What are /r/gingerbeer's favorite Products & Services?

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Five Star - Star San - 4 Ounce - High Foaming Sanitizer

This will last you a long long time. I did the boiling water method with some success, too, though.

It sounds like your bug just isn't very strong/active. You could try to oxygenate the cooled beer before pitching the yeast/bug. Put it in a sealed container, like that wine jug, and shake it vigorously, then add the bug. More oxygen will help the yeast reproduce.

Alternately I've been using US-05 beer yeast to great results. I pitch it at 1 gram per gallon (you'll get up to 20 batches of your recipe from a packet if you can manage to measure accurately -- although I'd just overpitch a bit and not worry). Anyways.. I cool my batch with ice quickly down to like 65F and sprinkle the yeast on top in a fermenter and give it 48 hours at room temp till the air lock starts bubbling a bit. Then I bottle and wait 24 hours and add to fridge and get great fermentation.

https://www.amazon.com/Fermentis-Safale-US-05-11-5-g/dp/B003P5KWKA/

I'm coming from a beer brewing background so you'll see a couple weird additions like lactic acid (since I got used to water adjustments) and a pinch of hops because I like the bitterness but here's a recipe. My family thinks it "burns" too much but I like it:

1 gallons water 400g ginger 15g amarillo 7.7% 500g sugar 110g monkfruit + erythritol 0.7ml lactic

food process ginger very fine

boil 5 mins ginger simmer 25 mins hops + sugar

48 hour ferment 24 hour carbonate

> spring water

Chloramine as that thing is very hard to get rid off.

It can certainly make it hard for ginger bug to kickstart fermentation, especially if sugar content is low.

I'd still try adding bit more sugar and water to see if that helps.

To be safe for next time you can use distilled water or use campden tablets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O9HWI/

I have made mine with tap water I pre-boiled and left over overnight.

I'd suggest picking up a cheap mandolin like this one https://smile.amazon.com/Mandoline-Mandolin-Vegetable-Vegetables-Julienne/dp/B09BQCXNWP/

I have one of these and used it to grate (ginger, cheese, whatever) before I borrowed my mom's food processor!

I think you might have trouble really extracting all the compounds juicing or maybe it is accessibility.

However, you can make very spicy ginger beer by boiling it just by, as you say, increasing the amount of ginger you use. First get it finely minced in a food processor then boil (I do 30 minutes, but maybe less time would keep more spice). Then you need to strain out the plant matter. I use a big hop filter like this https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Micron-Stainless-Strainer-Brewing/dp/B072Q1G91R

If you want more heat spice you can use cayenne and black pepper too.

I don't have the history but they had some at costco (US) and it has extremely high sugar content. Took me months to go through the case. I'm not sure what other options you have but I really like Q ginger beer in little cans. Much less sweet, high carbonation and a little cayenne for extra punch.

https://www.amazon.com/Drinks-Ginger-Spectacular-Premium-Mixer/dp/B071KC3846/

It is a lot of ginger, but I took it from a recommendation here, and I've come to really like the very spicy and potent ginger it gives. I do a 2-stage fermentation using a ginger plant, but I do strain out the blended ginger using a nut milk bag which helps the straining a lot. So blend, into the bag, squeeze out the ginger juice into a jar, and ferment.

Pretty sure you're making ginger beer but the carbonation is escaping. Try reusing a kombucha bottle or some other thing intended for carbonation. Even if the milk bottle seals and you get carbonation, you're risking it breaking easily because it wasn't manufactured with pressure in mind.

Not sure your situation but if you've got a Costco, I'd recommend picking up a case of something bottled from sierra nevada or lagunitas or north coast and enjoying the beverages while you wait for a capper and caps to ship from amazon. I've got one that looks like this.. been working great for 10+ years:

https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Bottle-Capper-Brewing-Capper-1/dp/B07TZNP2T3/

If you want to remove a variable, throw in a pack of US-05 and pitch a couple grams instead of the bug.

You can bottle condition successfully with what amounts to barely a dusting of yeast on the bottom of the bottle after it settles. Individual yeast particles are not visible and it is only when they flocculate that you see them. You can certainly carbonate without “dregs.” In a commercial setting this is sometimes accomplished by aggressively filtering and then adding back a yeast specifically designed for bottle conditioning, like CBC-1:

https://www.amazon.com/Lallemand-CBC-1-Conditioning-Yeast-gram/dp/B009XUA8L4

In my own experience, I brew inside a big hop screen using ginger finely minced in a food processor and use another screen to filter as I transfer to the fermenter. As long as I give a couple days in the fridge for settling and pour carefully in one smooth motion, leaving the last 0.5 oz in the bottle, it comes out crystal clear.

There’s definitely a pile of sludge in the bottom of the fermenter so part of your answer may be to do a bulk ferment for a couple days abd bottle without stirring up the “dregs”.

Hop screen:

https://www.homebrewing.org/400-Micron-Stainless-Hop-Filter--6-x-14_p_7115.html

It is possible that your bug is actually healthier than it used to be such that the yeast ate all the sugar in the first 3 days and the CO2 escaped whereas previously you had some sugar left when you bottled.

The appropriate measurement here is gravity, not time:

https://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Elite-Hydrometer-Combo-Hardcase/dp/B01KVCGRGW/

You are thinking after fermentation for bottling? I wouldn't, these things are notoriously unreliable, little jiggle and you'll have a nice beer fountain. Great if you are an acolyte of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but also a good way to get on the wrong side of your spouse... ;-)

Better get a bunch of something like this https://www.amazon.com/Tastebar-Silicone-Gaskets-Replacement-Bottles/dp/B07X5G8CWK/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3BQQ6T0HQCD8X&dchild=1&keywords=flip+tops+for+bottles&qid=1597833272&sprefix=flip+tops%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-5 - these ones are too expensive, mine cost me 8 Euros for 50 pc at the local hardware store. They fit on normal wine bottles. (You need bottles with a ledge like you can see in the pic.)

Or even easier, buy beer in flip-tip bottles, drink it (and/or find some friends to party) and reuse the bottles.

Yeah stick with the swing tops. I use the yeboda branded 16 oz swing tops on Amazon. I've bought 18 of them and all of them arrived intact and none have had any issues and are constantly in use. Mine are used for ginger beer and kombucha.

My only suggestion with these is a good practice to do and especially when they're quite carbonated is to keep pressure down on the lid when you're unlocking the swing top so you have the chance to stop the volcano eruption.

I had 1 bottle in a batch that was primarily not very carbonated and I just popped the bottle open assuming it was like the rest and the pressure releasing was so great the swing top itself was launched. So always control how you open it!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072Q417JQ/ref=cm_sw_r_apap_FhawmbB9Lg4X6