:rockin:
Hope it's OK to resurrect this thread after a year, but Defenestrate's comments interest me:
I would very much like to see your actual recipe. I will probably be doing BIAB, which shouldn't require any recipe changes according to the BIAB experts.
So, your above schedule uses a total of 30 oz of ginger. I know others have said that this is an awful lot of ginger, but I accept your explanation - and I've seen that explained elsewhere.
Is this something different than what you're describing in the previous paragraph regarding dry hopping? Are you now describing how you use ginger when you add it only to the primary - or is this simply a description of how you dry hop as in the previous paragraph? Please tell me how much water you boil into which you stir in the honey.
I'm looking for some ginger flavor, but I also want a little heat. There's a non-alcoholic ginger ale called Red Rock Ginger Ale bottled in Atlanta, Georgia. It is definitely NOT your stomach virus ginger ale. If you inhale any bubbles are you're bringing it to your mouth, it will make you sneeze. There is a very noticeable "heat" after you swallow that goes from your mouth down thru your chest.
Thanks,
Keith
i've changed this beer a lot- i've since brewed it about 15 times. i totally got rid of the ginger in the boil, the spicy heat just doesn't survive the boil/primary ferment IMO. i'm not able to get my full recipe right now, but this is it roughly.
75% basemalt (plain 2 row is fine, but recently i've been using golden promise)
10% wheat (i use dark wheat, white is fine)
5% honey malt
10% honey (added with the ginger after primary, usually add it @ 7 days)
i've used up to 15% honey, and it really comes through nicely...i use pretty dark local honey. 10% IMO is the minimum that you need to have to get some residual flavor/aroma and it definetely helps to add it in the bucket vs the boil.
i usually mash this at 156 to get some malt character- the honey will really dry this out if you mash too low. but if thats what you are going for, great
even mashing at this temp FG is around 1010, and after adding the honey its about the same.
i've done a lot of experimenting with the ginger amounts, ginger treatments, etc and i will agree with some of the other posts, 4 oz in the bucket per 5 gallons is perfect for a very gingery beer. 2 oz will give you a very suble lingering heat, but not much aroma/flavor. when adding 4 oz i generally leave it in the fermenter for 3-4 days, which is about as long as it takes the honey to ferment. i then crash and keg- i turn this beer very quickly. when using 2 oz i've left the ginger in the bucket for over a week with no ill effects.
i'm not very exact when adding the ginger/honey in the pot- but i would say its around a qt of water. boiled, cooled to 170 or so, honey dissolved then ginger added. will let it sit for about 15 minutes to kill any bugs in the ginger then into the bucket. i dont want to add the honey at too high a temp becuase it keeps the aroma in my experience.
apologies if thats too long winded but hope it helps! i love this beer and can't brew it enough. its called ginger beer for a reason!