-Pam Scott-
When I first started working at Fifth Season in Charlottesville, we had a wonderful landlord who would stop by and tell us amusing stories about the “old” Charlottesville and the car business he ran in our sprawling, funky building. He would bring us delicious treats to perk up our workday, and he always had a good word about how much fun it was to come into our store and see all the new and exciting projects and products. He was not just our landlord, he was our dear friend. His name was George.
Last year at his memorial service there were plenty of amusing stories and tributes as well as copious amounts of his favorite cocktail, bourbon and ginger. Being from the north, this bourbon and ginger concept was totally new to me, but I became quite fond of it. In celebration of summer, friendship, and all things delicious I decided to serve this delightful cocktail with a new twist, home made ginger beer. We call this spicy adult beverage “The George”.
This ginger beer is great to drink plain over ice or mixed with fruit juice as well. There are many recipes out there for ginger beers, some use a starter called a ginger plant. Some recipes have a longer fermenting time, creating a more alcoholic brew. This recipe is simple, and the beer is very low in alcohol. I use a champagne yeast but it may be fun to experiment with other yeasts. This recipe makes a five gallon batch, but I have included a one gallon recipe as well.
For five gallons you will need a large brew pot with a boiler valve to transfer the wort into the carboy, a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock, a brewing thermometer and a pressurized corney keg.
I use organic ginger for this recipe, as anti-sprouting agents on non-organic ginger may effect the activity of the yeast.
Ginger Beer 5 gallons
- 5 gallons filtered water
- 5 t cream of tartar
- 2.5 cups fresh organic ginger, peeled and grated, I use the food processor to grate
- 2.5 cups fresh lemon or lime juice, or mix half and half
- 10 cups cane sugar or brown sugar
- 2.5 t champagne yeast
Add cream of tartar, lemon juice and ginger to brewing pot with 2 gallons of water.
Bring to a boil, turn down heat and add sugar, stir to dissolve.
Add cold water and allow to cool to 75 degrees.
Add yeast, stir, and cover with a towel, let sit in a dark place for 3 hours.
Strain and transfer to a carboy or brew bucket with an airlock.
Let it ferment for 3 days and transfer to a corney keg or bottle into plastic litre bottles allowing plenty of air room. If using plastic bottles, release air pressure once a day and keep refrigerated.
Ginger Beer 1 gallon
- 1 gallon filtered water
- 1 t cream of tartar
- 1.5 cups organic ginger
- 1.5 cups fresh lemon juice
- 2 cups cane sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 t champagne yeast
Follow procedure as for 5 gallons, but instead of transferring into carboy put into four 2 litre plastic bottles. Leave to ferment in plastic bottles for 3 days, making sure to unscrew the tops twice a day to let off co2, or the bottles may explode. I use plastic for this reason. After 3 days, refrigerate, unscrew top once a day. This will keep for one week.
All of your brewing supplies for this and any other brewing projects can be found at Fifth Season Gardening. Happy summer!
Albert Edward Wedworth says
So is that tablespoon of cream of tartar or teaspoon?
ashley says
teaspoon!
MsKB says
Four two liter bottles equals more than one gallon. Two bottles of this size should be sufficient
Heather says
Do you know what ABV this ends up being?
Greg Mort says
I have left the ginger beer fermenting in the carboy for 3 days now and it is still bubbling at the airlock (I assume it is still fermenting) – can I still keg it or should I wait until the fermentation has stopped?
I have not measured the OG or FG and I have got the kids very excited they are having ginger beer but now I am worried as I do not know the alcohol level in the ginger beer so might have to drink it all on my own.
Sandy Jo says
Can you leave bottles uncapped during the 3 day fermentation period?
Tom says
I am making a variation of this with more herbal additions for a sort of tonic, what does the cream of tartar do for the recipe, is it to stabilize the water ph?
ashley says
Hi Tom,
Cream of Tartar is usually used in brewing as a substitute for citric acid to break down sugars, stimulate yeast and inhibit microbial growth but this recipe already has a good amount of citrus juice in it so its main purpose is for mouth feel to smooth out the peppery taste. Regards – Pam
Matt says
12 cups of sugar in 5 gallons will make a ginger beer of approximately 5% alcohol! Definitely not something to give to kids!!
Mark Sonzogni says
I’ve had the brew in a carboy with airlock for 2 days and not a sign of a bubble. Any thoughts?
ashley says
Hi Mark,
Hmmm, my questions would be as follows:
– what size batch are you doing and what size carboy is it in?
– is there definitely enough liquid in the airlock for bubbles to be visible?
– was the ginger beer cooled before you added the yeast?
– can you see foam on top of the ginger beer or any visible signs of activity?
