Ginger Plant Question

[Toddy]

Ah you have a ginger mother

Different beast entirely

That's a brilliant offer, but I won't do justice to it my household is all adults, and we'd drink the beer so rarely that it'd be a shame to take it when others would really love the chance.

If British Red or Gregorach or Heltor Chasca don't take you up on the opportunity I'd be very surprised though

Thank you again, the offer is much appreciated

M

 

[HeltorChasca]

I have always read that you must add cream of tartar to the final misture. Is this correct?
Anyone can give me some hint?

I love ginger beer, I think I have doubled Bundaberg's income during my last trip to Australia with all the bottles I have bought, but here in Italy it's impossibile to find it so I must try with home brewing..
Cheers, Paolo

Hi Paolo. I might be wrong on this, but in different recipes for different brews (nettle is a perfect example) it seems some authors (or brewers) seem to swap between lemon or lime juice and cream cream of tartare. I guess it's just an ingredient for acidity or "tartness" to lift the taste.

I'm following a very traditional, old recipe for my GB and it insists on lemon juice.

Hope that helps..........hc

 

[jimjolli]

Wow, I have never heard of GBP before. Last time I made ginger beer I used this recipe from a brewing website:

Ingredients:

1 - 2k ginger root dependant on taste, grated

2.5 k sugar

4 lemons, sliced

300g of Sultanas

3/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 Packet of Champagne Yeast

Approx 23 Litres of bottled water (or tap water dependant on your water).



Instructions


Sanitise and rinse all equipment.

1. Boil as much water as you can get in your stock pot, peel the lemons (avoiding pith), then throw in the peel and squeeze in the juice.

2. Grate the ginger (skin too) and throw in along with the cream of tarter.

3. Add sugar and reduce temp to simmer for about 30 mins.

4. Add 300g of Sultanas to the fermenter then pour the liquid on top and fill up to 23 ltrs with water. Once cooled to fermentation temp sprinkle the yeast on top.

5. Cover and ferment for 4 days.

6. Strain and squeeze the juice from the liquid and transfer to a clean fermenter until complete (usually about 5 / 7 days).

6. Bottle in strong glass bottles adding 1/2 teaspoon of priming sugar to each.

If you wish to make smaller/larger batches then adjust the ingredients accordingly. This will make a drink of approx 6% ABV. Reduce the sugar if you want to lower the ABV.

Open with care as they can be a bit lively.



Would the GBP replace the yeast? What is the advantage of it?

I'm currently working on a telly ad for a supermarket. We have a set dressed like a supermarket and at the end of the job on friday all the produce either gets binned or we can take it home. I have already eyed the boxes of ginger (probably 20kg!!), so am up for doing a batch of GB. Any other ideas of what to do with so much ginger?
I like the idea of adding the chillies, may try that.

Jim

p.s. If I do get a load of ginger (and other stuff), and anybody else wants a load, let me know and you can either collect from SW London or Somerset.

 

[British Red]

Hi Paolo. I might be wrong on this, but in different recipes for different brews (nettle is a perfect example) it seems some authors (or brewers) seem to swap between lemon or lime juice and cream cream of tartare. I guess it's just an ingredient for acidity or "tartness" to lift the taste.

I'm following a very traditional, old recipe for my GB and it insists on lemon juice.

Hope that helps..........hc

A certain amount of acid is required for yeast to survive. Some recipes use acid blend (citric, malic and tartaric). Others use more.....prosaic.....ingredients

 

[bilmo-p5]

Just for notes, ginger beer plant is a bit like jelly as it's a symbiotic organism of which there are only a couple of examples of in nature.

http://gingerbeerplant.net/NewScientistArticle.html

Fascinating article, thank you.

 

[paolo]

I'm following a very traditional, old recipe for my GB and it insists on lemon juice.

Thanks a lot mate, I'll try with your recipe!

Cheers
Paolo

 

[British Red]

That New Scientist Article was fascinating - thanks for the read!

 

[tim_n]

If I let anyone from BCUK skip the queue you'll need to send some out to other members. So many people promise to do it and let it fester on a window sill and it's really disappointing!

 

[HeltorChasca]

There is the other recipe

It adds two whole chillis to the bucket of brew and it's left to sit and froth for two days, with a tablespoonful of sugar added each day.
The oldest recipe I have adds a few dried plums to the brew every day with the ginger, and a wineglassful of brandy or whisky to the final bottles to kill off the yeasts. This stuff was then chilled and served in Summer for ladies who were, "fatigued by the heat" I don't know if that would totally lose the fizz though I like the fizziness.

Funnily enough, the same stuff was recommended for those who had gotten a "cold hoast". That's an irritating tickley cough in the throat from a runny nose.

M

My first batch of 50 pints is long gone and was wonderful. Worked a treat in the King Keg too.

I made another 50 pints recently but added 8 teaspoons of Peri Peri (A Southern African Chilli Powder with major attitude) to 25 litres of brew. It has turned out WAY too hot and I have to dilute my Peri peri Ginger Beer with normal beer.

Lesson learnt! But by 'eck are the medicinal virtues good for me! All the best....hc