Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Ginger Ale

jaydlaw said:

Also I am not sure what type of honey i used, whatever was cheapest for the amount that was needed I guess.

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Makes sense. No point in wasting money on high-end honey for this beer, the honey flavor's not really going to stick around that much once the yeast has done it's job, and would be masked by the ginger to a large extent anyway.

I've got to get another batch of this going, it's a wonderful summer beer!

fosaisu said:

I've got to get another batch of this going, it's a wonderful summer beer!

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I hope so, I got people coming over for the fourth and it's the main alcoholic beverage.

Actually the 3lb of honey I got was good honey but cheaper than local honey. I think 3 lb was like $25 which is still expensive but I believe the local stuff is $10-12 per lb.

I ended up kegging this a couple days ago and couldn't stop drinking it night one. It's not even fully carbed yet but it tastes great. My only issue is I think I added too much lemon using the juice from 2 lemons. Next time I'll cut it to one.

Solid recipe though. I'll definitely do it again.

I tested one, and it wasn't carbed much. The fourth is still a couple of weeks away so I have time but I am getting worried since this is my first time using table sugar to carb.

What temp do you have the bottles at? I almost exclusively use table sugar and haven't had a problem, I keep them around 73-75 degrees and have good carbonation within 4-5 days for most styles.

bolus14 said:

What temp do you have the bottles at? I almost exclusively use table sugar and haven't had a problem, I keep them around 73-75 degrees and have good carbonation within 4-5 days for most styles.

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My guess is that it's between the temperatures u referenced. Carbonation has started but again it isn't as far off as I would expect. It's been over 5 days. I moved some to a room in my house with a higher temperature.

I believe i figured out why the beer is taking longer to carb that my others all (2 of them) in the past. because i didn't utilize muslin bags to house the ginger that the recipe called for, i needed to filter out. i did this by siphoning the fermented beer into a muslin bag. the bag more than likely lessened the amount of yeast that made it into the bottling bucket. less yeast = longer carb time. If my hypothesis is not plausible please let me know.

I went to lhbs and he said it was the sugar that I used for carbonation. It was table sugar. He states that the sucrose is the issue. I seen on several forums that table sugar can be used to bottle condition, but I will take his word on this one and as the tablets. Either way, I chalk this batch up to bring a learning experience. We will see how things go.

jaydlaw said:

I went to lhbs and he said it was the sugar that I used for carbonation. It was table sugar. He states that the sucrose is the issue. I seen on several forums that table sugar can be used to bottle condition, but I will take his word on this one and as the tablets. Either way, I chalk this batch up to bring a learning experience. We will see how things go.

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That's not correct. I've used both sucrose (table sugar) and fructose (corn sugar) for bottling with identical results. You use slightly less sucrose because it has a higher "sugar" content but otherwise they'll do the same thing.

Generally slow carbonation is attributable to:
- cold temps (move your bottles somewhere warm and they'll carb faster)
- too little priming sugar (either miscalc or mismeasurement)
- not much yeast makes it into bottles (seems unlikely in your case, more likely when beer sits in fermenters for 6 months or a year)

Either way I'm calling this batch a failure. Even if it did work out, I don't like the flavor. I'm thinking of pouring the stuff in a punch for the 4th. IMO the cost of the stuff wasn't worth it. On another note, I took a reading on the saison that I have in the fermenter, 1.004. I'm glad about that.

I probably miscalculated the amount of sugar needed., but it tastes like crap anyway.

jaydlaw said:

Either way I'm calling this batch a failure. Even if it did work out, I don't like the flavor. I'm thinking of pouring the stuff in a punch for the 4th. IMO the cost of the stuff wasn't worth it. On another note, I took a reading on the saison that I have in the fermenter, 1.004. I'm glad about that.

I probably miscalculated the amount of sugar needed., but it tastes like crap anyway.

