I made another half-gallon batch of this today using bread yeast instead of champagne yeast. I'll find out in a couple of days if the type of yeast has any impact on the taste. You cannot use bread yeast when making hard apple cider, for example, unless you want your cider to taste like apple bread.
From the first batch, the first liter was drunk 2 days after I transferred the brew from the 1-gallon jug to the two 1-liter glass bottles. It was sweet and had a very strong ginger kick to it. The best part was the carbonation. Nice and fizzy. The second bottle was drunk a week after racking and it wasn't as sweet. It had some carbonation and it might have bordered on being slightly alcoholic. Nonetheless it's a fun experiment.
Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beer. Show all posts
Ginger Beer
After the disastrous episode of making hard cider from scratch (came out tasting flat and very, very dry), I thought I would try my hand at making some ginger beer. I hope there is still some oomph left in the leftover champagne yeast. It's been lurking in a ziplocked bag in the fridge for about a year. This batch will presumably make 2 liters, which is good since I have two one-liter flip-top glass bottles.
The ingredient ratio comes from The Roasted Root.
Ingredients
1/4 c fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 c fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1 c cane sugar (add additional 1/4 c sugar if you enjoy a sweeter ginger beer)
1 tsp active dry yeast or champagne yeast
4 cups of filtered water + 5 cups of cold filtered water
One 2-liter plastic bottle with a screw top or a 1-gallon carboy with an S-curve airlock
Directions
Start by adding ginger, cream of tartar, and lemon juice to an 8-quart stock pot.
Add 4 cups of chlorine-free filtered water. Bring to a boil and add sugar. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 cups of chlorine-free filtered water.
Wait until the liquid temperature is between 75-100 degrees F. Then, add the yeast and stir.
Cover and let rest in a dark place for 3 hours. I just covered the pot with its lid and stuck it into the oven. Seems dark enough in there.
Use a fine strainer and pour liquid into a 5-quart bowl, to remove the small bits of ginger.
Use a funnel to fill the carboy. Fill airlock with water and attach to carboy. Place carboy in a dark, warm room.
Wait 2 days (sweeter), or 3 days (drier).
Once the beer has finished brewing (e.g., airlock stops releasing CO2), transfer to glass bottles with flip-top lids and store in the refrigerator. This slows the fermentation process and be careful when opening the bottles.
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| If everything goes right, ginger beer in 2-3 days. |
The ingredient ratio comes from The Roasted Root.
Ingredients
1/4 c fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 c fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1 c cane sugar (add additional 1/4 c sugar if you enjoy a sweeter ginger beer)
1 tsp active dry yeast or champagne yeast
4 cups of filtered water + 5 cups of cold filtered water
One 2-liter plastic bottle with a screw top or a 1-gallon carboy with an S-curve airlock
Directions
Start by adding ginger, cream of tartar, and lemon juice to an 8-quart stock pot.
Add 4 cups of chlorine-free filtered water. Bring to a boil and add sugar. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add remaining 5 cups of chlorine-free filtered water.
Wait until the liquid temperature is between 75-100 degrees F. Then, add the yeast and stir.
Cover and let rest in a dark place for 3 hours. I just covered the pot with its lid and stuck it into the oven. Seems dark enough in there.
Use a fine strainer and pour liquid into a 5-quart bowl, to remove the small bits of ginger.
Use a funnel to fill the carboy. Fill airlock with water and attach to carboy. Place carboy in a dark, warm room.
Wait 2 days (sweeter), or 3 days (drier).
Once the beer has finished brewing (e.g., airlock stops releasing CO2), transfer to glass bottles with flip-top lids and store in the refrigerator. This slows the fermentation process and be careful when opening the bottles.
No-knead Beer Bread
This is one of the laziest bread recipes I have come across. On the whole it tastes pretty decent. At least it doesn't have a ridiculously long proofing time like the Jim Lahey no-knead bread recipe. It probably also won't taste as delicious as an artisan bread. The bottle that went into this version was a Costco-brand pale ale. I made it as a backup bread for the stuffing.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F) + 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 c all purpose flour
One (12 oz) bottle of beer or ale
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
some cornmeal, for the bottom of the bread (optional)
Directions
After proofing the yeast, stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Let rise once for a couple hours until doubled in size. Fold dough into itself to make a ball or loaf or an oblong shape and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise again for 45 minutes. Score top of the loaf a few times with a sharp knife. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a pan filled halfway with warm water below the loaf. Bake for 30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F) + 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 c all purpose flour
One (12 oz) bottle of beer or ale
1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
some cornmeal, for the bottom of the bread (optional)
Directions
After proofing the yeast, stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Let rise once for a couple hours until doubled in size. Fold dough into itself to make a ball or loaf or an oblong shape and transfer to a baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise again for 45 minutes. Score top of the loaf a few times with a sharp knife. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a pan filled halfway with warm water below the loaf. Bake for 30 minutes.
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