Pie IX Turmeric Beer With A Twist

Living in Montreal there was a seasonal beer there called Coup de Grisou which was a buckwheat beer with coriander inside. This turmeric rendition is styled after that.

Makes 1 gallon (4 Litres)

EQUIPMENT:

Large cooking pot
1 gallon jars or jugs for Primary Fermentation
Funnel
(7) 16 oz. glass flip-top beer bottles <– these are great from Amazon, but it’s great if you could get it locally as well (less chance of breakage)
(1) 16 oz. heavy duty plastic bottle (such as Perrier or a soda bottle)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup fresh ginger, chopped or grated
4 Tbsp chopped or grated fresh turmeric
8 grams (roughly 1/4 cup) coriander seeds crushed
Peel of 1 orange
1 – 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup active Ginger Bug starter <– full post on how to make one
2 Tbsp lime or lemon juice (added the zest for extra flavour)
1 gallon non-chlorinated water

Making home made ginger beer is really simple and you only need a few items and points to remember to get started. To begin, you make a flavouring base for your turmeric ginger beer called a wort. Essentially, it’s a soda syrup that is made up of fresh turmeric, ginger, coriander, orange peel, lemon juice, water, and sugar. That is all. If you want, you could add other ingredients such as other fruits and herbs, the combinations are limitless. This recipe is inspired by Coup de grisou a Belgian wheat beer with coriander in Quebec, Canada.

Fill a pot with half of your non-chlorinated water and bring to a boil. Either use filtered water, distilled or some sort of spring water. I used tap water which was boiled for atleast 20 minutes since it will be brought to 100 degrees celsius anyways. If I have time, I like to boil a pot of water and leave it out overnight to cool.

Instructions

Place the turmeric root, ginger, and crushed coriander in a medium pot along with 8 cups of filtered water. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Simmer 10 minutes longer after adding peel of 1 orange.
Remove from heat, then cool slightly (just until it’s not hot enough to crack a glass jar). Strain the turmeric tea into a wide mouth gallon jar and or transfer to a growler.
Add the sugar to the turmeric tea and stir to dissolve.
Add additional filtered water to the growler, leaving 2-3″ inches of headspace. Cool to room temperature. If it is still hot it will kill the yeast and bacteria in the ginger bug.
When the liquid has cooled, add the ginger bug to the cooled turmeric tea, then stir well. Cover the jar with cheesecloth secured with a rubber band or air lock.
Place the jar in a dark corner. It should start bubbling within a day or two. Ferment to taste, anywhere from 1-2 days in a warmer spot to 3-4 days in a cooler location.
When the contents are bubbling and the air lock is burping regularly, change the airlock for a tight light and mix the contents making sure to distribute the sediment on the bottom to the mixture evenly. Use a funnel to transfer the soda into flip top bottles. Set the bottles aside at room temperature for a few days. Make sure to fill one plastic tester bottle, when it can’t be squeezed it is ready to refrigerate. Place bottles in fridge for up to 2 to 4 weeks.

Pressure can build up over time so occasional burping may be necessary. The longer it stays the higher the alcohol content depending on how much sugar is inside the beer. Consume within 2 weeks for best flavour and safety if lightly fermented.

Essentially, the growler (1 gallon jug) fermentation process is to see if the carbonation is working. Once it has then you can start bottling in the flip tops. In the beginning, I would ferment it in the growler for almost a week before bottling. The result was a higher content of alcohol which was not what I wanted.