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Sorry to hear that. I read above that you filtered the fermented beer through a muslin bag before bottling - depending on how you did this the beer may have had significant air exposure and become oxidized, which could explain (or at least contribute to) the off-flavors you're noticing.

quite possibly, however when i tasted the wort prior to fermenting, it tasted the same and when i tasted my samples they tasted the same as well. I was hoping that the carbonation process would make it more palatable. i still have it, and it might turn out that some people actually like it, but unless i have a few drinks of something else in me, i doubt if i bother with it. the issues i had could be contributing to the taste, but i don't think that this recipe is suited for my tastes to begin with. I was hoping for something different than what i have. I've felt that way since brew day. I did add the sugar tablets to it and it finally decided to fizz up when the tablets were inserted, which caused a huge mess. live learn and use muslin bags correctly. technically it wasn't a failure since i learned something from it.

I agree jaydlaw, initially the taste of this wasn't for me. I added a good amount of lime zest and it was better, actually made it so I want to make it again

bolus14 said:

I agree jaydlaw, initially the taste of this wasn't for me. I added a good amount of lime zest and it was better, actually made it so I want to make it again

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i could see that. i feel it needs to be cut with something. that being said, this was a pricey recipe anyway. granted i brewed this one extract (since moved to all grain), but pricey none the less. any additional ingredients, add cost and only to mask the taste. fwiw, i don't like sauce on my steak either.

I made this beer and I was hoping to have it available for when my in laws were in town. I ended up lifting the keg and realized I needed to stop drinking it! I think it's delicious but I went with two lemons and next time I'd stick to one. The extra lemon masks some of the ginger that I wanted.

I know, I am lazy....but without looking through all 14 pages, is there an all grain version of this or is everyone using extract?.....

kempshark said:

I know, I am lazy....but without looking through all 14 pages, is there an all grain version of this or is everyone using extract?.....

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I'd just convert the extract:
Extact: 3# Light LME, .5# Light DME

to grain, sing this chart:
https://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/

It looks like 5 lb of grain will do the trick (152 F is a pretty standard mash temp so that should work here). I'd recommend Pilsner since you're going for a lighter beer without a strong "grain" presence. But I'm sure you'd be fine with 2 Row as well.

Thanks for the conversion. Thought maybe some people had already brewed an all grain version and had some comments. Had a local brewery's version and makes me want to brew my own.

Thanks for posting this recipe DragonTail! This looks like exactly what I was looking for. The ginger sounds right to me. It went into the fermenter last night and was roaring this morning. My yeast sure likes something in this brew!

I brewed my second batch of this last weekend. The first one went down very well with everyone who tried it. I've never had anything like it that's for sure (in the best possible way). If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it. 2.5lbs sounds like a lot of ginger, but I find it has just the right balance of heat with flavour.
That said, the brew is a real pain in the arse though! The addition of all the LME and honey half way through takes it off the boil and by the time it gets back I'm adding the next lot. It gets pretty hectic towards the end, especially when all you're boiling is half a pound of DME and the cascade for the first 30 minutes.
My question is, could I add all the extract and sugars up front like a "normal" extract recipe? If I did that would I have to compensate with more bittering hops?

I just brewed this a third time as it is so popular in my house. I recently switched to usign brew in a bag to brew all grain. I switched out the LME and DME for 5lbs of 2-row and mashed at 153 for 60 minutes.
When I was done I ended up with an OG of 1.054 and it's bubbling away in the primary now.
I'll update when I pour a glass to see how it tastes. I may still have a bottle of the previous batch for comparison too.

I'm gonna revive this thread for a minute!

I made this recipe about 10 days ago. I made it almost exactly as written, except I was drinking while I was doing it and accidentally skipped the part where you're supposed to put in the first round of hops and boil it for 30 minutes. I just added it with the LME, honey, etc. Oops.

How big of a deal is that? I'm asking because a week passed and I transferred to secondary and took a sample of it. Strong ginger scent, but tasted like the worst thing I could ever put in my mouth. If I took a bucket of rotten ******** and put it in a blender, that would probably taste better.

I read a few sites and said that it's common that things taste "off" between the primary and secondary buckets and that I shouldn't worry. I'm hoping that's the case and asking if anyone else had tried theirs between buckets.

Thanks!

RichmondBrewNoob said:

I'm gonna revive this thread for a minute!

I made this recipe about 10 days ago. I made it almost exactly as written, except I was drinking while I was doing it and accidentally skipped the part where you're supposed to put in the first round of hops and boil it for 30 minutes. I just added it with the LME, honey, etc. Oops.

