Holiday ale

I'm trying to formulate a recipe for a Christmas beer, mabe around 1.070 or so, But I am having trouble with the amount of spices to add. These are the spices I have been looking at.

5 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cloves
6 ounces ginger root

I have read the ginger is overpowing even 1oz per 5 gallons, so 6 ounces seems like allot.

Anyone have any comments on the amount of spices on a 5 gallon batch? Mabe the best times to add...Preboil, secondary, end of boil, Mabe bottleing bucket with priming sugar?
Any help is appreciated
Thanks

5 3-inch cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cloves
6 ounces ginger root

My .02 - I have brewed something similar, but not quite. Cinnammon at end of boil led to no detectable cinnammon flavour. I would consider using a tea in secondary for all the spices. Your spice amounts seems ok, but maybe someone with "tea" experience will chime in.

I used ~1 oz ginger boiled with the priming sugar and it was pretty potent even after a month in bottles. I have read on here though that some people put it in near the end of the boil in really large amounts. The heat supposedly cooks the giner and mellows it out allowing you to use a lot more.

Hope this helps a bit.

Could the discrepancy in the recipe and what you have read (and Foreigner experience) be the difference between fresh ginger root (very potent) versus some dried stuff?

I made a Winter Warmer brew a couple years ago and put in a couple ounces of Pumpkin Pie Spice. I could barely taste it, but others said they could and it was good.

Personally I think I would add this at bottling/kegging. You can taste your beer, make a "tea" with the spices and taste that and really judge how they will taste together. Of course the flavors will probably mellow in the bottles.

For a five gallon batch (all Grain)
How about a grain bill any ideas...
#13.5 pounds maris otter
1/2 light crystal
1/2 Medium crystal
1/2 special B


How does this look.....What about a mash temp? I'm thinking a higher temp 155 or 156? Would this leave the beer to sweet?

I found this recipe...
8oz english crystal
2oz black patent
#1 light dry malt extract
#6 light malt extract syrup
# 1 pound Honey

If I use this I would convernt to all grain?
Any ideas? I have not had much success with honey either

Be very very careful with fresh ginger root. I used 3 ounce in a high-gravity winter ale...and it's essentially spiced ginger beer.

Kind of off topic, but I added 2 lbs of brown sugar to a holiday recipe recently to up the fg for the long conditioning, and it added a nice rum like accent that really surprised me. I am not sure how it will mellow over the next 6 months, but I thought I'd share!

I'd re-iterate the careful use of ginger. My holiday ale last year has 2 ounces of fresh ground ginger and it overpowered the beer, making it barely drinkable. (Although I think it is finally starting to mellow a bit after 8 months or so)

This year I used 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder to play it safe.

I've made holiday brews before and all I can say is whatever spice ingredients they recommend CUT IT IN HALF!!!

I used fresh ginger and cinnamon and the flavor was way overwhelming even after 2 years old. It had to be cut with a weaker brew.

Using dried ground spices, .6oz for 5 gallons is my bench mark adding half 15min before flame out and the other at flame out. Last year I made 3 pumpkin beers using pumpkin pie spice and one holiday beer with straight cinnamon as my basis. The pumpkin beers were actually pretty light, the 3rd was a lager and had no problems getting an approval from a female Bud Light drinker. I would cut back using straight cinnamon to a total of .4oz to equal the same intensity as .6oz of blended spices such as pumpkin pie. At these levels I know the flavor will be very detectable without dominating.

I haven't brewed before, BUT, its a common misconception to use cinnamon by itself without adding nutmeg. Nutmeg and cinnamon are like peas and carrots!

Sean

With my Grand Cru, I added orange peel and coriander to the boil. When I rack to the secondary, I'm going to add more.

I'd consider skipping the ginger and adding the nutmeg. To me, the ginger doesn't seem to go with the others unless you are going for a gingerbread type flavor.

It seems like a lot of the responses to this are focusing too much on the recipe formulation part of the equation rather than the process. That is, those of you who brewed with fresh ginger and were overwhelmed by the spice, I think it would serve us all better if you mentioned when and in what manner you added the ginger rather than just what amount.

In Phil Markowski's book Farmhouse Ales he writes that spices added at the end of the boil lend a "cleaner" spice aromatic to the beer and a fresher individual character, whereas boiling them mutes the spice character but "seems to assimilate it more permanently into the brew."

I'm gonna do some brewing it may take me 4 or 5 batches, but I will keep ya'll posted on the results. And the Final Recipe.

I must preface this by saying I had a lot of problems with the one beer I used ginger in.

I used 2 oz. of ginger at 15 minutes left in the boil. The ginger flavor didn't really come through. It just seemed to make the hop bitterness taste double what it should have been.

I quit drinking it with 12 bottles left and started using them to fry sausages. Now that I've had to go vegetarian, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the remaining 6. Fry veggiedogs I guess.

I checked my records and the 2 ounces of fresh ginger was added for the last 15 minutes.

I've used 1oz fresh ginger cut in half for 60 min. to achieve a hint of ginger, I've used 1oz fresh finely grated ginger for 60 min with a much stronger ginger flavor. I think the key to fresh ginger is how fine it is and the length of the boil.

I personally enjoy the fresh, barely perceptable taste ginger gives a pale ale at 1oz per 5 gal.