I already chucked the ginger kit unfortunately so I can't remember. It's not ridiculously sweet or anything, probably what I'd expect for a ginger beer, it's more that I was hoping the stout would balance it a bit more but it's not quite there.
I think I'll keep it simple - dry hop with some...
So an update on this, I went ahead and mixed a ginger beer kit with a Coopers stout kit, as well as a Coopers Brew Enhancer. I think number 2? Honestly this was an afterthought, I chucked it over a Voss Kveik yeast cake that I had already used to do an IPA and then rapidly turn around a porter...
Nice! I'm glad to hear it worked with extract. I'm honestly fine with drinking 20+ litres of pretty ordinary beer - everything tastes better when it's home made! So long as I've tried something interesting and learned something from it, even if I don't quite get the balance right. Reckon this...
Yeah will do, though I've already played around with mulling stouts with ginger and other spices and I'm a fan.
Only thing I was thinking hops-wise is I've got some Cascade and Eclipse hops that aren't otherwise earmarked for anything, and the orange/mandarin notes could work very nicely. No...
I had an idea while drunk and now I'm sober I'm curious about it's feasibility.
I want a lazy, ginger-y dark ale, something reminiscent of ginger biscuits and coffee.
I was thinking of just chucking a standard Ginger Beer kit in with a Porter or Stout kit, throw in adjuncts as required, and...
Thanks for this. Yep, I went with the ale yeast on the bottom of the tin instead of the lager yeast that came with the full kit specifically because I had no temperature control. I'm saving it for winter. I will eventually invest in a fridge but I literally have no room for it right now, so I'm...
Yeah it dropped! I did gently invert each bottle, but it stayed down and didn't get any worse, and the beers have mostly cleared of haze now without any chilling.
Update on this for anybody interested - tasted another bottle and no sign of infection. The beer has some minor off flavours probably due to fermenting a bit too warm, but it's perfectly drinkable and the haze is starting to drop.
I've put my second batch on and it's also tasting fine and is...
Oh yeah I know it's not going to do me any harm, I just want it to stay drinkable.
And yeah, while I might have another bottle or two over the next week just to track how it's developing, I know it will be at it's best in at least 2-3. Provided there isn't a growing infection of course!
Way ahead of you! Decided to do it earlier today.
It's far from crystal clear but much better than my first test bottle.
Head is great, but carbonation isn't quite there - it's only been a couple of days! But definitely feels a touch flat.
Flavour wise, it's... fine. Better than VB! Some...
I did get a few not fantastic flavours and aromas early, mostly astringent and plasticky, which I assumed was chlorophenol and down to Canberra's somewhat highly chlorinated water. That's why I decided to dry hop. Between that and letting it sit for about 10 days the off flavours are no longer...
It fermented pretty quick! Got down to 1.010 in about 2-3 days. I wouldn't have thought an underpitch would do that?
In any case, I've picked up some Voss Kveik for summer brewing so temp control is less of an issue. I will eventually invest in some temperature control but I'm seeing what I can...
I suspect the yeast wasn't the healthiest because it was from a non-descript silver packet that came with a Morgan's Blue Mountain Lager tin, whose age and condition I have absolutely no idea of, and I got lower attenuation than I was expecting.
No signs of any infection while fermenting, and...