Basically, I would make sure that the airlock has sufficient liquid in it to bubble, and that the bung is pushed in and sealed. Also, there should be visible signs of fermentation other than bubbling. The carboy will be clear which will allow you to see the liquid churning from fermentation. If the beverage is still, then you have no fermentation. If you brewed, say, a gallon of ginger beer in a 3 gallon container, it just takes a lot of co2 to fill that space before it is pushing out (i.e bubbling). However, you would still see foam on top of the liquid and the churning. If there’s definitely no fermentation, then my suggestion would be to repitch the yeast and maybe add some yeast nutrient.
Cheers!
T. Vincent says
Using your recipe for ginger beer, how long do I need to let it ferment in order to boost the alcohol content to somewhere between 3% – 5% ?
ashley says
Hello, and thanks for your question. Time is only a player in the creation of alcohol vis a vis the time necessary for yeast to work through the sugar present in the batch. The sugar content will be what dictates the alcohol content, as sugar represents the potential for alcohol.
The way to understand alcohol creation is as a function of Specific Gravity with the sugars you’re working with. Table sugar has a specific gravity of 1.046 which means that 1 lb of table sugar (sucrose) dissolved in 1 gallon of water yields a gravity of 1.046. If yeast were to eat 100% of that sugar and drop the gravity to 1.000 then you would have 6.04% abv. So, in order to yield 5% alcohol you would use .82 lbs of sugar to yield a starting gravity of 1.038. The yeast would eat all that sugar and leave you with about 5% alcohol. If you wanted to get 3% abv then you would start with about .5 lb of table sugar.
So, to yield 1 gallon at 3-5% abv you’re looking at .5-.82 lbs of table sugar. It will take them very little time to eat through that sugar as it is not a complex molecule. Hope that helps – cheers!
Mr D.S.Bell says
Using your recipe for 1 gallon of ginger beer.I am making a ginger bug.Can I use that in place of 1 and a half cup of ginger. What do you advise? Many Thanks David S. BELL .
ashley says
Hi David,
Seems like the bug would take the place of at least some of the ginger and sugar in the ginger beer recipe. I guess it depends on how much ginger you use in your original bug and how gingery you want the final product to be. I’d definitely cut back some on the ginger called for in the recipe, because the bug is a replacement for that (and some sugar as well). You might just have to experiment a little to find the perfect combo. Good luck, and happy brewing!
Phillip Kaufman says
very nice recipe! I grow my own ginger here in Houston, TX area. Bought some ginger and planted it! Just harvested yesterday (Jan 16; was 75F which is 15 degrees higher than normal) and doing your recipe. I have been homebrewing (beer) for over 30 years and I am going to completely ignore adding champagne yeast and go directly to the corney keg, pressurize and refrigerate. So no alcohol. Perhaps next time add some champagne yeast but don’t see why I would if I have CO2 carbonation means. Maybe a different flavor?
Its cooling as I type and will keg in the a.m. Cheers
ashley says
Hope the ginger beer turned out great, and that your ginger harvest was a bumper crop! Cheers!
Dave says
Trying the 5 gallon recipe here. Has been in the fermenting bucket for 3 days, but still bubbling like crazy. Timed it and is like every 45 seconds. Concerned that I should wait longer to put it into the corney keg. This is my first time using a corney keg. Should I go ahead and transfer or wait until the fermentation slows down. And how long do you recommend in the keg, before tapping it?
ashley says
Hi Dave, So what we have done is add Potassium Sorbate to stop the fermentation – give it one more day before you add it to see if fermentation slows on its own. Then you can back sweeten it if you want, without making it crazy alcohol. Keg it and set it at like 30 PSI. I’d imagine that this would be carbonated in 5-7 days. You can drink it at any point once it’s in the keg. It won’t have any effect on the carbonation process. Cheers!
BW says
I’ve made a 5 gallon batch and going on day 6 of fermenting. Still creating quite a bit of bubbles through the airlock. Had planned to bottle tomororw (day 7) just like I’ve done with my beer brews… in beer bottles, but now I am a little worried everything I’ve read with all of the warnings about exploding bottles, etc. Any suggestions to mitigate this? My first batch I did a much smaller quantity, and just ditributed between 2 growlers (one glass and one stanless steel) and two 25 oz glass bottles with the plastic/rubber swivel tops, releasing the pressure morning and night for a few days before placing in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. Can’t I bottle, cap, and immediately throw in the fridge to mitigate the exploding bottles, etc.? If so, will I also lose the cabonation? Somewhat new to brewing, so any suggetions would be appreciated. Everyone I share with really enjoyed my last batch. I’d prefer not to put into larger bottles, 2 liter plastic bottles, etc. Both for the tacky presentation/look and becuase those won’t last as long. My goal was to share with friends/family, a 6 pack or two each. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
BW
ashley says
Hello! From a science standpoint, there are very few variables that contribute to a bottle explosion and if you can understand and control those then you should be able to avoid a bottle bomb. As you may know, carbonation is generated when a microorganism (yeast hopefully) consumes sugars as part of a metabolic process that yields CO2 as a byproduct. That CO2 is released, unable to escape the bottle, and dissolves into solution as carbonation. You get a bottle bomb when you leave too much sugar in the beverage when you bottle it. Too much sugar allows the microorganism to create an amount of CO2 inside the bottle that would lead to an explosion. Basically, sugar is the key to avoiding bottle bombs. The amount of yeast still there can play a role too, but sugar is the fuel to the carbonation fire.
