Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 76 to 100 of 110
  1. #76
    Thailand Expat
    Troy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:01 PM
    Location
    In the EU
    Posts
    12,215
    Quote Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
    Bread and beer yeasts are essentially the same, just a slightly different strain as the bread yeast will impart more of a yeasty flavour to the brew.
    True for Ginger beer, which has a low alcohol content...but technically not quite right...since brewers yeast will live, and continue to thrive up to alcohol levels as high as 15%...bread yeast will die off at levels around 7%....

  2. #77
    Thailand Expat
    Bower's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    15-10-2020 @ 05:33 PM
    Location
    South coast UK
    Posts
    3,018
    I hope this trial of ginger beer brewing is successful,i love the stuff. Ice slice of lemon ah bliss.

  3. #78
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Last Online
    08-10-2012 @ 12:06 PM
    Posts
    13
    Bread yeast will work, but will give off some manky flavours... better to use beer or wine yeast if you can get it.

    I think the problem with your first round of brewing was the Ginger, too little of it... i would be careful adding more honey and sugar, that just gives the yeast more food. If you are using bread yeast the alcohol content will get too high and kill off the yeast, leaving you with lots of residual sugars and giving you a sweet but weak drink. Beer yeast should top out around 12-15% (depending on the strain)

    Honey is something like 98% fermentable sugars and as you are adding another KG of sugar as well, i would be careful, perhaps add either the sugar or the honey (not both).

    Fermentation is quite aggressive and will strip off lots of the ginger flavour, another thing you could do is to add more raw ginger later on. What most home brewers do is to 'rack' the brew after primary fermentation is complete (between 1 to 2 weeks) - that is to siphon off the brew into another clean bucket/bottle to leave the yeast cake behind. This will help give you a clearer brew. This is the stage i would add the rest of the ginger to (make sure its clean and as sterile as you can get it, otherwise you might add some unwanted bacteria into it)

    If you leave the brew in the secondary vessal for a few weeks, this will help smooth the drink out a bit, and then if you leave it in the bottle for a few weeks as well that will help a lot also. The hardest part of home brewing is the waiting

    Hope that helps, i am a novice home brewer myself, but happy to help with advice if you want it

  4. #79
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Quote Originally Posted by BeerLover
    another thing you could do is to add more raw ginger later on. What most home brewers do is to 'rack' the brew after primary fermentation is complete (between 1 to 2 weeks) - that is to siphon off the brew into another clean bucket/bottle to leave the yeast cake behind. This will help give you a clearer brew. This is the stage i would add the rest of the ginger to (make sure its clean and as sterile as you can get it, otherwise you might add some unwanted bacteria into it)
    Thanks for that.
    I do think that is what i will do.

    Do you think it is a good idea to boil the second lot of ginger and to add the liquid into the secondary fermenter (this will ensure a sterile addition)?

  5. #80
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Last Online
    08-10-2012 @ 12:06 PM
    Posts
    13
    Not sure if that will detract from the flavour, but give it a try. If you are using raw ginger (not powder) then maybe leave the root itself in the water and just add it all (after its cooled down)

    Another thing you can do to help smooth it all out is temperature control, ideal temperature for brewing beer is around 21 degrees. If you go higher it wil lspeed up the fermentation but can produce fruity 'off' flavours... but temperature control in TH is a challenge at the best of times... i have an old Wine cooler fridge (like the ones you see in resturants) that i turn down to minimum (warmest) - it sits around 16 degrees which is better than 30

  6. #81
    sabaii sabaii
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke
    Any advice?
    Find another hobby, Folf perhaps ?

  7. #82
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    ^ Brewing, as with folf, should get better with practice.

    Unlike folf, it doesn't require a shoe caddy.

  8. #83
    sabaii sabaii
    Guest
    By reading The Mad Hatters honest review, may I suggest you try drinking the next batch out of an old Golf Shoe ?

  9. #84
    Member
    Bettyboo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:50 AM
    Location
    Bangkok
    Posts
    34,272
    Who is the brewer??? He's clearly a complete fuking amateur...

    Ginger beer is for Aussie poofs, brew some stout! (then send it up to Bangkok for a tasting...).

  10. #85
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Last Online
    08-10-2012 @ 12:06 PM
    Posts
    13
    I'm planning a stout for my next batch actually... or a Porter... or an IPA... bleh, i can never decide until the day, and then i end up with a half arsed concoction - still, usually tastes nice though, better than Chang or Leo
    (anyone tried the Chang Export - not a bad drop of beer for a mass produced chemical beer in thailand)

  11. #86
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Spent the afternoon brewing up the next concoction - Withnalls Wank Juice MKII.
    Waiting for it to cool down another few degrees, then it's in with the yeast and wait around a month or two.