How big of a deal is that? I'm asking because a week passed and I transferred to secondary and took a sample of it. Strong ginger scent, but tasted like the worst thing I could ever put in my mouth. If I took a bucket of rotten ******** and put it in a blender, that would probably taste better.

I read a few sites and said that it's common that things taste "off" between the primary and secondary buckets and that I shouldn't worry. I'm hoping that's the case and asking if anyone else had tried theirs between buckets.

Thanks!

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Hmm. I would let it ride for now, since what else are you going to do? After a week it should be on its way to tasting like beer, though with a "hot alcohol" taste that will mellow in the following weeks. Throwing your hops in late would lead to a lack of bitterness (and also more hop aroma/character than you'd want in this beer, though the ginger might still overpower it) but not to the dramatic bad flavor you're describing. But just wait it out and maybe it'll taste better at bottling time.

Off-topic, and obviously not the problem you're having here, but consider whether you need a secondary. I eliminated the secondary from my brewing early on after reading some threads here on HBT about it, and have found that it makes things simpler and faster and cuts down on another opportunity to introduce contamination (including unwanted oxygen) into your beer. Just something to think about!

Yeah, I'm just going to let it do its thing and hope it'll all work out. I did the secondary because I wanted to add a bit more ginger.

Fingers crossed.

I thought the ame thing when I made it and ended up adding the zest from 4 or 5 limes. Ended up being pretty refreshing, more of a late spring or summer beer at that point. The lime ended up balancing the zest quite a bit, before that I was pretty sure I was dumping it.

Well, I may have just been under the impression that ginger beer was somewhat sweet. The only one I've had is Crabbie's and I thought it was pretty sweet. I tried mine this weekend as I was kegging it and it tasted like regular beer, but with a ginger kick. The wife happened to pick up a pack of Devil's Backbone Ginger Lager, and HOLY ****, they tasted almost identical. Mine of course lacked the carbonation, but I feel pretty good about it now.

RichmondBrewNoob said:

Well, I may have just been under the impression that ginger beer was somewhat sweet. The only one I've had is Crabbie's and I thought it was pretty sweet. I tried mine this weekend as I was kegging it and it tasted like regular beer, but with a ginger kick. The wife happened to pick up a pack of Devil's Backbone Ginger Lager, and HOLY ****, they tasted almost identical. Mine of course lacked the carbonation, but I feel pretty good about it now.

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Excellent news! Someone sipping this and expecting a Reed's Ginger Beer (basically a super gingery ginger ale soda) is going to be disappointed -- the yeast turned the honey and malt sugar into alcohol. "Regular beer with a ginger kick" is a good way to describe it!

If you want more sweetness you could try adding a spoonful of simple syrup to the glass when you serve it, or use it as a base for a dark and stormy boilermaker (adding simple syrup if the rum doesn't add enough sweetness). I've never tried this, but am now curious how it would turn out. Maybe I'll try next time I make this beer!

I brewed an almost-all-malt (it also has a pound of sugar) ginger beer a month ago, with no hops because I I didn't want any bitterness to offset the malt sweetness. I'm really curious to taste it, but the airlock just keeps bubbling slowly so I know it's not done yet. It's mocking me.

Maybe I need to move it to a warmer place to finish up fermenting; it's in an unheated basement utility room.

If it turns out to be drinkable, I'll post the details. Heck, if it turns out awful I'll also post about it

z-bob said:

I brewed an almost-all-malt (it also has a pound of sugar) ginger beer a month ago, with no hops because I I didn't want any bitterness to offset the malt sweetness. I'm really curious to taste it, but the airlock just keeps bubbling slowly so I know it's not done yet. It's mocking me.

Maybe I need to move it to a warmer place to finish up fermenting; it's in an unheated basement utility room.

If it turns out to be drinkable, I'll post the details. Heck, if it turns out awful I'll also post about it

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I've never tried an unhopped beer, so will be interesting to hear how this comes out (I think you'd get even more malt sweetness if you replaced the sugar with more malt). Did you use lemon in the brew? I think that may be supplying some of the bittering for this beer as well. Regardless, let us know how it comes out!

fosaisu said:

I've never tried an unhopped beer, so will be interesting to hear how this comes out (I think you'd get even more malt sweetness if you replaced the sugar with more malt). Did you use lemon in the brew? I think that may be supplying some of the bittering for this beer as well. Regardless, let us know how it comes out!

