[Auntiemogs]

Good idea Lardman. I think this experience has definitely given me the confidence to have a go at some new recipes. The 5lts bottles are so much easier to handle too. 5 gallons is a lot to shift around.  Do you have any suggestions for good recipes?

If you're using the plastic make sure the liquid is cool before putting it in .. I found out the hard way this morning about their low melting point ! 

Reports back are that it wasn't overly sweet so it may just be me (shocked). I rather liked the clove and anise they complimented the ginger very well.

Oh dear! I hope you didn't burn yourself?  Or loose too much (but I guess that goes without saying)! 
Thanks for the info, I would have done the same thing myself...
Mags 

[Lardman]

Oh dear! I hope you didn't burn yourself?  Or loose too much (but I guess that goes without saying)! 

No harm done ... I was quick to cool it down with 2ltrs of grape juice I had handy. Although I am considering entering the bottle for next years Turner Prize.

[bearhugger1972]

If you're using the plastic make sure the liquid is cool before putting it in .. I found out the hard way this morning about their low melting point ! 

crikey!! I use the plastic demijohns and have not experienced them melting yet. maybe i just heat the water enough to easily dissolve the sugar and get some steam rather than getting a rolling boil and putting straight into the plaggy dj's. hope you are ok or at least use some previous brew to numb the pain!!

[bearhugger1972]

Just got another batch of ginger beer on the go. I'd forgotten how much work it is to manually grate 1.5 kg of ginger.Still, come summer time there will be some cracking drink for the barbeque.

[Lardman]

Just got another batch of ginger beer on the go. I'd forgotten how much work it is to manually grate 1.5 kg of ginger.Still, come summer time there will be some cracking drink for the barbeque.

I put mine in the blender  I've got 1gal of ginger wine on the go at the moment for a bit of a change.  The last batch of GB I did tasted a little synthetic 

[Auntiemogs]

What did you use to sweeten it Lardy? 

[Lardman]

What did you use to sweeten it Lardy? 

That's just it - I didn't ! Im not entirely convinced a GB plant is the way to go.  Next time I order some ginger I'm going to try the recipe posted.

[Auntiemogs]

Mmm...I never would've gotten around to feeding one & I reckoned less than a quid for more yeast wasn't too bad...
Mine was lovely, but sadly long gone...   Tasted foul when I first made it  but with some Splenda added with the sugar for second ferment 'twas great. 

[Lardman]

I've still got 3ltrs under the stairs - I'll give it another taste in a bit.

The ginger wine recipe I have is much the same as your GB but with more sugar and fermented dry, stabilised and back sweetened with WGJ. I've just racked it off the sultanas and peel and measured the ABV and its 8% (10 days).

[Auntiemogs]

How does it taste now? 

[Lardman]

How does it taste now?  

  I forgot ! Hang on I'll grab a bottle !

edit... Right :
 
There's still give in the bottle and the beer lacks fizz, its carbonated but more stout than champagne. Still overly sugary (for my taste) but has lost the syntheticness. Probably the same as shop bought and having just polished off the 500ml its easy enough to drink and I would think around 4% abv.

I don't think the yeast were up to the task and I have a lot of un-fermented sugar in there still.

[Auntiemogs]

Oh what a shame Lardman.    Still, would probably make a good mixer now. 
Mine was not very fizzy (more like pleasantly sparkling) but was quite potent.    The only way I could slow down the fermention was to put it somewhere cool with Splenda to sweeten as it kept turning the sugar into alcohol and was unpleasantly dry so I guess the yeast was deffo doing its job.
Hoping to make more soonish (have 1 sachet of yeast left).
Are you going to share the wine recipe? 

[Lardman]

The first lot I did was very fizzy - lots of small bubbles just like champagne. This stuff isby any means unpleasant, its just not what I was aiming for.

The Ginger Wine is as per "Davie's" recipe and can be found here Ginger Wine  Not a quick one though, its bubbling away behind me and smells very much of orange.

[Auntiemogs]

Ooh, thankie 

[timn]

I think we'd need to ask someone who actually knows what they're doing about fermenting it out dry or perhaps changing the yeast to one that denatures at a lower ABV %.

I had one of those ebay kits (which turned out to be little more than brewers yeast / ginger powder / sugar).  Im keeping my eye on the proper one but Im not paying silly money for a science experiment.

I found another recipe for GB in an old (1973) book and that too has 1lb sugar per gallon so I suppose it must be ok... I can't find my usual brewing book but from looking at this old one I should have taken a SG reading at the start in order to be able to work out the ABV. Guess I'll just have to do the 'falling down test'. 
It also contains a recipe for a GB plant (sorry)  but that too is only bakers yeast, water, sugar and powdered ginger. Is this not the way they all start out or is there some special yeast to start them and is it supposed to taste better?

Ginger beer plant is a different beast to yeast.  I have some growing on my windowsill - it's a symbiotic yeast and bacteria which floats about.  Unlike yeast it sits in the sun, not in the dark and this keeps it in balance.

If you look around on the net, you can find a few places that do it.  Mine just doesn't grow quick enough to supply people (loads of people keep asking for it! It's pretty rare!)

The difference in flavour is subtle from normal yeast - it has a more complex sweet/sour flavour.  To be honest though, use brewers yeast, it's not an awful lot different!