The Brewers' Guild

[Unsubtle Pete]

Count me in favour of recipes on this thread.

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

Here is a tried and tested Recipe that is possibly one of the easiest reciepes going!!

Alcoholic ginger Beer 
There are two ways of making ginger beer. The first consists of shredding ginger root and boiling it up with water and sugar. The second involves making a ginger 'plant' which can be re-used time and time again. This makes a batch once a week. The brewing process that will be discussed in this entry is the latter.
Equipment and Ingredients 
Equipment
•   A jar and lid which is big enough to contain the plant.
•   One pint-sized measuring jug
•   1 Gallon Demi john
•   Teaspoons
•   A large pan
•   A fine cloth for straining the plant
Ingredients
•   Dried ginger
•   Dried yeast
•   Sugar
•   Juice of four lemons
•   Water
Making the Plant
The plant is a mixture of dried ginger, yeast, sugar and water. This creates a yeast culture.
1.   In the jar, place one teaspoon of dried yeast, two teaspoons of dried ginger, four teaspoons of sugar and a pint (568ml) of cold water.
2.   Stir and keep at room temperature.
3.   Feed the plant every day with two teaspoons of dried ginger and four teaspoons of sugar. Stir after feeding.
4.   The plant will be ready after one week.

Making the Ginger Beer
1.   Place 1kg (2lb) of sugar and two pints of boiling water in the large pan. The sugar will dissolve.
2.   Add the juice of the four lemons to the pan.
3.   Strain the contents of the jar - the plant - through the cloth into the pan. See below for what is to be done with the solid portion of the plant.
4.   Add enough water to fill the demi john.
5.   Stir and rack.
6.   Store the Demi john in a safe place at room temperature, and leave for three to four weeks to 'brew'.
7.   Discard half of the solid from the plant or give it to someone so they may start their own. Place the remaining half in a clean jar with a pint of water and continue to feed as above.

[von Corax]

This is a sucrose-base recipe, as is the one from Victorian Farm. Does anyone know of a decent ginger beer recipe using a malt base, or if such a thing is even possible? (Papazian has a couple recipes in NCJoHB and HBC, but those are "beer-flavoured-with-ginger," while proper ginger beer is "ginger-first-and-foremost.")

[Rev. Jade]

Our first recipe!
Woo-hoo!
I think I may have to try that one, as it seems pretty simple and I've never made ginger beer before.

This is a sucrose-base recipe, as is the one from Victorian Farm. Does anyone know of a decent ginger beer recipe using a malt base, or if such a thing is even possible? (Papazian has a couple recipes in NCJoHB and HBC, but those are "beer-flavoured-with-ginger," while proper ginger beer is "ginger-first-and-foremost.")

I would think that any recipe that calls for enough malt that would contain the same amount of fermentables as 2lbs of sugar would result in a very malty "ginger" beer.

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

Our first recipe!
Woo-hoo!
I think I may have to try that one, as it seems pretty simple and I've never made ginger beer before.

It's all good !! you will also find it is a good base to experiment with.... with one particular brew, one did mange to drop in a rather large red chili pepper in.

Also this is a one Gallon recipe... (5 litres ish)

[Rev. Jade]

Hmm...chili ginger beer sounds pretty interesting...good idea!

Here's the (5 gallon) recipe I used in my recent apple cider endeavor:

• 5 gallons of apple cider (make sure the cider has no preservatives; the best to use is the kind with a good layer of gunk at the bottom)
• 2 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 2.5 teaspoons of pectin enzyme (to clarify to finished product)
• 1.25 teaspoons of yeast nutrient
• Nottingham Ale yeast
• Non-fermentable sugar (xylitol, Stevia, Splenda, Truvia, Ideal, erythritol, malitol, etc.) to taste
• Concentrated apple flavoring to taste

This recipe results in an ABV of around 8%; if you want it more alcoholic than that, add more juice concentrate or brown sugar and use a wine yeast instead of the ale yeast and if you want a less alcoholic cider, add less juice concentrate or brown sugar.
Mix up the first 6 ingredients in your fermenter and let it sit for about a week or two.
If you're planning on bottling and carbonating it, add some sugar before bottling so that the yeast have something to eat to produce carbonation.
The end product is slightly bitter, so you can add a non-fermentable sugar to sweeten it up.
I wanted a pretty sweet cider, so I added about a cup of Stevia before I kegged it.
Depending on what kind of cider you use, the end product may not taste very "apple-y;" the only cider that I could find in the middle of summer that didn't have preservatives in it was pretty cheap stuff that resulted in a kind of subdued tasting cider, so I added a couple of ounces of apple favoring that I picked up at the brew store.

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

here is a thought...... am trying to find a pint bottle beer crate so I can tidy up and keep bottled up ginger brau (and maybe mead once attempted), but currently unable to get hold of a crate... where would the best place be other than constructing one or going to ask a pub...

(heres is one of the mentioned solutions) http://www.instructables.com/id/wooden-beer-crate/

[Rev. Jade]

Hmmm...maybe those metal grid shelving basket things?
Something like these.

[von Corax]

Hmmm...maybe those metal grid shelving basket things?
Something like these.

You could also "liberate" a few milk crates.

Actually, how well it would work would depend on the dimensions of the basket/crate/box and the size of the bottles — not all breweries use the same diameter bottles, so not all beer crates are the same size. For best results, make your own crates; it shouldn't be too hard, and you could even do it on an apartment balcony if it came to that.

[Rev. Jade]

here is a thought...... am trying to find a pint bottle beer crate so I can tidy up and keep bottled up ginger brau (and maybe mead once attempted), but currently unable to get hold of a crate... where would the best place be other than constructing one or going to ask a pub...

