Ginger beer

Does anyone make ginger beer? I had a stab at it yesterday: I grated a big lump of root ginger into a saucepan and added a jar of dried ginger, two-and-a-half pounds of brown sugar, the rind of a lemon and two tablespoons of black treacle. I brought it up to the boil and, when cool, added the juice of the lemon and a teaspoon of baker's yeast. Strained it into a demijohn and put on an airlock. It's frothing and bubbling nicely today. It might be a disaster, but it's worth a try, I think.

I have never tried it. Dont you need to make a ginger beer plant, somehow. I remember my grandmother making it. She had a jam jar with some horrible looking stuff in it which she kept feeding. She would take some of this gunge and make ginger beer with it.

Good luck. I personally can think of much better things to drink, ginger is not my thing. Interested to hear how it turns out though.

Keep us posted Seán, I love ginger, would be interested in hearing how it goes

Well lads and lasses, the fermentation is over, so I racked it and tasted it. What a surprise! Not clear, but it tastes fantastic! Very gingery, slightly sweet, and a hint of zesty lemon. Next stage is to prime it and bottle it in beer bottles. Will keep updated, but it's looking good. Could be a regular brew!

Did you test the gravity Sean? How strong are you wanting?

I didn't bother taking the OG Cristy, but I will next time. I was more interested in whether it would taste good. If I can get it frothy and tasty, that'll do me!

I do have a liking for green ginger wine. So in my book it can take a good deal of alcohol and still taste great. Good luck with it.

So how's the Ginger beer Sean. I am going to have a go at it in january.

Well Cristy, it's a little sweet for my taste (which I put down to using baker's yeast) but it's frothy, gingery and lemony, so I consider it a success. I'm going to start a second batch this week and this time I'll take the OG and monitor the ABV. And I'll get some wine yeast ( or maybe some cider lees) which should ferment it out to complete dryness. But anyone with a sweet tooth would like it the way it is.

Sean a bit of advice please. If I want to make four gallons of ginger beer how much ginger root should I use?. I like a strong ginger taste. I intend to add a bit of chilly as well .

Got my first brew of ginger beer going today. Smells great and fermenting nicely.

Hi Cristy,
I only now saw your previous post asking for advice on the ginger beer which I seem not to have answered. Sorry about that - I think it might have been around the time my tablet blew up. In any case, your own guess would have been as good as mine as I only took a stab in the dark! What recipe did you settle on? Mine was good, though I think your idea of a bit of chilli would definitely improve it. For the record, I used a lump of root ginger as big as a child's hand and a full jar of dry ginger.

I dont bother much with recipes these days. I just keep to one method. Place fruit, roots, whatever, into a five gallon bucket. pour over three gallons of boiling water. Leave a day or so. Strain off liquid into a large pan and heat up just enough to dissolve the sugar. Add lemon juice and a pot of tea. When cool add yeast. Bobs yer uncle. I did add chili to my brew and much more ginger than you did. Three large roots. Its got a real kick and the chili complements the ginger well

We probably used about the same amount of ginger as mine was just for one gallon.

This brew is really nice. Cloudy it is but full of pep after priming and 7.5%.