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I did use some lemon and tangerine, but not much. Here's my notes:

Title: Ginger beer

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Experimental Beer
Boil Time: 30 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 3.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.018
ABV (standard): 5.59%
IBU (tinseth): 0
SRM (morey): 8.01

FERMENTABLES:
5 lb - American Pale Ale (81.6%)
6 oz - German Caramel Wheat (6.1%)
12 oz - Cane Sugar (12.2%)

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Amount: 4 gal

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
4 oz - Lemon juice, bottled, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
5 oz - Fresh ginger, Time: 15 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1 tsp - Ground ginger, Time: 15 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1 each - Small tangerine (clementine), chopped, Time: 5 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safbrew - Specialty Ale Yeast T-58
Starter: No

Water Notes:
4 gallons of local hard tapwater, acidified and dechlorinated by adding 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice and the fresh juice of one tangerine. I did not measure the pH.

Recipe Notes:
This is a first attempt. No idea if I got the amount of ginger right.
When juicing the tangerine, save the skin and pulp. Chop it up fine, and add to last 5 minutes of the boil.
Finely grind the fresh ginger, sugar, and dried ginger in a food processor or blender.

Brewing Notes:
Brewed 12/09/2016. I used about 6 ounces of fresh ginger instead of 5, unpeeled. It pretty much liquefied in the food processor with the sugar. After chilling to about 78 degrees, I dumped everything into the carboy, hot break, ginger, tangerine peel, and all, and pitched with one rehydrated packet of T-58. It was bubbling vigorously a few hours later.

fosaisu said:

I've never tried an unhopped beer, so will be interesting to hear how this comes out (I think you'd get even more malt sweetness if you replaced the sugar with more malt). Did you use lemon in the brew? I think that may be supplying some of the bittering for this beer as well. Regardless, let us know how it comes out!

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I racked it to a secondary today so I can clarify it with some gelatin or something. It's been a month, and it's still pretty cloudy and the sediment was fluffy. I pulled a sample to taste, and I bottled one 750 ml bottle.

It's not very good but I think it will be drinkable. Still tastes kinda yeasty, and the tangerine peel is more assertive than the ginger but neither of them are very pronounced. And it's not hot at all and there's no bitterness. I'm not going to pass judgement until it's clear and carbed, but I think I will make it again and use a full pound of ginger instead of just 6 ounces.

It's definitely alcoholic; I couldn't taste the alcohol but I could feel it a little from drinking about 8 ounces. Maybe I should just call this one a gruit.

I definitely recommend using the full amount in the recipe. I filled a growler and took it to a shindig for folks to sample and they all really enjoyed it. It's very fragrant and the ginger heat lasts for a good bit after you have swallowed.

I just tried this one after a few days in primary. I did use the full 40 oz during the boil and so far I have a pale ale with a very strong ginger flavor/heat. I'm debating if I want to add any more or not, thinking about using a little candied ginger to bring up the sweetness and ginger flavor without adding any more heat. Has anyone tried this before or have any ideas how it would work?

I brewed this back in April with a couple tweeks(added spices). I too found myself wanting a sweeter ginger flavor reminiscent of ginger beers from Australia. From what I've read, adding lactose at bottling time, 1/8 to 1/2 lb for the 5 gal batch will give some sweetness, although I haven't tried this.

As for the ginger flavor, I used the 2.5 lbs and it's perfect amount of heat, as a lot of folks say on here. It definitely mellows out.

I finally had an open tap and am enjoying this on a regular basis. This brew is absolutely Delicious and is by far my favorite one I've ever brewed. I've never had something with this profile before and I love it. Although it is a massive pain in the ass to brew and clean up I will be doing it again, maybe even upping the ginger a touch.

You do anything regarding sweetness? Sounds like you're happy with it though!

Elemenohbrew said:

You do anything regarding sweetness? Sounds like you're happy with it though!

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No, I decided to leave it as is and not mess with the recipe too much on my first attempt. I really like it but after being on tap for a bit it seems to have lost a bit of that spice. Next time I'll dry hop some ginger in either secondary or even in the keg to keep that flavor more prominent.