Ginger beer (No/Low Alcohol)

Atron Seige
Brewer
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Recently I tried a few non-alcoholic and alcoholic ginger beers, but I missed the Ginger Burn that I remembered from a South African cold drink Stoney.

My memory of ginger beers start in the long ago times when home made ginger beer was in the fridge or pantry, and everyone in the house regularly squeezed the re-used 2 liter plastic bottles and released the pressure if it was needed.

A part of the memory and process were the raisins. Every home made ginger beer had a few raisins in it. BUT WHY?

The original recipe shown in the image below lists all the steps that I assume “everyone using the book” would know and understand. I am not one of those smart people, so I am adding explanations where I needed them in my recipes further down. GemmerBier

First will be the the original recipe, followed by the same recipe adjusted for smaller volume and then using brewing sugars.

I will include links of where I got my equipment if I can remember.

Original Recipe

Source

Kook en Geniet. S.J.A. de Villiers. ISBN: 079812943

Ingredients

Drink

Name Amount
Water 4.5 liter
Ginger root 28 gram
Sugar 500 milliliter / 2 cups / 450 gram
Lemon 1

Yeast Starter

Name Amount
Water 250 milliliter
Sugar 5 milliliter / 1 teaspoon
Yeast 15 milliliter

Steps

Ginger Beer

  1. Bring the water to a boil
  2. Add the crushed ginger
  3. Add the sugar
  4. Stir until the sugar is dissolved
  5. Add to enamel can or bucket to cool until lukewarm
  6. Add the yeast starter
  7. Add the thinly sliced lemon
  8. Leave for 24 hours
  9. Transfer the ginger beer into bottles using a cloth to filter out any particulates
  10. The beer should be ready to drink in a day or two.

Yeast Starter

  1. Mix yeast and sugar in lukewarm water
  2. Leave for 5 to 10 minutes for fermentation to begin
  3. Add to Ginger Beer when Beer is luke warm

My Recipe Preparation Notes

Equipment

  • 5 liter pot to boil the water and ingredients
  • Funnel that can handle warm liquids
  • 5L Glass Jar Demijohn
  • Rubber bung
  • Airlock

Cleaning

All equipment should be cleaned properly before use.

Sanitization

Demijohns, bungs and airlocks must be sanitized!

Ginger Prep

You can do this while waiting for the water to boil. I used Jacob Burton’s How to Peel & Mince Ginger as my guide on how to prepare the ginger. I used the “Fine Minced Ginger steps”, as listed below.

  1. Remove any small bits from the root. Smaller than 1cm is too small. See 0:13 from the video
  2. Remove the skin using a spoon. See 0:19 from the video
  3. Cut into disks about 5 millimeters thick. See 1:08 from the video
  4. Wack each ginger disk with a solid flat item like a spatula or large knife. See 1:14 from the video.
  5. Add the ginger to the water, even if the water is not boiling.

Lemon Prep

Fruit skin is covered with yeast and bacteria, so cleaning is important.

  1. Rinse the lemons in warm water and wash with soap
  2. Rinse the lemons in warm water to remove all soap

Yeast Prep

To reduce the complexity of the recipe, the dry yeast will be added to the wort once inside the fermenter.

My Recipe 1 - Just smaller

Ingredients

Drink

Name Amount
Water 3.5 liter
Ginger root 21 gram
Sugar 350 gram
Lemon 1

Yeast Starter

Name Description Amount
Water Filtered water 200 milliliter
Sugar White Sugar 4 grams / 5 milliliter / 1 teaspoon
Yeast Saf-Ale S-04 5 grams

Steps

Ginger Beer

  1. Bring the water to a boil
  2. Prep the ginger
  3. Add the crushed ginger
  4. Add the sugar
  5. Stir until the sugar is dissolved
  6. Cover and allow cool until lukewarm
  7. Prep the yeast starter
  8. Sanitize the funnel
  9. Sanitize the demijohn
  10. Take OG reading
  11. Transfer to demijohn
  12. Add the dry yeast
  13. Insert the bungs and airlock
  14. Sanitize a cutting board and knife
  15. Cut the lemon into thin slices
  16. Add the thinly sliced lemon
  17. Leave for 24 hours
  18. Sanitize a funnel that fits into bottles
  19. Sanitize a cloth to filter out any particulates
  20. Sanitize bottles and caps
  21. Take gravity reading
  22. Transfer into bottles using the funnel and the sanitized cloth
  23. Store the bottles at room temp for 24 hours
  24. *** CHECK PRESSURE OF BOTTLES REGULARLY ***
  25. Move the bottles to a fridge
  26. *** CHECK PRESSURE OF BOTTLES REGULARLY ***
  27. Serve ASAP

My Recipe 2 - DME

Ingredients

Drink

Name Amount
Water 3.5 liters
Ginger root 23 grams
DME 385 grams
Lemon 1

Yeast Starter

Name Description Amount
Water Filtered water 200 milliliters
DME DME 4 grams / 5 milliliters / 1 teaspoons
Yeast Saf-Ale S-04 5 grams

Steps

Ginger Beer

  1. Bring the water to a boil
  2. Prep the ginger
  3. Add the crushed ginger
  4. Add the sugar
  5. Stir until the sugar is dissolved
  6. Cover and allow cool until lukewarm
  7. Prep the yeast starter
  8. Sanitize the funnel
  9. Sanitize the demijohn
  10. Take OG reading
  11. Transfer to demijohn
  12. Add the dry yeast
  13. Insert the bungs and airlock
  14. Sanitize a cutting board and knife
  15. Cut the lemon into thin slices
  16. Add the thinly sliced lemon
  17. Leave for 24 hours
  18. Sanitize a funnel that fits into bottles
  19. Sanitize a cloth to filter out any particulates
  20. Sanitize bottles and caps
  21. Take gravity reading
  22. Transfer into bottles using the funnel and the sanitized cloth
  23. Store the bottles at room temp for 24 hours
  24. *** CHECK PRESSURE OF BOTTLES REGULARLY ***
  25. Move the bottles to a fridge
  26. *** CHECK PRESSURE OF BOTTLES REGULARLY ***
  27. Serve ASAP