Ginger Beer Issue

[ayb97]

Hello,

New to the forum. I just started messing around with making ginger beer using a GBP that a friend gave me. I am on my third batch and am having mixed results. Each batch yields approx 2 liters that fit into 3 swing top bottles. The first batch had 1 bottle that had great carbonation and the other 2 were flat. Batch 2 I just bottled 4 days ago but it seems like very poor carbonation in all 3. In batch 2, i added 1 teaspoon of sugar to one bottle, the juice from 10 crushed blueberries to another bottle and left the last bottle alone. Batch 3 is still in the fermentation jug. Am I missing a step here? Why is my carbonation all over the place? Any help will be appreciated.

Mike

[AlexP]

Carbonation has a lot to do with the first ferment. If you don't get enough active yeast during that ferment, then you will probably have weak carbonation no matter what you do with the 2nd ferment, even when adding fresh sugar or fruits. What recipe are you using for the initial ferment? Make sure you get a good balance of sugar with some dark sugar or fresh ginger to help get it more active.

Alex

[ayb97]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the reply. I have tried several different recipes and had mixed results. Could you suggest a recipe to try?

[telloyd]

Maybe you're overfeeding it? I have found with my other cultures that it's much better to use too less sugar than too much - especially if you're using brown sugar. Try halving the amount of sugar.

Also, although Yemoos doesn't mention it in their instructions, by far the best way to increase and strengthen your GBP is to fee it egg shells every second cycle. So, one cycle to ferment and one to recover.