Video summary

We made a BETTER Ginger Beer!

Main summary

Key takeaways

Cooking

Presenter / Channel

  • Brewing-focused channel (referred to as “we’re a brewing Channel”).
  • Mentions Northern Brewer and a community “VIP Club” featuring:
    • A private Facebook group
    • Monthly Zoom meetings

Ingredients (quantities / substitutions mentioned)

Ginger base

  • Fresh ginger: “whole hand to ginger”
    • Scrubbed/sanitized; peel left on
    • Broken into small chunks using a food processor (avoids mush)
  • Boiling water: 32 oz
    • Used initially to sanitize/cover ginger in the fermenter
  • Additional water to reach ~1 gallon total batch volume
    • Discussion totals: 104 oz extra + initial 32 oz (≈ 136 oz accounting for losses)

Sweetness / fermentation

  • White sugar: 1 lb
    • Used as neutral sweetness (others can be used; white preferred)
  • Yeast nutrient (semi-optional): 4.5 g
    • Mixed with a little water, added before pitching yeast
  • Yeast:
    • Half a packet of SAYFAL / S??O4 (noted as working well for ginger beer/ciders)
    • “Insurance yeast” added later (amount not clearly specified)

Flavoring (sanitized; hot water/fermenter contact)

  • Lemon peel:
    • Half a lemon’s peel; a whole lemon’s peel available
    • Used by adding peels into hot liquid
  • Lemon juice:
    • Juice from one whole lemon
    • Added to correct pH (dramatically lowers pH)
  • Semi-optional: making ginger tea by boiling ginger (not done this time)

Bottling carbonation (priming)

  • Priming sugar: 28 g white sugar per ~1 gallon
    • Used specifically for carbonation (not sweetness)
    • Made into a simple-syrup-like solution (no heat), using a small amount of ginger beer/must

Sweetener after fermentation (non-fermentable approach)

  • Allulose (non-fermentable):
    • Added gradually “until we like how it tastes” (grams not specified)
  • Alternative: Erythritol
    • Mentioned as usable instead of allulose (allulose preferred)
  • Caution: Maltodextrin
    • Mostly non-fermentable, but not fully (part may be fermentable)

Equipment + preparation steps

Equipment referenced

  • Food processor (to chop ginger without turning it into mush)
  • Glass fermenter
  • Sanitizer (acidic; mentions “2.4 pH”)
  • Thermometer
  • pH meter and specific gravity (SG) tools
  • Fermentation station / tray with lid (to catch overflow)
  • Airlock/bung setup
    • Lid sealing issue described
  • Auto siphon and bottling wand (controlled flow)
  • Pressure-suitable bottles (e.g., wine bottles not rated unsafe)
  • Bomb shelter: heavy-duty plastic tub for ~2 weeks
  • Refrigerator option for one extra-risk bottle (extra headspace)

Preparation / sanitation / extraction technique

  1. Ginger prep
    • Scrubbed and sanitized; peel left on
    • Food-processed into small chunks/bits (avoid mush)
  2. Hot-water sanitizing/extraction
    • Add 32 oz boiling water to fermenter carefully to cover ginger
    • “Covering our ginger with the boiling water thereby sanitizing it”
  3. Lemon prep
    • Lemons scrubbed and sanitized
    • Hot-water trick used to sanitize inside as well
  4. Heat transfer / cracking concern
    • Alternative suggested: do the hot-water ginger step in a pot, cool, then add to fermenter

Step-by-step method (timings / temperatures / technique cues)

1) Ginger + hot-water sanitization/extraction

  • Break ginger into small chunks (food processor), add to sanitized fermenter
  • Carefully pour in 32 oz boiling water
  • Confirm they avoided thermal shock (“looks like we’re good”)

2) Add sugar and build fermentable base

  • Add 1 lb white sugar
  • Stir/remix until mixed (sugar may form a crust)
  • Add lemon peel into the hot liquid for essential oils/flavor

3) Pasteurize/sanitize logic for the hot step

  • Reference comparison:
    • 140°F and 165°F with 15 seconds mentioned as an example
  • Their actual approach:
    • Hot liquid going into fermenter was 212°F, treated as safe/pasteurized

4) Adjust batch volume with more water

  • Add additional water to reach ~1 gallon target
  • Oxygenation note:
    • Oxygenating early phases is suggested as helpful for yeast colony establishment

5) Yeast nutrient (semi-optional)

  • Add 4.5 g yeast nutrient, mixed with a little water

6) Take readings + manage temperature

  • Measure SG and pH
  • Temperature safety cue:
    • Above 120°F is risky for yeast; they reported 111°F as “safe”
  • pH target and correction:
    • Discussed target: about 4-ish (roughly 3.5 to 4.5)
    • Initial pH: 6.6 (too high)
    • Fix: add juice from one whole lemon
    • After lemon juice: pH drops to ~4.0
    • Wait for stability: “30 seconds to a minute”
    • Re-check SG after pH adjustment:
      • SG rises slightly to ~1.034

