with the brew. I've got memories of bottles left two long in the cupboard blowing their tops, or opened with enough fizz to empty all but the last couple of centimetres of the bottle. For Gra, its great fun for the kids seeing the process and getting to drink the product.

Cheers, John

Originally Posted by johnc

its great fun for the kids seeing the process and getting to drink the product.

John,
gotta agree there, the last bottling was a production line that consisted of my 18 mth old passing a bottle to my 3 yr old, who added the sugar cube and passed it to me. I then filled it and passed it to my wife, who added the top and boxed it.

Might as well get them involved, as they drink the most of it.

Think I mentioned this before but Tameriskas recipe was used by me as a teenager stopped when the corks in the bottles lying on their sides got tired of being there and 'escaped'. Unfortunately dads Mercedes had both the front side windows in the firing line. Not happy is a bloody understatement.

Mic-d share more on turning it into champane. We get ginger wine by the flagon from a MaClaren Vale winery.
Tony

Originally Posted by Tonto

Think I mentioned this before but Tameriskas recipe was used by me as a teenager stopped when the corks in the bottles lying on their sides got tired of being there and 'escaped'.

The joy of these new plastic bottles, I had friends that did the calcs in uni, (Bored/Stoned Eng students will do anything) these shouldn't blow, the amount of pressure they can take is enormous.

yeah but you seen the shape they go.

Originally Posted by Tonto

yeah but you seen the shape they go.

Yeah but at least they don't explode and send stuff flying around the storage space.... (My first brew exploded 5 glass bottles, embedding glass in the container)

Ok, looks like I should have aded a warning to that recipie,
Use at Own Risk ,

(and keep it away from Mercs )

Originally Posted by Gra

Yeah but at least they don't explode and send stuff flying around the storage space....

Not quite true Gra, I managed to detonate a dozen of them after misreading the hydrometer on a cider I made, was still in primary when I bottled and started the secondary, was not a pretty sight.
The shed has a nice bouquette for a while though, and the rats were enough that I could round them up and bag them without protest

Coopers make a fine brew for the homebrewer you can go either way non or alcholic which ever takes your fancy the alcoholic one is a very nice drop with a 3% alco content