In article >,
"Dave West" > wrote:

> Novice has started making ginger beer using this on-line recipe.
>
> http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipe...ngstall/ginger
> -beer-recipe
>
> He suggests adding a little honey. Would there be any purpose to this, other
> than very slightly changing the taste?

It appears to have an effect on bubble size in carbonation, IME.

> I'm using Allison's dried baking yeast which I know is not as alcohol
> tolerant as wine yeast. I understand that 100 gm of granulated sugar to one
> litre of water gives about 5% of alcohol by volume roughly.
>
> I would like to increase the alcohol content slightly, so just as a rough
> guide; what would likely be the most sugar I could add per litre at the
> onset of the process, without the fermentation process choking up?

Without getting too far into what I think of your process (beer/wine
yeast is cheap and easy to find, for a start...)

Per some reference, 2.7g sugar in 1 liter increases specific gravity one
point(0.001)

Water is 1.000 and beers tend to be easy in the 1.030-70 range, not too
bad 1.070 to 1.100 and starting to get dodgy (but still manageable with
care, and perhaps some nutrients) from 1.100-1.130.

So, 270 grams per liter should work without difficulty, and you might be
able to manage a bit more. Most people find that making rocket fuel
(maximizing alcohol content) is less satisfying than lower alcohol
content beverages that are pleasant to drink, but do what you like, and
draw your own conclusions. It may need 4-6 years of aging to get to a
drinkable stage if you push it too much. Drinking two pints of something
that's half the % alcohol will get you just as drunk as one high % pint,
and takes a lot less time to reach pleasant drinkability.

You can also play games with the yeast by adding more sugar gradually as
the ferment progresses.

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