Brewers/Bakers Yeast
Discussion
I want to make some Ginger Beer for a party Friday. I'm semi-housebound today but want to get it on the go. Only problem I have though is that we only have baking yeast in the house, not brewers. I understand they are fundamentally the same, any tips on reducing the amount etc to avoid any wrong flavours etc?
I've heard of people using bread yeast to brew gingerbeer successfully. if i was doing it i would probably use the same quants as you use for beer.
I am a little bit dubious about it being ready for friday though. when i made ginger beer it took 3 weeks to make. 1.5 weeks in a bucket then transfered to plastic bottles to finish fermenting and fizz. if you ferment it directly in closed bottles you are going to have a fountain on your hands when you open it.
I am a little bit dubious about it being ready for friday though. when i made ginger beer it took 3 weeks to make. 1.5 weeks in a bucket then transfered to plastic bottles to finish fermenting and fizz. if you ferment it directly in closed bottles you are going to have a fountain on your hands when you open it.
Cheers for that. According to River Cottage (repeat I assume) they were doing it three days in advance directly in plastic bottles. As you say though, there was a fountain, so careful opening required. The recipe also mentioned letting off a little gas each day to avoid it going too OTT.
Pete Franklin said:
let us know how it goes. I wouldnt be too worry about them exploding if you use fizzy drinks bottles- just make sure you dont do it in glass!
Exactly that, in plastic drinks bottles. No guarantee obviously, but the 'recipe' reckons on that time period-ish so fingers crossed! Will scare the living s**t out of the dog if they do go off in the night though!muppetdave said:
Exactly that, in plastic drinks bottles. No guarantee obviously, but the 'recipe' reckons on that time period-ish so fingers crossed! Will scare the living s**t out of the dog if they do go off in the night though!
I came home from work a few weeks ago to find my pressure barrel had been leaking my home brew beer through the floor and on to the dog's bed, a good 2-3 pints I reckon, it hummed in there!Couldn't tell if it was drunk or not as it's a springer and they don't walk anywhere in a straight line anyway!
Edited to add, now the wife's cider is out of the brewing bucket, considering ginger beer myself hence looking here but must admit am a little aprehensive
PGM said:
I came home from work a few weeks ago to find my pressure barrel had been leaking my home brew beer through the floor and on to the dog's bed, a good 2-3 pints I reckon, it hummed in there!
Couldn't tell if it was drunk or not as it's a springer and they don't walk anywhere in a straight line anyway!
Edited to add, now the wife's cider is out of the brewing bucket, considering ginger beer myself hence looking here but must admit am a little aprehensive
Sorry For off topic but... once your pressure barrel had leaked was the beer inside still fizzy. reason i ask is i usually bottle my beer but i have a couple of old pressure barrels that i got with my second hand kit. I tested them out- filled them with water, added c02 and and the pressure seemed to have escaped after a day or so. not sure if they are going to be ok to use like this. does the pressure just push the beer out or does it keep it fizzy, or both? any advice would be great.Couldn't tell if it was drunk or not as it's a springer and they don't walk anywhere in a straight line anyway!
Edited to add, now the wife's cider is out of the brewing bucket, considering ginger beer myself hence looking here but must admit am a little aprehensive
Mine was a new barrel and I had not tightened up the tap enough.
I don't like fizzy beer but it was still very lively getting it out of the tap when I drank it about 3 weeks later so I wouldn't worry unecessarily.
You put vaseline on the threads of the top where you put the co2 in and check all seals are OK, the bottom tap will just be OK tightened up as the beer will be harder to force out than air.
I don't like fizzy beer but it was still very lively getting it out of the tap when I drank it about 3 weeks later so I wouldn't worry unecessarily.
You put vaseline on the threads of the top where you put the co2 in and check all seals are OK, the bottom tap will just be OK tightened up as the beer will be harder to force out than air.
Meant to update after the party. It worked really well, and I'm not saying it couldn't have done with more time (I wouldn't know the difference though to make an educated comment). I had to open the bottles very slowly (i.e. took me ten minutes doing so very very steadily), but it was fine. And everyone loved it. Used the same quantity of yeast as the brewers mentioned and it was fine.
As luck would have it, the paper I scribbled the recipe onto was on the table.
1/4 tsp brewers yeast
225g caster sugar (I wasn't being organised, so all but one bottle had demerera)
1.5 - 2 tbsp grated ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp honey
1. Add the yeast and sugar to a plastic 'fizz' bottle (2 litre)
2. Mix the ginger, lemon and honey, and pour this in to the bottle
3. Fill the bottle to 3/4 with water and shake until the sugar's dissolved
4. Top up the water to about an inch from the cap
5. Place somewhere warm for a few days. I made it on Tuesday and drunk on Friday. Not saying more time wouldn't help it, but that was fine and not too yeasty or anything.
I frequently turned the bottles a bit as you would sloe gin etc to get the sugar fully dissolved, it didn't do it fully first time. Also, I mixed the ginger, lemon and honey in a jug and filled that with water - far easier to pour in that way!
1/4 tsp brewers yeast
225g caster sugar (I wasn't being organised, so all but one bottle had demerera)
1.5 - 2 tbsp grated ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp honey
1. Add the yeast and sugar to a plastic 'fizz' bottle (2 litre)
2. Mix the ginger, lemon and honey, and pour this in to the bottle
3. Fill the bottle to 3/4 with water and shake until the sugar's dissolved
4. Top up the water to about an inch from the cap
5. Place somewhere warm for a few days. I made it on Tuesday and drunk on Friday. Not saying more time wouldn't help it, but that was fine and not too yeasty or anything.
I frequently turned the bottles a bit as you would sloe gin etc to get the sugar fully dissolved, it didn't do it fully first time. Also, I mixed the ginger, lemon and honey in a jug and filled that with water - far easier to pour in that way!
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