Justibone
Well-Known Member
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.
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.