  12. #87
    sabaii sabaii
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke
    Waiting for it to cool down another few degrees, then it's in with the yeast and wait around a month or two.
    2 months to make ginger beer

    Try this out, 5 days to do, and triple the strength of what you're concocting

    Get the Hatter around to review this

    PS. Check out where the Yeast comes from


  13. #88
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Quote Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii
    Try this out, 5 days to do, and triple the strength of what you're concocting Get the Hatter around to review this
    That geezer in the vid seels to have an extra digit on his left hand.

    Hatter has booked a flight for a tasting session of the MKII.

  14. #89
    Member
    Bettyboo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:50 AM
    Location
    Bangkok
    Posts
    34,272
    Quote Originally Posted by BeerLover
    I'm planning a stout for my next batch actually...
    Excellent idea. When is the tasting? Am I invited? I have large breasts...

  15. #90
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Quote Originally Posted by Bettyboo
    Am I invited? I have large breasts
    Yoo hoo.
    I have ginger beer.

  16. #91
    Member
    Bettyboo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:50 AM
    Location
    Bangkok
    Posts
    34,272
    Make it a Guinness and I'll let you see my breasts!

  17. #92
    euston has flown

    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Last Online
    10-06-2016 @ 03:12 AM
    Posts
    6,978
    Given this image of you, that sounds like a threat to me


  18. #93
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    ^ Actually, i've run out of ginger beer and have no intention of brewing anymore stout.

  19. #94
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Last Online
    08-10-2012 @ 12:06 PM
    Posts
    13
    Think i will make a Porter now

  20. #95
    Member

    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Last Online
    12-11-2021 @ 03:50 PM
    Posts
    191
    Quote Originally Posted by DrAndy View Post
    I used to make Ginger beer when I was a kid! my parents did not realise it was alcoholic

    Just the yeast (originally from a friend), add tepid water, sugar and powdered ginger

    wait until it stops fermenting

    decant and drink

    get headache

    each time you made it you had to halve the yeast as it grows; give it to a friend

    here is a link to something similar

    The REAL ginger beer recipe!

    they guy insists the Ginger beer Plant is not yeast, but it is, originally grown on ginger root
    Thanks for this link. I've had 3 different goes at ginger beer, all of them alcoholic (the first batch psycadelically so) using an aussie friend's recipe. Turned out a white fizzy brew requiring 6 weeks and a lot of asprin. The second completely insane using 2 kilos of sugar, a small pot of hilltribe honey and just 6 litres of water. Friend said it tasted like Nitromores and spat it out. 3rd batch (present and nearly finished off), 20 litres water/2ks brown sugar and 1k of pineapple to sweeten it up a bit. Dry drinks my preference but ginger acts as an accentuate and gets rid of all and any sweeteners fast leaving you with something depthless and vinegary. All these recipes had bakers' yeast added to them bought from kindly local baker. Stuff on supermarket shelves could have sat there until it crawls out. Another tip is to NOT boil the ginger. Just bring it and the sugar to the boil, turn off the heat, cover and let it sit overnight before squeezing through 'sock'. Otherwise your ginger beer will have nada ginger flavour. You've boiled it all out.

    Anyway. I'm going to give the katalyst2 recipe a go (8ks of brown sugar to give it a rum taste, love rum) and a natural fermenter made over four days with raisins/lime/sugar. Like the idea of the added spices also, cinnamon/cloves etc.

    Will let you know how this batch turns out.

    PS If no one else's mentioned it (no time to read this long and popular thread. Seems many of us sick of what passes for beer here also), a regular water bottle (the refillable ones delivered and exchanged for 10 baht and a balloon with four pinpricks in it fastened over the neck will suffice as your brewing equipment. A Hop Shop would make a fortune here ...

  21. #96
    sabaii sabaii
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    Thanks for this link. I've had 3 different goes at ginger beer
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    using an aussie friend's recipe
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    Turned out a white fizzy brew
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    Friend said it tasted like Nitromores and spat it out
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    pineapple to sweeten it up a bit
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    ginger acts as an accentuate and gets rid of all and any sweeteners fast leaving you with something depthless and vinegary
    Quote Originally Posted by tamsin
    Anyway. I'm going to give the katalyst2 recipe a go (8ks of brown sugar to give it a rum taste, love rum)
    You spelt cum wrong

    I see why it's named Withnalls Wank Juice now

    I take it all back about Chang Export

  22. #97
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Last Online
    27-02-2012 @ 08:59 PM
    Location
    Koh Chang
    Posts
    5

    Flat beer...

