I walked into a grocery store the other day and noticed the ginger root sitting there. I though, 'I bet a stout with ginger root would be good'. Does anyone have experience using ginger root in their beers? I'd like to hear about it. (note: I did run a search on this topic and only came up with this - http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/brewing-with-cinnamon-or-ginger.228472/#post-2968427 )
I used it in a pale ale, but I way overdid the ginger. So be conservative with your usage. A little bit goes a long way. Shiner has a summer beer brewed with grapefruit and ginger called Ruby Redbird.
I think so. I could taste that there was potential, but the ginger was so strong. FWIW, it has faded a bit and tastes better, but it's been 3 months or so. I used maybe 2 quarter sized knobs for a 1.75 gal batch (random size, but it's what I had on hand).
I use ginger root in my holiday ale. I do a ten gallon batch and add 2 oz of freshly grated ginger the last 15 min of the boil. Iit's not overpowering but you can definitely tell there is some in the brew.
1oz / 5 gal - noticeable and pleasant 2oz / 5 gal - fairly strong with a spicy ginger beer finish 3oz / 5 gal - very strong 4oz / 5 gal - insane boil for 10-15 minutes this is for fresh ginger root, not powder The flavor does mellow out with time, so the right dose also depends on how long you age the beer before drinking it.
I used 3 oz. of candied ginger in an imperial pumpkin ale this past fall. Just tossed it in the boil in the last 5 min. I'm with Brew Betty though in that it can easily be overdone. I found 2-3 oz towards the end of the boil to work well, and it's not overpowering. Some people are more sensitive to spice than others though, so it's really a matter of preference. Granted, I used candied ginger, which isn't as strong as straight-up ginger root.
Used 4 oz of boiled sliced grinder root in a exceedingly bitter IPA. Actually tasted pretty good after 3 months in the bottle. I added the boiled ginger to the secondary for 2 weeks
I read that using ginger in the secondary will give you more spice in your beer, and less "ginger" flavor. has anyone added ginger to secondary, and did you boil it first or do anything to sanitize it? I ask because I just brewed a holiday beer and my brew buddy was insistent that we add it to the secondary not to the boil, I am skeptical to say the least.
The post before yours answers your question. If you did nothing to sanitize the ginger, it could infect the beer, but probably won't. Ginger in the boil provides both spicy heat and ginger flavor. The heat smooths out with age. The ginger flavor seems to get better with age. Since I've been happy with ginger in the boil, I have never tried it post boil.
It's not an unusual ingredient in spiced Belgian ales, but the spicing in those can be subtle, beneath the threshold of positive ID ("mmm what was that?"). It is more prominent in some holiday style ales and lagers (think Sam Adams Winter Lager and Fezziwig). I had one ginger-spiced ale in a brew pub that overwhelmed, to the point of undrinkability. I would lean adding half of what you think is insufficient during the boil and if it turns out you were right, add more post fermentation as a tincture, or maybe boil some with your priming sugar.
