The Ginger Stole Christmas

[Justibone]

This is an EXPERIMENTAL recipe. I haven't brewed it yet. Brew at your own discretion.

The Ginger Stole Xmas

This should be a Scottish ale flavored with the same spices used in ginger snap cookies, but without the trouble from actually putting ginger snap cookies in the boil. (The molasses might change the color away from "light"... but it should be light alcohol at least.)

Brewer:Justin
Beer: The Ginger Stole Xmas
Style: Scottish Ale
Type: Extract w/grain
Size: 2.5 gallons

Color: 17 HCU (~11 SRM)
Bitterness: 16 IBU
OG:1.051
FG:1.012
Alcohol: 5.0% v/v (3.9% w/w)

Water: Spring water or filtered water is probably best, but pretty much any any good-tasting water will do.

Grain:
3 oz. American Munich
3 oz. American crystal 40L
3 oz. Belgian CaraMunich
3 oz. Flaked oats (leave out if you want head retention)
3 oz. Flaked wheat

Steep:
Steep the grains in 1-2 quarts of water for 20-45 minutes at 140°F.

Boil:45 minutes
SG 1.042
3 gallons

Start the boil with:
1 lb. Light malt extract
12 oz. Dark brown sugar
Fermcap-S or silicone surfactant

Last 10 minutes:
1 lb. Light malt extract
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
Irish moss or Whirlfloc

Flameout (immediately after boil):
4 oz. LIGHT molasses, stir well

Hops:
.5 oz. Saaz (3.75% AA, 45 min.)
.25 oz. Saaz (3.75% AA, 15 min.)

Yeast:
Any yeast would be fine, but a low-attenuating yeast meant for malty beers would be better. Don't use champagne yeast, for example.

Carbonation:
Taste the beer before bottling. If there is not enough ginger flavor, as suggested by Revvy (recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/ginger-snap-brown-ale-212313/), boil some cut pieces of fresh ginger with the bottling sugar to add extra flavor. Remember -- too much ginger will make the beer not-so-good, while not quite enough is not too bad of a thing... this beer should be just fine if the ginger doesn't quite come through.

What makes this beer a ginger-flavored beer is the spices. Don't forget the spices. You can vary as you like, but about 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, and 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon in the last 10 minutes of the boil is a good starting point. Some people have said that cinnamon overwhelms ginger, and that you can leave it out completely. That is completely up to you, because you can always boil up extra spices and add them in later as a spice tea, but you can never take them out. If the beer isn't sweet enough, 1 oz. lactose per gallon can give sweetness and mouthfeel, but don't overdo it, because a sweet beer is kinda weird.

The spiciness of Saaz should be a complement to this beer, but the hop aroma should be subdued. Hop aroma should not be a prominent feature of this kind of beer.

The munich malts should give maltiness, while the wheat and oats should give a roundness and increased body to the brew. At only 3 oz., this shouldn't be consciously noticeable, but I think even that small of an amount in a 2.5 gallon batch should make a difference. Some biscuit malt could also be added for more breadiness. The crystal malt should add some caramel/cooked sugar flavor, as in ginger snap cookies, hopefully.

Although technically American munich should probably be mashed, in this recipe we're not counting on it for much in the way of fermentables, so despite the fact that it is enzymatically weak, and that the oats and wheat will not be mashed at all, I think the recipe should still be fine as a "steep" recipe rather than a "partial mash". If you want to partial mash, all you would have to do is take the temperature up to 150F and wait 45-60 minutes instead of 20-45.

Don't add all of the dried extract at once... add the second half of it at the end of the boil. Add the brown sugar at the beginning of the boil to improve the hop isomerization as well as to give more time to molecularly alter the simpler constituent sugars into more complex ones. Don't add the molasses until the end, because some brewers suggest that boiling molasses changes the flavor. Stirring it in after flameout should ensure that it is sanitized, yet it doesn't scorch or turn "mineral-y" tasting.

This web page generated by The Beer Recipator.

 

[heywatchthis]

Looks interesting, but I would never use distilled water unless you're building a specific mineral profile.

 

[Justibone]

Distilled is generally considered acceptable when using extract, the philosophy being that 1) pH is most important for the mash, and 2) the extract has minerals in it.

I don't use distilled either... I use filtered.

I edited the recipe to reflect your input.

 

[Revvy]

Distilled is generally considered acceptable when using extract, the philosophy being that 1) pH is most important for the mash, and 2) the extract has minerals in it.

With extract even John Palmer says not to use distilled.

How To Brew Your First Beer...

....Do not use Distilled (De-ionized) water. Beer, and Ale particularly, needs the minerals for flavor. The yeast need the minerals for proper growth. A good bet for your first batch of beer is the bottled water sold in most supermarkets as Drinking Water.

 

[Justibone]

That's all the critique I get, is water? LOL. I'm better at making up recipes than I thought!

Edited to remove mention of distilled. I shall never mention it again except in water chemistry posts.

 

[passedpawn]

That's all the critique I get, is water? LOL. I'm better at making up recipes than I thought!

You posted less than 2 hours ago.

IMO, I'd removed the cinnamon completely. I've made 4 beers with ginger, and each time the cinnamon seems to trump the ginger.

I'd also remove the oats. It's a head killer. While this isn't a problem with a stout, I don't think I'd do that to a holiday beer.

I don't do extracts so I've got nothing else. Good luck,.

 

[Justibone]

You posted less than 2 hours ago.

Sorry, my playful teasing didn't come through there. I meant for it to be a joke.

I haven't brewed it yet. In my pumpkin beer, though, I didn't get overwhelmed by the cinnamon. I know it's more powerful than the other spices (especially fresh), though, and even in the cookies they use less of it than the others, so I think you have a valid point Passedpawn.

I, for one, have had so much foam lately out of my keg that I don't want too much head. I probably need to adjust my tap line... but for now, I don't mind a loss of head. I edited the post to mention the head issue, though.

 

[dogbar]

8 oz of molasses in a three-gallon batch might be a bit high.

 

[Justibone]

8 oz of molasses in a three-gallon batch might be a bit high.

Fermentable adjuncts - Home Brewing Wiki

It ferments out about 78.3%, so you might be right! Maybe I'll exchange a few ounces of molasses for brown sugar on a 1:1 basis, which would increase the alcohol a bit, but might decrease the color. Hrmm...

This guy in this thread said he'd use 0.5-1 lb. per 5 gallon batch, so maybe I should go down to only 4 ounces instead of 8... he also said he used it with demerera sugar, which should be like turbinado/brown sugar, so the combination is good according to some stranger I don't know.

I have been using it in my little 3-gallon stovetop batches to good effect. My first was with 22oz amber DME, 8 oz of molasses, 8 oz demerera, and Chinook as the bittering hop. That was a nice combination, and it has repeated well.

In another thread, people seemed to bandy about with half a pound to about a pound per 5 gallon batch, so for this batch the sweet spot should be a quarter to a half pound... I assume.

I used about 8 oz (weight) in a Brown Ale, it was very tasty.

I think, based on those threads, I'll scale it down to 4 oz. LIGHT molasses and 12 oz. dark brown sugar. Based on some other posts, it might also be a good idea not to boil the molasses, but to stir it in after flame-off.

I'm going to edit the recipe now. Thanks, Dogbar!