Coopers Ginger Beer.

[Greg2013]

Has anybody here brewed this with success in the past? on ccopers website they seem to have it out there all on its own so i am wondering why? Apparently you can do a non alcoholic version as well?   I wonder from brew to drink how long this one takes?

[LordEoin]

I've done this but didn't like it.
It's the only kit with added artificial sweetener, and I just don't like the taste of sweetener.
It's a pity that they had to use sweetener but otherwise you'd end up with bottle bombs or very dry gingerbeer.
I'll check how long it took once I get home.

By the way, Coopers actually recommend that you do this kit with 1kg raw sugar to fit the flavor profile.

If you want non-alcoholic ginger beer, I have a pretty decent recipe knocking about somewhere for 2 liter batches using a soda bottle as an FV.

[Greg2013]

Thanks i was not aware of the added artificial sweetner, that is a no no for me then. Looking for something quick and easy i can do alongside my Irish stout that will be finished fairly quickly as the stout is really gonna take 2-3 months to be properly conditioned

[Mike]

I've made 3 attempts at ginger beer made from ginger and each one has been thrown out as it just tastes like lemon juice. It's killing me that I can't make it so I'd be delighted to hear how you can successfully make it.

[Greg2013]

Mike have you ever tried the coopers ginger beer kit?

[Mike]

Mike have you ever tried the coopers ginger beer kit?

No never tried it. I made their sparkling ale which turned out well enough but I've moved to all grain so I don't make many kits anymore. Would love a good and easy ginger beer though!

[LordEoin]

@deadman -
GingerBeer kit takes 1 week to bottle and 3 to carbonate properly.
If you're looking for something quick and easy, grab:
Wheat Beer kit + 1kg wheat LDM + WB06
optional - boil 15-20g coriander and rind of 2 oranges for 5-10 minutes
ferment at 22C for a week, bottle, condition for 2.
It is a good drop, even that young.

@ Mike -
Fast small ginger beer recipe - non alcoholic (but I'm sure you could fix that quite easily)
Ready to drink in about 2 days.

- Grate 75-100grams of ginger (skin and all)
- Juice 1 lemon, finely grate the rind (no white bits)
- Boil ginger, juice, rinds and about 200g sugar (table sugar is fine, unrefined is better) in 1.5L water for 10 minutes (you can add some chili flakes/seeds if you want a hot 'bite')
- Strain the liquid and let it cool. dump the solids
- Put about a quarter teaspoon of yeast into a 2liter soda pop bottle (even bread yeast is fine, but the coopers dry Ale kit yeast works great)
- Squeeze about half the air out, cap it tightly and shake the crap out of it.

At this point you have a sealed FV of awesome sweet ginger wort.
Leave it somewhere warm (20-25C) and visible.
You want to leave it ferment and build pressure until the bottle is firm (about as hard as a bottle of coke that you've accidentally dropped on the ground) it will probably take about a day. DO NOT FORGET ABOUT IT OR IT COULD POP!
Then put it in the fridge to put the yeast to sleep. (you could also bottle and pasteurise)
Give it a day or so for the liquid to soak up the carbon dioxide and it's ready.

I used to make this on a friday to nurse sunday hangovers 

[Lush_Bag]

I tried the Coopers Ginger Beer kit just over one year ago and it was horrible, in fact I didn't drink all of it, I just couldn't stand the taste of it.

[Blackbrew]

Did the coopers kit recently for an event, the mostly mainstream or non educated beer drinkers or wine drinkers in attendance said they thought it was OK but in most cases never came back for another glass in the same night. I added a lot of extra root ginger and some chilly to try and boost the bite and kill the sweetness but in the end the artificial sweetness remains and its just too damn "fake" sweet to drink more than one or two.  I have about 5L left if you want to try some (In Cork).

[loftybush]

I've brewed two batches of this with the Coopers kit. In fact it's the only kit I'd brewed more than once. Here's my two cents.

The first time I brewed it, I used 1kg of sugar and 500g DME, second time with 1.5kg of brew enhancer. Both were quite similar.
The result was a alcoholic ginger drink, closer to lemonade than beer due to the lack of body from the sugar and the sweetness from the artificial sweetener.
It was extremely quick to brew, I'd say you could turn it around in a week or so.
I also have a habit of drinking my beers too early and my first taste of the ginger beer was awful. It was too sickly sweet and considered dumping the lot. I think I even threw out a few bottles of it one brewday because I needed the bottles for another brew.

Needless to say it wasn't touched much over the next few months, until one day I had some people over and was running low on homebrews. Cracked open a few bottles and it went down a treat. It really mellowed out over time and ended up being a really pleasant drink (I refuse to call it a beer).
First batch ran out and a while later some people came back looking for more of the ginger 'beer'. Sadly its the only one of my beers people have come looking for after its gone, so I bowed to the pressure and brewed another batch.

I don't think any homebrewer will love this kit, but the non brewers cant get enough of it for some reason.
I have meant to try it with all DME to see if I can get a better consistency, but I think thats just a waste of DME

[Greg2013]

I wonder if we tried it with unrefined dark brown cane sugar, the good stuff, would that make any difference?

[LordEoin]

No, not much. The sweetener taste will still be there.

[Tom Williams]

brewed this with 1.5kgs dextrose and it turned out lovely, great drink for those warm summer days we used to get years ago. better with age, i've still some bottles left from last year so lookin forward to those this Summer !!!!!! btw it came out at 4.2%

[Greg2013]

Tom Williams was that the coopers beer kit ?