Be warned!
Don’t forget to release the pressure in your bottles daily or at least every second day. We learned the hard way and the Bean and I scrubbed walls, floor, counters and tables till late last night. At least they say that beer conditions hair because I got a good dose of it over my head as it dripped off the roof 5 meters above the explosion.
The Slowvelder 
Oh NO! That’s horrible. But also a little bit funny.
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What can one do – you just have to laugh 🙂
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I have memories of my parents ginger beer doing that, and also a friend tried home brewing and it blew up in her cupboard….Hope Fred didn’t get a fright!
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Fred got a HUGE fright and left the building……fast
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Oh no..did it explode while you were away or wait until you got home? Was it a total loss, all bottles?
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It popped as I was trying to release the pressure – only lost 1 and a half bottles till we designed a way to catch the rest as we released the gas. All sorted out now and the second batch was also bottled last night 🙂
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Hair drenched from exploding beers in your jungle hut……. do you realize how goofy that sounds? ha ha….. I want to live there!! Talk about a blogging gold mine!! 🙂
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See why I dont have to make up stories huh? 🙂
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OMG! sounds like a lethal weapon. I trust it will be safe to eventually drink.
Thanks for the morning smile.
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yeah – its quite a weapon. We are already drinking it and it is lovely!
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Hi all,thanx for the recipe,I would like to know about how much sugar do you ad?
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I put a cup to a cup and a half for every 5 liters of liquid
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if you want a fizzy AND sweet beer WITHOUT explosions you will need to wait for the yeast to eat all the sugars. then add some unfermentable sweetener, like Xylitol (best), lactose or Canderel (yuck) to taste.
than add 1-2 tsp sugar to each bottle before sealing again. leave at room temp for at least another week. this is just enough sugar for the yeast to create a nice fizz without causing bombs.
alternatively you can kill the yeast with something like potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate, add sugar to taste and then bottle. the beer wont be fizzy.
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Thanks Jay – great tips! Must say I have to have the fizz and I like using all natural products – my last batch I made using honey instead of sugar and it was great. I manage the fizz by letting the gas escape slowly once or twice a day. (using plastic bottles with screw on lids)
Would your method using the xylitol not have more alcohol in it then? maybe a good idea 🙂 🙂
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xylitol wont add more alcohol because the yeast can’t eat it and thus can’t make more alcohol. the 1-2 teaspoons of sugar you add just before closing the lid, will add i little bit more alcohol though, but VERY little.
so recap:
* make your beer the normal way, wait at least a week, until fermentation is complete. (no sweetness, all sugar is gone. or if your beer is in a narrow neck container put a balloon on the mouth and if the balloon doesnt get bigger anymore it means fermentation has stopped.)
* sweeten to taste with xylitol, lactose, or aspartame
* fill bottles with beer.
* add normal sugar to bottles (1/2tsp per 340ml bottle, 1-2tsp per 750ml bottle)
* put the bottle caps on tightly
* leave bottles at room temp for 2 weeks
* refrigerate & enjoy!
going to phalaborwa soon, wish it was Marula season 😦
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I am lucky to have obtained about 30 kg of fruit in Tsumeb this past weekend. Jelly came beautiful and beer is brewing…;-)
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Awesome – let me know how it all tastes
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Howdy! First batch, I added too much sugar, so it was too sweet!
Next batch, I followed ALL your instructions, it was delicious! Just made another bucket and will follow Jay’s instructions as well!
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Great to hear it worked well. If you find you make a batch too sweet all you have to do is leave it to ferment a little longer – the sugar will be used up. Happy drinking 🙂
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I just want amend my sugar amounts for bottle conditioning: 1/2tsp for 340ml, 1tsp for 750ml
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and, Stevia is also supposed to be a non-fermenting sugar substitute for back sweetening. Try the de-bittered versions though?
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yeah – must say i am not a real fan of stevia powder. The plant leaves are good though
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Ima brew my own morula beer and ginger thanks for the info all
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