ginger addition during fermentation

**madcow_number_6** · 01-29-2012, 06:34 PM

I brewed up a ginger ale last weekend and after a week in the carboy fermentation has slowed down considerably so i snuck a taste test. The recipe only called for 1oz of ginger, i doubled that but I still can't taste it. So this morning i run down and pick up a pound fresh, run it through the counter top chipper shredder, and poured just enough boiling water from the kettle to cover it. effectivly making a REALLY potent ginger tea. This was then added to an empty carboy and the ginger ale racked unto it.

Questions being.. Can I expect there is enough sugar in the newly added ginger to start fermetation again? i.e. no head space should i rig a blow off tube? and How long can I expect to wait(bulk age?) for maximum flavoration ?

**GuldTuborg** · 01-29-2012, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madcow_number_6

Can I expect there is enough sugar in the newly added ginger to start fermetation again?

I don't understand. Did you use candied ginger? If it's fresh ginger in water, it's not going to have much sugar at all, if any.

**madcow_number_6** · 01-29-2012, 09:28 PM

It doesn't have as much sugar as say.. peaches but there is a noticble sweetness to the ginger. The zero headspace had me worried so i rigged up a blow off just in case.

**GuldTuborg** · 01-30-2012, 02:57 AM

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2447/2

According to this, which ought to be reputable, 1oz of ginger has exactly...0g of sugar. I'm sure it has some, but it's got to be less than a half a gram. I wouldn't worry about fermentation at all, much less new kraeusen.

**madcow_number_6** · 01-30-2012, 03:20 AM

thanks for the info. Guess i just worry too much

cheers!

jmhart · 01-30-2012, 05:09 PM

So, as you've already discovered, the fresh ginger root won't restart fermentation.

How much of the fresh ginger did you add? I added 3 rounded tablespoons of fresh shredded ginger to my winter warmer this year. Ended up being a very ginger beer. My brewing partner and I loved it, but we're ginger people. My wife, who decidedly is not a ginger person, couldn't stand it.

**madcow_number_6** · 01-30-2012, 06:06 PM

Haha. I added the whole pound I'm a Ginger fan myself but now I'm Hoping it isn't too much! I was wanting it to have lots of flavor and looks like I'll get it

**madcow_number_6** · 02-01-2012, 04:10 AM

Well, It the ginger did kick up the fermentation a bit, not like high krausen after pitching a big starter, but enough to leave a foam ring around the neck.

Pulled a sample and After 10 days I've reached my final gravity of 1.010, from 1.059. It'll have to hang tight where it is because bottling day isn't for another week and a half.

worried about the flavor imparted by the mass of ginger in the brew Missus and I took a taste test and it is AWESOME! Not too hot, not over the top ginger flavor. This is going to be a great batch

**etrain666** · 02-01-2012, 12:32 PM

I added a single ounce of ginger to a holiday beer with 5 minutes left in the boil. The beer smelled like ginger extract for 2 months. It's now just starting to mellow.