I would say that it’s too early to bottle if you’re still seeing “quite a few bubbles” through the airlock. At the very least, you should wait until the bubbling slows down some. Gravity reading comparisons could help here as well. Gravity is your best means of measuring the remaining sugar content. The closer it gets to 1.000 the lower the chance of a bottle bomb. If you bottle and immediately put it in the fridge that may or may not prevent a bottle bomb. It could slow it down bc the cooler temps slow the microorganism down or it could kill the microorganism/put it into dormancy and then you would get no carbonation. Best bet is to let them stay out of the fridge until they have the level of carbonation you want and then put them in the fridge to stop it from continuing. Cheers!
Bob says
Why is your ginger and lemon juice ingredients not proportionally the same for the 1 gallon and 5 gallon batches? Which one is correct? For example, you say 1.5 cups of ginger for the 1 gallon batch but only 2.5 cups for the 5 gallon batch which is no where near 5 times as much.
ime macasaet says
hello. can i use an ordinary yeast? does it have to be champagne yeast? what difference does it make to use a certain kind of yeast?
thanks!
ashley says
Hi Ime,
Well, you should certainly use a yeast intended for liquid fermentation. It doesn’t have to be a champagne yeast, but those are generally very clean and neutral. If you wanted to use a beer yeast or some other kind of yeast then that should be fine. You’ll just get more expression out of it and the flavors/aromas it produces may or may not jive with the ginger beer itself. Champagne yeast is commonly recommended because it produces very little character and lets the ginger shine while also producing a dry finished product with a nice effervescence. You should look at the yeast you are considering and take into account what flavors/aromas it is known to contribute, what it’s ideal fermentation conditions are, and how attenuative it is and make sure it matches what you’re looking for in a finished product. If you want a dry product then you don’t want a yeast with a low attenuation. If you have a hot house then you don’t want a yeast that needs cool conditions. If you want to taste the ginger then you don’t want to use an hefeweizen yeast that’s going to produce a bunch of banana notes. Hope this helps. Cheers! — Ethan at FSG
Another Bob says
Thank you for posting this recipe. I am going to give it a try today. I’ve been Googling for ginger beer recipes and have found a really wide range in the amount of ginger to use. This one seems to be pretty well in the middle. I’m going to follow the 5 gallon recipe closely, except I think I will force carbonate like Phillip in the comments and skip the yeast since it will be mostly for the kids. Though I do like getting my bubbles for free from the natural carbonation. I’ve done root beer both ways, and there is a little bit of a taste difference from the yeast and small amount of alcohol it produces. I’ll post again once it’s done with feedback on the results.
ashley says
Good luck with your brew! And do please post about the finished product! – Fifth Season Crew
Another Bob says
The brewing process went very smoothly. My 12 year old and I did it together over the weekend, and it was a fun project. Since the ginger root is sold by weight not volume, I ended up using 1 lb of ginger root (2 8oz bags) before peeling. I peeled it and ran it through the food processor and ended up with about 3 cups—a tad more than the recipe calls for. We squeezed 10 limes and 6 lemons to get to the 2.5 cups of juice. I used 5 cups of light brown sugar and 5 cups of white cane sugar. Forced carbonated it in the corny keg at 30 psi for 3 days.
It is very good. I would say it definitely spicier and a little sweeter than commercial ginger beers I’ve had, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I probably should have cut back a little bit on the sugar since I wasn’t naturally conditioning it.
Thank you again for the excellent recipe!
ashley says
Awesome! So glad you and your kid enjoyed the project and ended up with a tasty final product. Thanks for posting about your experience. Happy Holidays!
John Pally says
Hello,
Do you try and not collect the sediment on the bottom that is seen after a fews days of fermentation? I usually make mine in a 1 gallon container then transfer into bottles.
Thank you
brian says
We do try to avoid the sediment to make a cleaner finished product. But, really it’s up to you!
Matt Henderson says
What would be the challenges if I used monk fruit/erythritol sweetener? While an all-natural option, how will it affect my end product?
brian says
That’s a really interesting idea. It’s hard to know if you’d get the little bit of fermentation needed to produce CO2. Either way…we’d expect something that tastes good but may or may not carbonate. If you give it a try, let us know how it went!