Once I had made cider and mead, Deb decided that I needed to make more gluten-free beverages for our guests at the handfasting, so she was happy when I suggested a Ginger Beer!

Ingredients

• 1x Westbrew Old Fashioned Ginger Beer kit
• 1kg Dextrose
• 500gm Lactose
• Kit yeast (added Muntons Ale Yeast after 2 days, dry-pitched)
• Kit Nutrient + leftover Grain & Grape nutrient (3-4gm?)

• OG: 1.023
• FG: 1.010

ALC/VOL 2.5%

 

Brewed April 2007

I rehydrated yeast ala the same method I learned for the Mead. Then I added Dextrose & Lactose to 2Lt hot water (not yet to boil ~50-60C).

I added yeast to fermenter, then water solution, as this kind of brew needs plenty of oxygen, so a ‘vigorous shaking and splashing’ is a must. I then added the Ginger Essence that came in the kit, and then the nutrient. I poured and stirred vigorously again to add Oxygen, topping the fermenter up to 21Lt.

A couple of days went by and there did not appear to be any apparent fermentation, so I added a leftover sachet of Muntons Ale Yeast. Fermentation was going normal from the following morning.

After about a week, it had done its thing so I bottled it. I noticed it felt and tasted a bit thin, so I added generous amounts of Dark Brown Sugar to the bottles.

Tasting Notes

For a good couple of months, this had a sulphurous (ie, rotten egg gas) smell to it, but eventually this all disappeared, and may be prevented in the future by racking it before bottling.

Carbonation also was better after a couple of months, as the fizz really kicked in. Deb (and all other lovers of GB) were actually quite happy with its fizzy, dry quality – more like the Dry Ginger Ale you find as mixers. The high-fizz definitely made up for that thin, watery taste it had originally, however, even this disappeared after the long priming time.

I developed some ideas on how to improve on this for future batches, which I have subsequently been trying out with smaller, test batches. As of this date, still haven’t tried any of these…