(heres is one of the mentioned solutions) http://www.instructables.com/id/wooden-beer-crate/

Any further thoughts on what to do for a beer crate?

And does anybody have any beverages in the making at the moment?

[Madasasteamfish]

here is a thought...... am trying to find a pint bottle beer crate so I can tidy up and keep bottled up ginger brau (and maybe mead once attempted), but currently unable to get hold of a crate... where would the best place be other than constructing one or going to ask a pub...

(heres is one of the mentioned solutions) http://www.instructables.com/id/wooden-beer-crate/

Any further thoughts on what to do for a beer crate?

And does anybody have any beverages in the making at the moment?

Not that I can think of, although I am now tempted to have a go at making my own crate.

I'm also making a bit of an experimental batch of treacle ale, I'd be happy to post the recipe if anyone's interested.

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

yes please

[Madasasteamfish]

Righto here goes; *scuttles off the get the book*

Golden syrup     18oz (500g)
Black Treacle      9oz   (250g)
Lemons                   2
Ground Ginger   1tsp  (5ml)
Water               7pints (4L)

1. Dissolve the syrup and treacle in warm water, add the thinly pared rind and juice of the lemons and the ground ginger. Cover and leave to cool.

2. Add the yeast, stir the beer daily and when fermentation dies down in four or five days, move the beer to a cold place for 24 hours.

3. Syphon into bottles, prime with half a level teaspoon of caster sugar (any finely ground sugar or dextrose powder can be used instead) per pint, seal securely and leave for 10 days.

I can highly recommend this brew. I've tried it once (this is my 2nd batch and I'm planning on making a big batch soon) and it was smooth and slightly sweet with a bitter aftertaste and just a little kick from the ginger. The current batch is 'experimental' as I'm moving back in with my parents at the end of the week and am trying to use up as much stuff in my kitchen as possible and since I had some treacle left over from the first time I made it, and I also had most of a bag of granulated sugar I stuck 2lbs of that in to help make up the quantities (I don't imagine that it will affect the flavour too much, other than making it a little sweeter maybe).

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

i will have to give that one a go

Edit: Also how much yeast went into the brew?

[Madasasteamfish]

i will have to give that one a go

Edit: Also how much yeast went into the brew?

Well I don't think the recipe specifies, I just went with the quantities on my pot of dried brewer's yeast of 1tsp per gallon of must and it worked out fine for me (in my experience very few recipes actually specify quantities of yeast unless it's baker's or fresh yeast) I suppose you could use a packet of dried baker's yeast but I'd recommend activating it before you add it to the must.

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

Fantastic!! i shall now add that recipe of brews to try next... currently  other than the tried and test Ginger beer, i now have Mead and Treacle ale!!

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

Morning my Lords and Ladies of the guild!!

I'm going to be attempting some of the Treacle ale as mentioned by Madasasteamfish.

Will let you know how it goes.

Prof. Phineas

[Madasasteamfish]

Morning my Lords and Ladies of the guild!!

I'm going to be attempting some of the Treacle ale as mentioned by Madasasteamfish.

Will let you know how it goes.

Prof. Phineas

Excellent! I hope you enjoy it.

Although I would add one final instruction which I accidentally left out of the recipe (I was somewhat into my cups when I posted it), which is that after being bottled, it should be left for at least 10 days before being opened (it's the secondary fermentation in the bottle which gives you the head on the beer).

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

thanking you for that... i shall enjoy drinking it when it is done as well as making it

[Madasasteamfish]

thanking you for that... i shall enjoy drinking it when it is done as well as making it

Well drinking it once you've made it is all of most of half of a decent part of the fun.

[Rev. Jade]

I made some simple cherry cinnamon mead today.
Here's what I did:

• Ingredients:
  
  
  • 1 gallon of cherry juice with no preservatives or artificial whatnot
  • 3.5 pounds of raw honey (again, no preservatives or artificial anything)
  • 1 packet of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast
  • About 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
• Heat up the cherry juice to between 100-120 degrees Fahrenheit
• Stir in the honey
• Keep the heat on and stir for a couple more minutes, to make sure that all of the honey is dissolved
• Let it cool down to room temp
• Add the cinnamon and yeast, and give it a good stir
• Pour into your fermenter
• After 2-3 weeks, rack the mead; rack again once a week for 3 weeks
• Bottle and let it sit for as long as you want to age it (or have the patience to wait!)
• Enjoy!

[Kevin1632]

I had detailed instructions for Braggot, but the browser ate them.....

In short,

Seven gallon fermenter batch

5 lb honey

4 lb malt (extract or full up mash as wanted)

3 oz Saaz hops

Yeast #1214 Belgian Abby yeast


Heat the honey water mix first, skim off the protein foam

Add the malt

Hop and transfer to the fermenter

5 to 15 days to ferment, 4 to 8 months to age as the raw batch tastes like paint thinner right after fermentation.


averages 26.5% AbV

so be careful how you serve it as the finished drink is a stealth drunk.

Regards,
Kevin

[Professor Phineas Brownsm]

just bottled up some of my imfamous Ginger Beer..... i actually used some proper beer yeast in it this time.... at the moment its ABV is around 6.5%

[Rev. Jade]

Well, we drank the last of my cider last night.
That means that today is another brew day!
I'm going to be using the same recipe this time around, so nothing really new there.
I'm also racking my mead today, which is also not really exciting; just thought I'd share!

My Irish Red is gone as well, but seeing as I have no money and can't buy beer supplies with food stamps money, I will have to wait to brew more beer

Does anybody else have anything going on, brewing or otherwise?

[Madasasteamfish]

Well I'm making a batch of 'Grocer's red' (a bog standard red wine made with jams), and I'm hoping to make some stout from a kit and possibly some rhubarb wine at the weekend.