Winter Warmer Ginger Beer Recipe
With the cold Tassie weather just around the corner, turn your next batch of ginger beer into a spicy warm treat with the addition of a few extra ingredients.
For this recipe we will be using the Morgan’s Ginger Beer Home Brew Kit.
Ingredients:
- Morgan’s Ginger Beer 1kg Brew Kit (includes Yeast & Nutrients)
- BDF Dextrose 1kg (results in roughly 4% ABV)
- 50-100 grams of Ginger powder
- For an extra ginger hit between 200-500 grams of finely sliced/diced ginger root
- 1 piece of star anise
- 1-2 sticks of cinnamon
- Lemon peel (sterilised in vodka)
- Morgan’s Carbonation Drops 250g (for bottling)
Equipment
- 2-3L pot
- Mad Millie Butter Muslin 90x90cm cloth bag
- Fermenter 30L
- Fermenter Accessories Package (Tap, S-bend Airlock, Grommet & Stick-On Thermometer)
- Amber Plastic PET Bottles 750ml 15 Pack
Recipe
- Place fresh chopped/sliced ginger root, star anise, cinnamon, lemon peel into the muslin cloth bag.
- Fill pot with just over 2 litres of water and bring to the boil. Add filled muslin cloth bag to boiling water, as well as the ginger powder, and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.
- Remove muslin cloth bag & allow water to slightly cool.
- Add exactly 2 litres of the hot spice water to a cleaned and sterilised fermenter.
- Pour in the contents of the ginger beer kit & 1kg of dextrose. (Optional; for a nutty caramel flavour, substitute up to 500 grams of dextrose for brown sugar, thank me later!) Stir until fully dissolved.
- At this point, add enough cold water to make up to 20 litres, be sure to keep stirring while filling.
- Stir in yeast and nutrient sachets thoroughly.
- Seal fermenter with lid and air lock. Allow to ferment between 22 – 30 deg Celsius. (Optional; use a heat belt to control the temperature).
- Fermentation will take around 6 days at a constant temperature of 22 deg Celsius & longer at temperatures below this.
- Bottle once fermentation has finished and a hydrometer reading of 1005 or below has been achieved. Do not bottle until fermentation has finished, adding only the correct amount of sugar to each bottle, otherwise over-gassed bottles could explode. Use 2 carbonation drops per 750ml bottle or 1 drop per 500ml bottle.
- Seal bottle and store above 20 deg Celsius for 2-3 weeks before enjoying by the fire on a cold dreary winter night.
Bonus Recipe
Bring approximately 1.5 L of your winter warmer ginger beer plus 500ml of orange juice to a simmer in a pot for about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat & add honey +/- whiskey to taste before pouring into mugs or heat-proof glasses. Take said mug and stand by a window during a cold stormy night & enjoy while you soothe your soul with this delicious drink.
