Winter Warmer...my best yet?

Just wanted to share a cool recipe, Honey Ginger Winter Warmer. I've just gotten to drinking the stuff in quantity, and I must say...wow. I'm thrilled. My wife is gaga over it. I work a few hours a week at a fine wine/beer shop, and the beer manager and I were kicking back the other day, and he tried it and thinks it runs with the big boys, very professional-like. Even though it's not really in a specific category, I'm thinking I'll perhaps enter this into a comp someday. Never done that before, but I love this beer.

The freshly grated ginger is key, and 3oz is the perfect amount---just add 1-ounce portions periodically throughout the boil. The ABV is high (9.34% ABV), but the honey really gave it a nice light, crisp body. Be careful with the spices, as you don't want to overpower the ginger. The amounts I've listed are perfect IMHO. This recipe is for PM, but you could convert it to extract w/ steeped grains, or to AG, using a program or hand calcs.

It's a little quirky, in that the yeast was a wacky mix that I got from a local brewpub, pulled directly from the bottom of his conicals a couple days before brewing. It's Bavarian Lager, German Wheat and British Ale mixed together. It fermented around 60f. Also, it definitely improved with about 6-8 weeks of lagering at 36f. I really like the mix of ale and lager yeasts. Gives it that slight fullness, but still turned out very crisp and refreshing. The maltodextrine is important (though it could go with a little less), as it adds silkiness and body, which complements the crispness quite well.

Anyway, just thought I'd post it because I'm proud of my baby...


Honey Ginger Winter Warmer

A ProMash Brewing Session - Recipe Details Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

21-B Spice/Herb/Vegetable, Christmas/Winter Specialty

Min OG: 1.030 Max OG: 1.100
Min IBU: 2 Max IBU: 100
Min Clr: 2 Max Clr: 25 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.56
Anticipated OG: 1.095 Plato: 22.67
Anticipated SRM: 18.0
Anticipated IBU: 67.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.8 0.25 lbs. Special B Malt Belgian 1.030 120
7.4 1.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
7.4 1.00 lbs. Aromatic Malt Belgium 1.036 25
3.7 0.50 lbs. Crystal 90L America 1.033 90
11.1 1.50 lbs. Crystal 20L America 1.035 20
18.4 2.50 lbs. Honey Pennsylvania 1.042 0
14.7 2.00 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.046 8
33.2 4.50 lbs. Briess LME- Amber America 1.035 9
2.3 0.31 lbs. Malto Dextrin North America 1.030 0

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 oz. Northdown Pellet 6.50 1.7 15 min.
0.25 oz. Northdown Pellet 6.50 3.3 30 min.
1.00 oz. Warrior Whole 16.50 60.3 60 min.
0.50 oz. Fuggle Pellet 4.00 1.6 8 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 Tsp Cinnamon Spice 5 Min.(boil)
1.00 Tsp Cloves (Ground) Spice 5 Min.(boil)
3.00 Tsp Allspice (Ground) Spice 5 Min.(boil)
1.00 Oz Ginger Root Spice 60 Min.(boil)
1.00 Oz Ginger Root Spice 30 Min.(boil)
1.00 Oz Ginger Root Spice 5 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

Bavarian Lager, German Wheat, British Ale


Notes
-----

-Add DME @ 30 Minutes from end of boil

-Add LME @ 20 Minutes from end of boil

-Add Honey @ 15 Minutes from end of boil

Sounds awesome and just up my alley. I'm in need of a good warmer to get me through the up and coming NE winter.

Problem is, I'm just starting out and don't want to tackle a PM or AG recipe yet. Would you (or anyone) be able to convert this to an extract recipe.

Thanks

You know, I found a bottle marked "WW" in the back of my fridge - I think it was one of your Winter Warmers that you sent me months and months and months ago. It was actually pretty nice (I only qualify that because I don't like spiced beers, but they had mellowed out). Not the kind of beer that I would usually reach for, but it was well-done.

Thanks, Bird. Yeah...I've got a few of them left. I've gotta say, as it has dried out and the malt has settled into the background, it's tasting more and more like straight-up ginger beer. Not the kind of beer I would usually reach for either, but pretty cool in its own rite.

willie_okt said:

Sounds awesome and just up my alley. I'm in need of a good warmer to get me through the up and coming NE winter.

Problem is, I'm just starting out and don't want to tackle a PM or AG recipe yet. Would you (or anyone) be able to convert this to an extract recipe.

Thanks

Click to expand...

It's mostly extract. Just delete the 2-row and substitute another half pound of LME in its place. Take the remaining grains, put them in a muslin bag, and and steep them in 150f water for 30 mins.

And if I were you, I'd scale back the ginger by about half. Otherwise, like I said, it's bound to evolve into ginger beer after awhile.

What's the color of the beer like? What do you think a Belgian Ale yeast would do to this recipe?

The color is dark copper.

Belgian yeast...depends on the particular strain. If you used the recipe as posted, I doubt any yeast would leave any perceptible character over the overpowering ginger. Honestly, I'd use a clean ale yeast of some kind. US-05 would work. If you want to use a Belgian, I'd cut the ginger WAY back. By at least half.