Ginger Beer

[Maltloaf]

This is the recipe I took along to the Cambridge beer meet on Friday. Jubby expressed an interest so here is how it began. Sorry no pics, else I'd have stuck it in the brewdays.

For 25 litres:

4.5kg Maris Otter
54g of 5.6% East Kent Goldings as First Wort Hop.
61g of frozen, peeled & crushed fresh ginger with FWH.
15g EKG at turn off.

Mashed around 66-65 for 2hrs (I was late getting the sparge water going - AGAIN!)
Boiled for 95 minutes.

O.G. 1040.
US-05 added at 18 degrees. Fermented around 20 degrees.
F.G. 1014

It was great to see the peeps on Friday guessing what was going on in this - the ginger is obvious, but only if you know. The effect is akin to having some undefinable 'C' hop in there.

This is intended as a data point for any others planning this kind of thing. Thanks to TC2462 who posted along these lines before. If any of the Cambridge lot can remember this one then I hope they'll post (hint, hint, you lot!).
Cheers all,
ML.

[booldawg]

Will be interesting to see if the slight hint is still there in a month or so as ginger fades fast in a beer. This is apparent even in 100% ginger beers.

I saw an advert on tv last night for an alcoholic ginger beer and I'm guessing they use some kind of extract.

[dave-o]

Those adverts are for Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer.

Did you find 61 grams enough though? Natural flavours get lost in the brewing process in my experience, so i would imagine there will be no ginger taste. Am i wrong?

I am planning a ginger ale in the new year and had planned to use half a kilo of fresh ginger. I want it to be a lightish, red ale (i.e. fiery colour) and it will go something like this:

4000g lager malt
500g cara-red
30g roast barley
150g torri wheat
Bittering hop
Lemony finishing hop

500g ginger

I will use the ginger thus:

-slice into chunks (no need to skin it)
-Put in a muslin hop bag
-Add to boil for 20-30 minutes
-Remove ginger from bag after boil and put into fermenter to let it ferment with the beer too.

[critch]

half a kilo in i assume 5 or 10 gallon brew?

i put 4 kil in a 11bbl ginger porter and the ginger is most noticable, about the level of a macvities gingersnap biscuit

[dave-o]

5 gallon.

Am i right in thinking that 11bbls is about 350 gallons?

I was aiming for Jamaican ginger beer strength. Can't really get my head round comparing a biscuit strength to a liquid strength!

I calculate that at about 12g per pint. Doesn't seem that much to me. My wife puts about 50g in a curry for 2 and it's hardly mind-blowing.

[Maltloaf]

I made this 27th Sept, so it's already got a couple of months of aging. So far I'd say the flavour is stable. I don't expect it to get to three months though as this is for Christmas.
This ale is fairly light tasting, so there's not much competition for the ginger. That said it's brewed more along the Belgian lines of "if you can recognise the flavour then you've used too much".

dave-o, note that the extra step I did with the ginger was freeze it first. Apparently this helps the cells to rupture which helps the flavour extraction. I don't have any non-frozen to compare to though.

Cheers,
ML.

[dave-o]

dave-o, note that the extra step I did with the ginger was freeze it first. Apparently this helps the cells to rupture which helps the flavour extraction.

Yes, i've heard people do that with fruit. I'll bear it in mind.

[Frothy]

Oddly -n With alcoholic drinks, manufacturers don't have a legal obligation to declare any ingredients on the labels. Artifical ingredients are much more stable and they get away with using them left right and center, the ranges of fruit flavoured ciders you get now are testament to that. I tried some of that crabbies, I'm guessing its artifical, as is all of the ginger beern you can buy with the possible exception of Belvoir Fruit farms Ginger Beer, which uses pressure cooked ginger.

Hows it coming along?

[Maltloaf]

It's cracking, but I've banned myself from drinking anymore until Chrimbo. Not much point taking an empty cornie to my bro's! Tucking into the Cambridge IPA though... Driving juice this isn't!
ML.

[TC2642]

Cheers for the shoutout. I still have a fair bit of lying around the freezer, must do another ginger beer soonish!

[Maltloaf]

Cheers for the shoutout. I still have a fair bit of lying around the freezer, must do another ginger beer soonish!

No worries mate, credit where it's due! As for the other bit... GET ON WITH IT!
Best,
ML.

[Trefoyl]

I made a very pale ale recently with a couple or more ounces chopped candied ginger, instead of fresh. I do not know how much, there was half a bottle of it in my cupboard and I was never going to use it for anything else. It was quite nice. Like Dave-O plans to do, I boiled it for about 15 minutes, then it went into the fermenter. Most recipes add fresh ginger to the boil 50 minute before the end and I think I will try that next time.
What do you think of darker malts with ginger? Yards in Philadelphia have a "Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce Ale" and all I can taste is the ginger they added, no spruce. It is dark brown and I did not like the dark malts competing with the bright clean ginger flavor. However, Charlie Papazian has a "Vagabond Black Gingered Ale" I've always wanted to try.
Guess I'll have to make it and find out!

[Trefoyl]

half a kilo in i assume 5 or 10 gallon brew?

i put 4 kil in a 11bbl ginger porter and the ginger is most noticable, about the level of a macvities gingersnap biscuit

Had I read every reply more carefully I would have seen that you just answered my question, thanks Critch! Ginger porter, interesting.

[jubby]

It's cracking, but I've banned myself from drinking anymore until Chrimbo. Not much point taking an empty cornie to my bro's! Tucking into the Cambridge IPA though... Driving juice this isn't!
ML.

It was a nice drop, I have to say This will be No. 2 on my list to brew, thanks for the info Maltloaf.