I’m wanting to try adding some of my ginger bug to my wheat brew I have going. It’s in the primary ferment now,should I add the ginger bug in the secondary or simply add a small amount when I bottle? Has anyone tried this before? Tips? Thoughts?
Ok, I’ll bite. What is a ginger “bug”?
Does your Ginger Bug contain wild yeasts? You may be on the way to making a wheat sour.
I’d be careful with that - if your culture has any acetobacter, you may just produce vinegar. Either way, I’d add it to secondary, and give it a good long time under an airlock to ferment. Keeping oxygen out of the headspace will help minimize any acetic acid.
Looked it up. So it’s a Lacto/ginger beer starter. Sounds like you should add it to secondary and give it time as apparently it ferments actively and could produce significant carbonation/ bottle bombs…
Thanks everyone! Yes, it’s a lacto-fermented starter with just ginger and sugar. I will definitely add it to the secondary to give it time to off-gas. I’m planning on only adding it to half my brew and then bottle rest as is. Hopefully it turns out good! Finger’s crossed!
What’s your goal in adding it to your beer? Are you looking for some tartness from it? Lots of lacto strains are inhibited by hops and alcohol, so depending on what you want to get from it, you may be better off next time to add it for a day or so prior to fermentation, and add your yeast once you get some tartness. Depending on the hops you use in the beer, it still may inhibit the lacto.
However, it sounds like a fun experiment!