7) Pitch yeast and ferment

  • Pitch yeast:
    • Add half a packet of S04 yeast
    • Mix so yeast is distributed
  • Lid/airlock setup:
    • Lid sealing issue (glass fermenter suspected)
    • Continue without blow-off tubes (mentioned but not preferred while multiple brews are running)
  • Fermentation duration and settling:
    • Wait 2 weeks
    • Record activity and readings after disturbance
    • FG after “done” check: 0.990 (“totally done”)
    • Because of lid issue and disturbance, let it settle another week
    • Final FG after extra settling: still 0.990 (“hasn’t moved”)

8) Sanitize racking/transfer, avoid disturbing sediment

  • Rack ginger/leaves carefully using auto siphon with cap on end
  • Avoid oxygenation and avoid leaves from the bottom
  • Optional: extra settling week for better appearance

9) Taste/confirm dryness and compute ABV (formula described)

  • ABV formula described:
    • (OG − FG) × 135
    • Later accuracy note: uses 131.25 when ABV is lower
  • OG: 1.034
  • FG: 0.990
  • ABV estimate:
    • ~4.2% ABV
    • Add ~0.3% for carbonation → ~4.5% ABV

Sweeten after fermentation (non-fermentable approach)

  1. Taste the racked, fermented beer
    • Very gingery and dry
    • They want sweetness for the final drink
  2. Add allulose gradually
    • Non-fermentable to avoid restarting fermentation and reduce bottle-bomb risk
  3. Re-check gravity
    • SG estimated around 1.020 (moderately sweet)
  4. Adjustment cue
    • Add “until desired taste”; overdoing sweetness is difficult to fix except by dilution

Carbonate in bottles (priming method)

Priming and sugar prep

  1. Measure priming:
    • 28 g white sugar per ~1 gallon
  2. Make a sugar solution
    • Mix priming sugar in a small amount of must/ginger beer (not just water) to avoid dilution
    • Dissolve fully and stir with a sanitized whisk

Insurance yeast

  • Add a small amount of insurance yeast at bottling
    • Rationale: some yeast may have died
    • Goal: enough to carbonate, not restart heavy fermentation or create extra sediment

Bottling

  • Use bottling wand on auto siphon for controlled flow and less mess
  • Yield: 8.5 bottles
  • One bottle placed in the refrigerator (more headspace → lower risk)
  • Others go to a bomb shelter

Fermentation / carbonation settling and final check

  • Bottles sit for ~two weeks in the bomb shelter
  • Preliminary tasting:
    • Carbonation evidence observed (e.g., “bubbles coming up the side”)
    • Carbonation may be slightly less than desired but present

Key results / taste + serving suggestions

  • Final characteristics:
    • Mentioned around ~6% ABV at tasting time
    • Ginger flavor described as strong, “sharp distinct,” and able to “cancel out” competing flavors
    • Slight haze noted (clear with some haze)
  • Serving ideas:
    • Works as a mixer (e.g., “whiskey ginger” style)
    • Also enjoyable on its own (not overly sweet)

Chef tips / common mistakes / notes

  • Ginger peel: leave it on; they tested despite warnings about bitterness
  • Avoid ginger mush: use the food processor carefully
  • Sanitization:
    • Hot-water step sanitizes lemon/ginger interiors
    • Don’t rinse sanitizer foaming agent—dump out and use
  • Avoid oxygenation, especially during racking and priming mixing
  • Lid sealing issues can extend/complicate certainty about completion
    • Possible groove flaw in glass fermenter suspected
  • Use safe pressure-rated bottles
    • Wine bottles not made for compression are unsafe
    • Prefer swing-top/beer bottles/caps rated for pressure
  • Don’t over-prime
    • Warning about bottle bombs
    • Example cited: ~half a pound priming sugar in one gallon being too much
  • Sweetening strategy:
    • Prefer non-fermentable sweeteners (allulose/erythritol) to avoid excess carbonation risk from fermentable sugars
  • Temperature + yeast:
    • Concern about yeast safety above 120°F

Variations discussed (concise)

  • Ginger extraction:
    • Option A: boil ginger as “ginger tea” (not used here)
    • Option B (used): hot-water cover in fermenter to sanitize + extract simultaneously
  • Sweetener variation:
    • Allulose vs erythritol (both non-fermentable)
    • Notes about avoiding off-flavor sweeteners (garbled product name)
    • Maltodextrin caution (mostly non-fermentable but not fully)
  • Carbonation success variation:
    • Plan considered for next time: increase priming sugar (e.g., 1.5× or more) based on calculators and desired carbonation

Referenced sources / mentions

  • Northern Brewer (referenced for lid/airlock sealing troubleshooting)
  • Online pH/gravity adjustment charts (no URLs provided)
  • Online priming sugar calculators (not named)
  • “City setting VIP Club”
    • Private Facebook group + monthly Zoom meetings
    • Mentions/promos for tools (e.g., juicer; bottling video referenced in description)

Original video