This weekend I put on two new batches, trying to make up for the January brews that were lost.
Brew date: 21/08/2022
| Mangrove Jacks Apple Cider (~5.6% ABV) “The Bec Brew” |
| To make 23 Litre Brew have on hand: * 1 x Mangrove Jacks Cider Kit * 600 grams lactose * 1000 grams dextrose to lighten body and increase ABV The kit contains all the sweeteners and apple flavors I boiled this for about 40 minutes. Before Bottling At the dry hop stage, add all of the liquid sweetener/flavoring |
| The Ginger Beer (5.0% ABV) “The Curie Concoction” |
| NOTE!!! * Refrigerate the Ginger and Apple for 24 hours soaked in brandy before starting the boil – no need to sanitise, as it gets pasteurised! To make 23 Litre Brew have on hand: Before the Boil: * in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of brandy, soak the ginger and apple for 24 hours in the fridge For the Boil * 1 x Brigalow Home Brew Ginger Beer Kit (includes yeast and nutrients) * 1500 grams dextrose * 500g lactose * Boil for 40 minutes After the boil, to be added in the pasteurise/steep step: * 200g of sliced/grated ginger, (soaked in brandy overnight) * 1 x Granny Smith Apple, thinly slices (also in the brandy overnight – didn’t have smitten) * 3 x Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract Didn’t have any mollasses, haven’t been able to find it lately. Added no spice or anything. Before Bottling At the dry-hop stage, will add 8tsp of Stevia. Do not overdo it! |
I didn’t bother to start both yeasts, and pitched the Ginger beer at about 30 degrees, and the Cider at 24.
Both fermenters have normal airlocks, and the ginger beer has the temperature sensor. Because the wort volumes are the same, they should broadly heat/cool enough for one temp sensor to control them both.
The idea with these brews is to see if I can accurately re-create the original receipes; this ginger beer has got to be one of my favourite drinks ever. Tragically I pulled it out too early from the January brew and they all blew up.
The SG of the cider was: 1.056, expected FG of 1.013
The SG of the ginger beer was: 1.040 at 30 degrees, expected FG of 1.013
I should be able to check the gravity on the weekend of the 17th and see whether they are ready for bottling.
Fingers crossed this time!
Update: 30/08/2022: The cider has more or less stopped bubbling; the Ginger beer is still going strong. I haven’t taken any gravity readings yet. Both have stayed at a very stable ~20 degrees as far as I can tell throughout.
Update: 10/09/2022: The cider gravity is 1.013 at 20 degrees, and the ginger is line 1.016 at 20 degrees, and I still fermenting a little bit, but has slowed right down.
This should be good for bottling next weekend?
Update: 22/09/2022: The cider is ready to bottle, but the ginger beer is _still bubbling_ and after last time I do not want to bottle it early. On the 19th or there abouts I removed the steeping bag of fruit, and checked for signs of bacteria (smells, residue) in case the bubbles were not fermentation, but couldn’t see anything out of place. There’s still odds that it’ll be ready for bottling by Sunday but I’m not holding out hope. The bubbling is really slow; maybe once per hour – but you can definitely tell. My primary concern is that I hope I haven’t upset the cider by letting it sit for a little while longer. There’s no hops or anything in there, so it should be fine. I will take a gravity reading on Saturday and if we’re looking good, I’ll add in the sweeteners.
Update: 25/09/2022: I put the sweetener in the cider, and about 8 just-below-level teaspoons of stevia in the Ginger Beer. This should be bottled on Wednesday; if the Ginger Beer is still bubbling I’ll not be adding any priming sugar to it.
Update: 28/09/2022: We bottled, and as the ginger beer had finally giving up gassing, we put in “half” doses of priming sugar, so that it has a little fizz. I have a control plastic bottle to test. Ended up with around 70 of each.