Ginger beer from a ginger bug

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Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Sun Dec 11, 2016 1:15 pm

Wondering does anyone here make ginger beer from a ginger plant/bug? Wondering can I just double the volume of a ginger plant recipe straight off or should I build up the amounts slowly so I end with the double the volume? Not looking at high alcohol content just the old style ginger beer..
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby prawnz » Sun Dec 11, 2016 1:54 pm

bluc wrote:Wondering does anyone here make ginger beer from a ginger plant/bug? Wondering can I just double the volume of a ginger plant recipe straight off or should I build up the amounts slowly so I end with the double the volume? Not looking at high alcohol content just the old style ginger beer..



Ive been doing it for about 6 months now , and dont for the life of me understand why everyone does not do it . its easy , cheap and far superior to he commercial stuff .

I just double the recipe straight away , when you get to he boil up of the final body just vary the amount of sugar to taste , more for sweet , less for dry .

I started off using fresh ginger root but that is a bit expensive , went to powdered ginger but didnt like it . I now use minced ginger = beautiful .

Be careful with bottling as this method produces a LOT of bubbles . Glass is bad , shattering is a real risk . I use 2 lt soft drink bottles , they are designed for the pressure .

Have at it Bluc , reckon you wont look back .
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:04 pm

Awesome info thanks. I bought a tap a draft bottling system i plan to use, has 4 6l pet plastic bottles a tap and a small co2 cartridge for dispensing. I love the traditional ginger beer but never made it thanks again will go get it started :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby EziTasting » Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:30 pm

May be a silly question, but what is a Ginger Bug?
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:23 pm

Basically fermenting ginger and sugar with the natural yeast that is on the ginger skin. You feed this up with ginger and sugar for a week or so and it forms a "plant" or "bug", its a type of culture.(bit like kumbucha tea) Feed it till the liquid is bubbly.
You then strain the solids out and add that to a sugar and water or ginger/ sugar and water mixture and the yeast in the liquid starts to ferment the sugar.

You then put the solids into some water add a bit more ginger and sugar to keep the culture happy and start the cycle over. :-B
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby Professor Green » Sun Dec 11, 2016 5:20 pm

prawnz wrote:I now use minced ginger = beautiful .


Which minced ginger do you use prawnz, all of the ones I've seen at coles contain vinegar and/or oil which I can't imagine would do anything for flavour.

Cheers,
Prof, Green.
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby prawnz » Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:42 pm

Professor Green wrote:
prawnz wrote:I now use minced ginger = beautiful .


Which minced ginger do you use prawnz, all of the ones I've seen at coles contain vinegar and/or oil which I can't imagine would do anything for flavour.

Cheers,
Prof, Green.


Yep ,as does the one i'm using and my first thought was "this wont do" , thought it would kill off the yeast culture or cause a shit taste . Neither things happened . I can only assume that the vinegar content is minute .
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby Professor Green » Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:20 pm

Thanks prawns.

Cheers,
Prof. Green
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:03 pm

My bug is chugging away hope to bottle on sunday :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby TasSpirits » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:27 pm

You got a recipe to share? last one I tried was crap :puke-huge:
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:33 pm

This is one I am trying cant comment on it as its the first i have made with a bug. I made some from scratch without a bug and it was :puke-huge: hoping this is better :handgestures-thumbupleft:

GINGER BEER INGREDIENTS

1. Water

2. Ginger (a large piece about 8 inches long)

3. 1.5 cups of sugar

4. 2 lemons (it just isn’t the same without them)

GINGER BEER INSTRUCTIONS

1. To start the bug, place 1 cup of room temperature water in a jar or bowl (I use a mason jar). If your tap water is chlorinated, allow it to sit open to the air for an hour before proceeding (this will help eliminate the chlorine and will help the fermenting).

2. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of finely chopped ginger. Stir well.

3. Cover loosely with cheesecloth; I use a single layer as natural yeasts will enter the jar but flies will not. I hold it in place by screwing a band around it (just not using the lid).

4. Store in a warm, dry place.

5. Add ginger and sugar (the same amounts) every day, stirring after. Repeat until your contents become fizzy (you’ll be able to hear it). This should take a couple of days and up to a week. Our apartment has a bit of the initial chill of winter in it so it takes its sweet time.

6. Boil 2 liters of water with six inches of chopped ginger root (for a strong flavor, you can use less if you’d like) and 1.5 cups of sugar.

7. Allow the mixture to cool completely and strain the contents to remove the solids.

8. Add the juice of two lemons, and this syrup to your ginger bug.

9. Strain the mixture to remove solids.

10. Add water (again a good practice is to let the chlorinated water sit for a bit) to increase the contents to 4 liters (roughly a gallon)

11. Bottle in clean bottles – you can get them from brew-your-own beer stores, reuse Grolsch pop-top bottles (there’s a full post on how to use them here) or use beer bottles if you have a capper. We’ll share how to sterilize/clean later this week (it’s a post unto itself). Per above, plastic is the safest if you’re worried about explosions.

12. Store until the bottle is hard to squeeze (in the case of plastic). It should take 2 days to a few weeks (the warmer things are, the quicker this will be as long as the temperature is under 100 degrees farenheit). If you’re worried about pressure, open slowly over a sink to release pressure (further fermentation will make sure it stays carbonated).

13. Once it’s complete, store in refrigerator; know that this can be a little more prone to making a mess when opening so be near a sink, with a glass!

It’s really fantastic.
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby TasSpirits » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:44 pm

:handgestures-thumbupleft:
Will start this tomorrow, looks better than the one I tried last.
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby prawnz » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:49 pm

This is the same recipe I started with , just changed it up to suit myself .

For instance I doubled it up to end up with 9 lt of GBat the end . If you use the stated 1.5 cups of sugar to 2 lt of water the product will be slightly on the dry side which is just how I like it , if you want it sweeter just add more sugar at the boil stage .
When you open them for drinking be careful to note the warning about overflow , its like a volcano . Do it in the sink ,unscrew the cap and take it completely of in one motion then just wait till it finishes its bussiness . if you just crack the seal and dont take to cap OFF you WILL spray ginger beer everywhere . Once you get past this initial opening you can just open and close straight from the fridge .
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:52 pm

Thanks prawnz
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby rumdidlydum » Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:58 pm

Great write up bluc :handgestures-thumbupleft:
I might have to give it a go.

No doubt ill end up with it on the ceiling though 8-}
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby googe » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:02 pm

My mother in law does a similar one past down for her great-grandmother, for the past couple of years she's done some with honey, omg it's the finest tasting ginger beer ever!!!!.
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby Kenster » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:18 pm

bluc/prawnz.. what is the final sugar content...does it get used up in the ferment like a sugar wash...i need to 'watch' my sugar intake (health reasons) and was going to try a batch but was unsure if it would turn out a sweet as the commercial shit.
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:16 pm

Sugar is mostly for carbonation i think. It ends up very low abv..
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby bluc » Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:17 pm

googe wrote:My mother in law does a similar one past down for her great-grandmother, for the past couple of years she's done some with honey, omg it's the finest tasting ginger beer ever!!!!.

Recipe would be great googe if she wants to share :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Ginger beer from a ginger bug

Postby prawnz » Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:27 pm

Kenster wrote:bluc/prawnz.. what is the final sugar content...does it get used up in the ferment like a sugar wash...i need to 'watch' my sugar intake (health reasons) and was going to try a batch but was unsure if it would turn out a sweet as the commercial shit.


Yeh I think it would be prettysugary , the sugar in the bug would get converted but not so much in the final boil up .
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