099: Gingembre et Pamplemousse Quatre (Ginger beer)

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MattHollingsworth

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
1,609
Reaction score
54
Location
Samobor, Croatia
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 1388
Yeast Starter
4 liter
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.6
Original Gravity
1.071
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
29.8
Color
10.5
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
see notes
Tasting Notes
Very fruity and spicy with pronounced dry maltiness and deceptively soft alcohol.
Date: 12/13/2009
Batch Size: 21.15 L
Boil Size: 28.98 L
Boil Time: 90 min
Equipment: RIMS and 10 gallon boiler
Brewhouse Efficiency: 71.00

Ingredients

Malt

3.15 kg Pale Malt (3.6 SRM) 48.84 %
1.15 kg Munich Malt (7.6 SRM) 17.83 %
0.90 kg Wheat Malt (1.5 SRM) 13.95 %
0.15 kg Caravienne Malt (24.4 SRM) 2.33 %
0.10 kg Crystal Malt -350 (177.7 SRM) 1.55 %

1.00 kg Honey-Lipa(Linden tree) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 15.50 %

Hops (all pellets)

12.00 g Perle [9.40 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) 17.1 IBU
30.00 g Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.80 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) 12.7 IBU

1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)

30.00 gm Ginger Root (Boil 0.0 min)
30.00 gm Grapefruit Zest-Fresh (Boil 0.0 min)
40.00 gm Ginger Root (Primary 8.0 days)

1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) [Starter 4000 ml] Yeast-Ale

Mash Profile

Total Grain Weight: 5.45 kg
Sparge Water: 17.27 L

0 min Step Add 17.17 L of water 79.0 F
15 min Step 101.0 F
15 min Step 123.0 F
30 min Step 144.0 F
30 min Step 158.0 F
10 min Step 168.0 F

The ginger was finely chopped, then pureed in a coffee grinder. The grapefruit peel had only its zest used. These were both added to a solution with the honey in water and it was held above 150 F for a half hour or so. This solution was added to the wort well after the boil during cooling once the wort had gone below 150.

The ginger added in the fermenter was likewise ground in a coffee grinder.

The fermentation was a stepped fermentation, inspired by what Duvel does (Wyeast 1388 is reportedly Duvel yeast). Duvel pitches at 61-64 and they let it rise to 79-84 over a five day period. I didn't copy that exactly. What I did is this:

I pitched at 65 F. I left it at 65 for 12+ hours. Then raised it 2 degrees, and raised it 2 degrees every 12 hours until I got to 77 F. I then left it at 77 until the 2 week mark.

The effect of all that was that this beer has a very soft alcohol. It's not warm at all, no fusel notes.

Primed it to reach 2.4 volumes.

Water like so:

Ca 59
Mg 11
Alkalinity as CsCO3 84
Sodium 4
Chloride 97
Sulfate 29
Residual Alkalinity as CaCO3 35

This is the most recent version of this beer, the fourth. The third version is also in the recipe section here. This one has more honey and is a bit different overall. It came out fantastic. For the next version, I will raise the amount of honey a little more and will change the mash to skip the rest at 158 and have the rest at 144 go up to 147 or something like that. I'd like to dry this out a little bit more. I'd also go back to adding some ginger at 15 minutes or so from the end of the boil to get some of that warm spiciness I had in the previous versions.

As it is now, this beer is very malty. It's pretty dry as you can see from the number. Aroma is hugely fruity and spicy. A nice blend of the grapefruit and ginger with some yeast notes. The ginger wins out, but it's not overwhelming at all. Basically, a sorta Belgian Golden Strong Ale with the main difference being it's got a good amount of wheat, ginger, grapefruit and honey.

Interestingly, considering the amount of wheat used, this beer dropped bright. It's crystal clear with no haze at all.
 
Tasting after about 4 months in the bottle, I would not change anything about this beer. The balance of all these complex flavors and aromas is amazing. Brew this one as is and give it a few months in the bottle.
 
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