I’ve done a couple of mini-batches using my 5Lt demijon, trying to find the right recipe so I can do a full batch.

Unfortunately, I didn’t record the first attempt, although I am playing with a recipe, so it wasn’t entirely different from what I record below, other than less ginger and different ratios of Brown Sugar and Dextrose.

This one is looking promising, but it is still fermenting, and we won’t be able to really judge it until it’s had time to prime in the bottle.

• 422g organic ginger
• 38g chopped lemon
• 100g brown sugar
• 30g raw sugar
• 120g dextrose
• 30g maltodextrin
• 200g lactose
• 1x cinnamon stick
• 1g (¼ tsp) yeast nutrient
• remainder (~3-4g) Morgans lager yeast

I chopped the ginger & lemon and mix-mastered it before boiling for hours. Then added sugars/etc on flame-out. Cooled to below 20°C, added nutrient. Took reading (OG: 1.030) and then added the yeast.

For a full batch, the above ingredients will be multiplied by four to make 20Lt.

The option I am looking at is buying Ginger Essence from Buderim Ginger in Queensland. They also do a Ginger & Rum essence which could be awesome. They also have pieces of Ginger soaked in sugar cane syrup, which may in fact be the key to faithfully reproducing the sweetness of Bundaberg’s Ginger Beer.