    If I may, I think this is where you went astray.

    It is absolutely essential to use a bottle that can withstand the pressure of the secondary fermentation, because the idea is to force the CO2 into the liquid. If you constantly release the pressure it will never carbonate. Its just like removing the lid on the fizzy pop bottle every time it builds up pressure... it will be flat after a short time - like your ginger beer turned out.

    I have bottled home brew beer into the fizzy pop bottles and they held up just fine. I usually use glass beer bottles, but here in LOS I don't know where I would get bottle caps, and I also left my capper at home in storage! If anyone knows a source for caps I would love to know... I'm currently working on turning Chang bottles into secondary fermentation vessels, all I need are caps (I can figure out how to apply them somehow!)

    Also a better technique for the secondary fermentation is to rack the brew out of the primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter where it can be airlocked again if you like and left to finish, or you can proceede directly to bottling... either way when you are ready to bottle you add the sugar for carbonating directly to the brew in the secondary fermenter and start bottleing once it has dissolved. This ensures a uniform amount of sugar in each bottle, and if you are off in your measurement of the sugar it will be spread among all the bottles, and everything will be closer to just right. (If this is in your improvements section I'm sorry for repeating it)

    Instead of suck starting your siphon, try filling the tube with clean water (or a little bit of sterilizer - I use bleach diluted into water) and run that into a discard container until the brew starts to come through - then bottle as before.

    However, all that being said, thank you very much for the inspiration to brew here in LOS!

    Just one question... what is the legal status of brewing here? Not that I expect the storm troopers at the door, but I do live right next to the Tourist Police, and I don't want to have to bribe them ALL if they should happen to see what I am up to!!




    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke View Post
    Right onto bottling (again).

    Bottling.

    After 21 days, with trepidation i pulled off the electrical tape and moved the fermenters lid to one side, dipped in a sterilised scoop and took a sample.
    {Many moons ago i went to a vineyard in Greece, and they let me sample some wine before it was ready for bottling}. This brew tasted very similar to that - unready/young wine. No hint of sweetness with a few bubbles in.

    The fermenter was lifted onto a table, the plastic tube lowered into the brew, and the other end given a quick suck to start the siphoning process - as soon as the brew started to come through the siphon, i folded it to stop it pouring, and snipped off the last inch or so to stop contamination of the brew as it was bottled.




    The bottles i used were Singha water bottles 0.75l
    I didn't sterilise them, as they were factory sealed containing drinking water, and this has caused no problems in the past.
    I lined up the empty water bottles, and carefully put 1 teaspoon of white sugar into each one before i started filling. (More about this in the improvements section later).
    I tried to keep the end of the siphoning tube below the level of the brew in the bottle to prevent air from entering the mixture.




    If they are getting a bit bloated, release the pressure by opening a fraction of a turn to let the excess gas out and then retighten the cap.

    Store your bottled brew in a dark place (in this case a disused freezer), pop in a ginger cat, and leave for another 2 weeks MINIMUM whilst you once again savor the delights of Chang.

    Mmmmmmm.........close the lid?
    Last edited by margaritamadman; 18-12-2011 at 04:15 PM.

  23. #98
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Quote Originally Posted by margaritamadman
    If I may
    Of course - welcome.

    The carbonation of the beer was actually (at the time of the last post) just about the only part that was as successful as i hoped.

    Anyway, now that the brew has been bottled long enough, all of the yeasty aroma has gone, and the brew is very drinkable - if maybe a tad bland.

    The biggest problem was drinking it to soon.

    LEAVE THE BREW IN THE BOTTLES FOR 2 MONTHS, NOT 2 WEEKS AS I ORIGINALLY SAID.

    Live and learn. Withnalls Wank Juice MKII will be bottled next weekend, and i will actually use 1litre fizzy pop bottles.

  24. #99
    Member
    Bettyboo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Last Online
    Today @ 10:50 AM
    Location
    Bangkok
    Posts
    34,272
    ^ bottled next week - let's see how long you manage to leave it before in depth 'trials' begin!

    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke
    Actually, i've run out of ginger beer and have no intention of brewing anymore stout.
    You liar! Should I take your above post as a suggestion that you're feeling horny?

  25. #100
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    Quote Originally Posted by Bettyboo
    Should I take your above post as a suggestion that you're feeling horny?
    Damn.
    I should have checked to see if you were logged on.

Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •