I'm considering trying a gingered beer recipe, mostly to get my girlfriend somewhat interested in homebrewing by making a recipe that she'd enjoy drinking and brewing. I'd like it to be somewhat on the sweet side and lighter in color, so I was thinking of using extra pale LME, crystal 10L, and honey malt with a low-attenuating yeast like WLP002. For hops, maybe Cascade for a citrusy flavor to complement the ginger? So, maybe for a 5g batch: 7# extra pale LME 1# crystal 10L 1# honey malt 1oz Cascade @ 60m .5oz Cascade @ 15m .5oz Cascade @ 5m ?# grated fresh ginger @ ? Steep the grain at 155*F for 30 min WLP002 English Ale Yeast OG: 1.058 FG: 1.019 The big question is, how much ginger? I want a moderate strong ginger flavor, but not completely overwhelming. I'd think it'd be better to add to the boil to pasteurize (@ 15m?), but how does that effect the flavor? Would adding at flame out be better? Thanks!
I have used 5 grams of shredded ginger in a recipe before. I added half at the end of the boil and then added half to the secondary for 1 week. The flavor did not really come through in the beer at all. So I would recommend adding more than 5 grams.
I made the vagabond ginger ale from joy of brewing recently. Pretty quick and easy, good ginger flavor with about 3-oz grated ginger added half at 20 mins, rest at about 10 mins. If I did it again I would want to add something for a bit of a better mouthfeel and maybe some more hops but overall I like it alot. Bottled half regular, and bottled half with oak chips soaked in bourbon (bourbon & ginger?). Want to do a "better" bourbon & ginger beer.
So this is racking my brain. "I really like ginger and i love beer" was my exact thought, then i log on and see this post. I was thinking kinda the same on the malt bill, sweeter/more kilned malts even honey malt actually but more toward "earthy" hop flavour. 5 gallons a recipe kinda like: 6# Marris Otter 1# White Wheat 1# Honey Malt 1oz Fuggles 60min 1oz Fuggles 15min 1# Honey 5min 1-2oz fresh grated ginger 5min zest from 2 oranges 5min Windsor dry yeast To say in summation I really like your recipe idea and i was thinking MAYBE 2oz it wouldn't be overwhelming. 3oz seems like a lot, but the guy above seemed to like it. i just wouldn't want it to be the main taste point of the beer. Also, I was thinking of taking a gallon of it when fermentation is done and adding a "wild ginger lacto starter" to see how that would turn out.
I have tried a couple of 5 gallon batches, and feedback I received was "more ginger". My last attempt used nearly a pound near the end of the boil, probably around 14 oz after peeling/trimming. If you want "moderate strong" ginger flavor, I think you will eventually have to use more than a pound. My next effort will probably go with twice that.
Thanks! I like your idea with using Fuggles. Earthy goes great with ginger, and that might be a variant I try as well, after I get the ginger amount down. I was actually leaning towards starting off with a pound, but the feedback above had me doubting that. This, though, makes me think I was pretty close for this particular brew. You're going to go with two pounds on your next batch? Do you grate it or shred it, or does it really matter? Leave it in the fermenter or toss it out with the trub? Do you dump it in at once or add it in stages to the boil? Thanks!
I run it through a food processor after I peel & trim it. Dump the whole contents in 15 min before end of boil, and leave in the primary. My opinion is you want to boil it at least a little bit, and I didn't see any harm in leaving it in for the primary. If you have a good flocculating yeast like I used (Nottingham), it will trap it all on the bottom when you go to rack it, no problem. I wouldn't re-use the yeast afterward, but that's not a likely scenario for an experimental batch, unless you are more adventurous than most.
One final thought, I have observed that the ginger flavor fades quickly. It's not quite like hops; it seriously goes away noticeably from week to week. If you think it is strong when you sample it at bottling/kegging time, don't be surprised if it seems mellower/muted when conditioned and ready to drink. There will be a "sweet spot" where it tastes optimal; the trick is to have the beer carbonated and otherwise ready to drink when it is at that level. That's why I am going to try with more next time, but you will still get some nice ginger flavor out of it at the 1 lb level. Good luck!
So i just got the stuff to brew exaclty the recipe i posted above this weekend but i did add 1oz of roasted barley (Not the OP's but mine). Looks like I WAAY undershot the ginger with only an oz but it will be good beer anyway and i still have a couple days to change my mind and add more, but i think I will start under the bar and work my way up. Don't have to worry about the fading flavour, any kind of beer doesn't last very long at all around here. Best of luck Danielbt and thanks for the help everybody.
The first recipe I ever tried called for only 3 oz. It makes me wonder if not all ginger is the same. I get my ginger from an Asian grocery store, where it is bigger, bulkier, and milder in flavor than some stuff I have tried from other places. It might be why some people find a lot less works, and others need a lot more.
I have used ginger like a dry hop addition. One ounce of shredded ginger root added to 5 gallons after about a week of fermentation (and held for a week or so) will give you a fairly strong ginger flavor.
<BUMP> update: So, I brewed exactly the recipe that i posted above with one ounce of fresh ginger and one ounce of roasted barley. Its good, and has a hint of ginger. It just doesn't meld together. I think the yeast should have been something clearer, and more attenuative, and the wheat doesn't blend in. 2 or 3 ounces of ginger would have likely given a nice ginger taste, but i hit right where i wanted with that, and the fuggles and orange complete the 'spiced' flavour, just not the best grain bill or yeast choice.
Mine is fermenting. Used a pound of fresh grated ginger. At the end of the boil, it smelled like good ginger candy. Wort flavor was great; can't wait to see what the finished product is like. Oh, my final recipe: 5# extra pale LME 2# crystal 10L 2# honey malt .5oz Cascade @ 60m 1oz Cascade @ 15m .5oz Cascade @ 5m 1# grated fresh ginger @ 15m Steep the grain at 155*F for 30 min WLP002 English Ale Yeast Measured OG: 1.051 FG: ?
Just broke out the first bottle last night. FG was 1.016, 4.7ish% ABV. Ginger! Great ginger aroma and flavor with hints of citrus and honey, good body. Very drinkable, a tad sweet for me, but my girlfriend loved it. When I initially went to bottle, the massive amount of sediment and ginger detritus led me to rack to secondary and leave it for another week and a half. It cleared up fantastically, and is a nice deep golden color. Next batch, I'm going to go all grain, drop the honey malt, and use actual honey. Probably up the ginger and see how it goes. I'll add some lemon zest to the secondary as well.
