Ginger question for Ginger Blonde

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neovox

neovox

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I'm going to be doing a blonde ale soon that I'd like to have just a mild hint of ginger after-taste. This is the first brew I'm doing using ginger. I've noticed that some folks use fresh ginger, some dried, and some candied. The LHBS suggested ground ginger added at bottling, but my experience--in cooking anyway--is that ground dry ginger can be a very overpowering. Can someone who has brewed using ginger tell me what type and how much would be recommended to just give the blonde a mild ginger after-taste?
 
Im the kind of person that loves to use fresh ingredients as opposed to dried. It seems that it just tastes better that way. Ive only used ginger once and it was in the holiday cheer beer from papazian's book. That recipe called for 1 oz of freshly grated ginger. That amount was way overpowering. The ginger was all I could taste in the beer, so I would recommend using much less than that if you want a subtle after flavor.
 
I'm drinking a ginger wheat right now. I used 8 oz of shredded fresh ginger total - 6 oz broken up into 3x2oz additions in the boil (60, 20 & 5 mins) and 2 oz in a 7 day "dryhop." For the dryhop I soaked the whole ginger root in StarSan for 10 minutes before shredding with a sanitzed cheese grater. I don't know if the soaking in StarSan was really necessary, but the beer is excellent! It's a lot like gingerale... but it's beer! It is really ginger-y, but that's what I wanted and what I expect when I drink it. I'm not sure I'd call it "overpowering," but it's definitely the primary flavor. I hopped lightly deliberately to avoid competing flavors.

So I'd recommend using fresh ginger. For a hint of ginger taste I'd guess at one-half or one ounce late in the boil, but I only have that one beer, which was pretty much an experiment, to base my guesses on.
 
neovox said:
I'm going to be doing a blonde ale soon that I'd like to have just a mild hint of ginger after-taste. This is the first brew I'm doing using ginger. I've noticed that some folks use fresh ginger, some dried, and some candied. The LHBS suggested ground ginger added at bottling, but my experience--in cooking anyway--is that ground dry ginger can be a very overpowering. Can someone who has brewed using ginger tell me what type and how much would be recommended to just give the blonde a mild ginger after-taste?
Click to expand...

Use fresh ginger only. Your LHBS guy either has no taste buds or needs some serious ingredient education. As you can see by the other posts the amount to use is extremely subjective. One ounce is too much for some and eight ounces is just right for others. I would start with an ounce per five gallon batch and maybe add half at midpoint and the other half at knockout. You can always use more next time if you want more zip. :mug:
 
I just bottled DragonTail's Ginger Ale and that used FORTY ounces of fresh ginger. But the ginger is boiled for a pretty long time so the heat mostly mellowed out, leaving only ginger flavor. I tasted the wort and it was a nice ginger flavor with a bit of heat. After two weeks of fermentation the heat was almost gone and the flavor was very nice. That thread has lots of opinions about how much ginger to use and when to add it. Cleaning and shredding that much ginger is a fairly tedious process but my wife's food processor made pretty quick work of the shredding (using a disc attachment). I didn't bother peeling the ginger.
 
Heya,

I like using ginger in my meads/metheglins, and recently used it in a holiday ale. In my meads, where I like a strong ginger flavor, I used 2.5 tsp of fresh chopped ginger root in the boil for 15 mins.

On the holiday ale, I used 3 oz. (about a finger length) for 15 mins of boil, along with some clove, orange zest & cinnamon. (Both additions are for 5 gallon batches).

That being said, if you want only a hint, I liked the suggestion of 1oz in 5 gallons of beer. That should give you a hint, without being too much forward in the taste profile. Also, I remove the ginger slices at the end of the boil. So, the only ginger contribution is during that brief 15 mins.

Good luck!
--LexusChris
 
Hmm. I really like that idea of slicing it instead of shredding, making it much easier to take out at the end. Have you ever used this method with oranges and other fruits?
 
I wrapped the shredded ginger in cheesecloth (cause I was too cheap to buy extra steeping bags). So I had three gingerbombs for my staggered boil additions, and no problem to remove the ginger completely at the end of the boil. Shredding did release maybe a teaspoon or a little more of juice which I just dumped in at the beginning of the boil. Someone else had recommended slicing in a thread some time ago. I shredded mostly just because it was faster.
 
Captain Damage said:
I'm drinking a ginger wheat right now. I used 8 oz of shredded fresh ginger total - 6 oz broken up into 3x2oz additions in the boil (60, 20 & 5 mins) and 2 oz in a 7 day "dryhop." For the dryhop I soaked the whole ginger root in StarSan for 10 minutes before shredding with a sanitzed cheese grater. I don't know if the soaking in StarSan was really necessary, but the beer is excellent! It's a lot like gingerale... but it's beer! It is really ginger-y, but that's what I wanted and what I expect when I drink it. I'm not sure I'd call it "overpowering," but it's definitely the primary flavor. I hopped lightly deliberately to avoid competing flavors.

So I'd recommend using fresh ginger. For a hint of ginger taste I'd guess at one-half or one ounce late in the boil, but I only have that one beer, which was pretty much an experiment, to base my guesses on.
Click to expand...

Soaking in Starsan is completely unnecessary.

As for amount, I used 70 grams of fresh ginger (cut, then ground in a coffee grinder) in a recent beer, in my recipes it's Gingembre et Pamplemousse Quatre, and it's decently strong. In that beer, the grapefruit and ginger do indeed dominate but they're not super crazy or anything. If you want only a hint, I'd think somewhere around 20 grams of fresh ginger would do the trick. Slice it finely then grind in a coffee grinder (after cleaning said coffee grinder very well) then add as you would dry hops in the fermenter for 7 or so days.

My two cents.
 
I recently used ginger in a Weissen by adding 20z grated fresh ginger for one week before bottling. It tastes great - not overpowering but I imagine you get ginger with varying strengths.
 
FWIW, saw a Good Eats episode where AB used one of these types of graters and put plastic wrap over it. All the grated ginger was contained in the plastic wrap and the grater didn't need cleaning.
 
I brew a delicious Ginger Beer from time to time (non-alcoholic, with cane sugar and a little lemon). It has 1/2c of pulverized ginger (in a blender) per gallon of water. Ginger is very much like hops in the fact that the longer you boil it, the more bite and "gingerness" comes out. Seeing as I like my Ginger Beers to burn my throat on the way down, I boil the ginger for a very long time. I taste it every 5 minutes or so until it has the bite I'm looking for.

I've never brewed a malty beverage with ginger before, but perhaps you can use some of that info...maybe taste the wort to see if it has what you're looking for?
 

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