Estimating Starting Gravity...

[Davin]

My second micro (1 gallon) batch this weekend ran into a little hiccup.

As i finished up I managed to drop my hydrometer, breaking it of course.
Anyone know a good way to estimate starting gravity?

This was sort of an experimental Ginger Beer Brew.

1/2 lbs Briess 10L Crystal malt lightly crushed and steeped for 30 min at 175 degrees.

(in a second pot)

1 lbs Chopped ginger
2 lemons Zested and Juiced
1/2 lbs table sugar
Steeped 1 hour

After malt steep
1 lbs Extra Light Dry malt extract
30 min boil
.3 oz Phoenix Hops
15 Min boil
Strain and combine Ginger mixture to wort
15 min boil
.5 tsp irish moss
15 Min boil

Pitched Coopers Ale Yeast at 75 degrees and its currently in the fermintor, just wish I had not broke my hydrometer.

Remember its a 1g batch.

[Justin Rumbach]

Here's a real handy (and free) recipe calculator. Enter your ingredients and you can get OG, IBUS, SRM.

http://www.beercalculus.com/recipe

[Davin]

Thanks, this helped immensely.

[Chris Norrick]

Hey Josh, I know it's been awhile but how did this batch turn out? Did you make it again? I had someone ask me about some ginger beer so I'm doing some research.

[Davin]

i was way to heavy handed with the hops on that batch. The ginger flavor came through though and it was mostly enjoyable, though there may have been a bit to much ginger, it was a little "hot." I'll look around and see if I have anymore, if so I'll bring some to the next meeting.

[Chris Norrick]

I've dug around the interwebs and discovered some cool info. The old way to make it did not use yeast to ferment, it used the "Ginger Beer Plant" for fermentation. It's not a "plant" but more like a sourdough or friendship bread starter culture. It is a composite organism consisting of a fungus and bacteria. It's use seemed to almost die out during WWII due to rationing of the stuff needed to propagate it. I've found a source and I've got some on order! I'll gladly share once I grow enough.

The Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_beer

[Davin]

Sounds great, I would love to try my hand at actual Ginger beer rather than the frankin beer I made.