a beer with ginger

[jp-carlson]

Hey -- planning to make a beer with ginger, not a non-alcoholic ginger beer. Having trouble deciding how much ginger to add to the last of the boil and how much to dry hop. Anyone out there with experience? Thanks in advance.

 

[hotbeer]

I've been wondering that too. However like any beer there are all sorts of recipes out there that have differing amounts of ginger added at different times.

So maybe just pick a ginger beer recipe that has similar OG and IBU/GU ratio. And hope for the best. Don't make a big batch and you won't have to suffer through a lot of glasses of not quite what you wanted flavor.

When you get it figured out, let me know. I've been wanting to do a ginger beer too and you seem to be at the step in the process that gets me flustered and prevents me from making a ginger beer.

 

[PCABrewing]

I've been wondering that too. However like any beer there are all sorts of recipes out there that have differing amounts of ginger added at different times.

So maybe just pick a ginger beer recipe that has similar OG and IBU/GU ratio. And hope for the best. Don't make a big batch and you won't have to suffer through a lot of glasses of not quite what you wanted flavor.

When you get it figured out, let me know. I've been wanting to do a ginger beer too and you seem to be at the step in the process that gets me flustered and prevents me from making a ginger beer.

Sounds good to me too.
I struggle to think of a nice hop to balance it with. Maybe none, but plenty of fresh ginger!
I love a good NA ginger beer. On a fermented version I'd shoot for 4.5 - 5%.
Just my preference.

 

[hotbeer]

Do you actually have a beer recipe that you are wanting to add the ginger to? Or are you just hoping for something that tastes like ginger ale and also has alcohol?

If you look at the top menu bar on this sites page, you'll see a tab for "Brewing Software". That's a link to Brewer's Friend which I believe will let you search their database of recipes without subscribing. Just plug ginger in for the name or search term. They have page after page of recipes using ginger. Some as just a very minor ingredient, some as more of a main ingredient.

But as @PCABrewing said, "I struggle to think of a nice hop to balance it with."

 

[SeeMont]

Ginger is a wonderful adjunct, I have used it along with lemongrass in a nice. "Lawn Mower" wheat beer. I've used it in late boil as well as in the mash. It adds a nice side note. it can be over powering at first but I have found that that dies down as the beer matures. My favorite is 1.5 oz at 10 and 1.5 oz at 5 boil for a five gallon batch, this is in the wheat beer, I have have used it in a rye IPA with .5 oz at 10 minutes and 2 oz dry hopped. This beer gave me a real ginger kick, I love the taste if ginger and hope to being uing it more. Hope this helps. Cheers

 

[hotbeer]

1.5 oz at 10 and 1.5 oz at 5 boil for a five gallon batch

Is that 1.5 oz just fresh grated ginger or a extract of some sort?

This thread has renewed my desire to try ginger in a beer.

Oh, what hops did you use? That's always been the thing that brings me to a halt. I just can't imagine ginger with any hop flavor or aroma I know of.

 

[Brewer Mike]

It really depends on your taste. I added 2oz grated Ginger at flame out to a 6.5 gal batch of English Ale a few months ago. It was a little too much for my taste. I'd probably do half that if I brewed it again, but I'm looking for a very subtle Ginger taste. I also soaked a couple Cinnamon sticks, a little Allspice and Nutmeg in a few ounces of Bourbon for a few days, then added that at the end of fermentation. It was a nice compliment.

 

[InspectorJon]

I see ginger in some winter warmer or Christmas type beers. These tend to have boil additions of hops for mostly bitterness and not hop flavor so the hops don't really compete with the spices for flavor. I could see ginger playing well with coconut and/or cedar flavors. Those are flavors I hear people talking about with Sabro hops. Pineapple and ginger are nice together so some of the newer hops popular in NEIPAs maybe.

 

[SeeMont]

Is that 1.5 oz just fresh grated ginger or a extract of some sort?

This thread has renewed my desire to try ginger in a beer.

Oh, what hops did you use? That's always been the thing that brings me to a halt. I just can't imagine ginger with any hop flavor or aroma I know of.

I have always used grated ginger, My lemon grass Ginger is a Wheat base beer with Mt Hood hops. The Rye IPA brew used Citra and Chinook. The Ginger adds an initial warm mouth feel and aroma, then a nice mellow aftertaste. The initial heat has dissipated in time. At least this is my reaction

 

[fightingswede]

Say, SeaMont, with your rye IPA is that really only 0.5 oz or did the "." get kicked in by mistake? It just seems like that is hardly any. Thanks

 

[bwible]

I have a recipe for a honey, lemon, and ginger mead I want to do. Wondering the same. I made one beer with ginger some years ago and put it in a competition. The judges wrote that it tasted like “some kind of cleaning product.” Thats been my only experience with fresh ginger

 

[BrewBoyd]

I'm passing along this recipe link I just received in an email from Brew Your Own magazine (I subscribe). This is Gordon Strong (beer guru extraordinaire)'s clone recipe of Carillon Brewing Co.’s Ginger Pale Ale: Carillon Brewing Co.’s Ginger Pale Ale clone - Brew Your Own

This recipe calls for 2.25 lbs. (1 kg) fresh ginger root, peeled, sliced. This seems like a huge amount, but note that the ginger is sliced and not shredded (I'm sure that surface area is important), and that the ginger goes in the mash and not the boil (I'm pretty sure lower temperature will extract less flavor too). To be clear, I have not brewed this recipe.

 

[SeeMont]

Wow, I have to brew this one,

 

[ehall]

I really think a beer with mary ann would be much better!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I'm passing along this recipe link I just received in an email from Brew Your Own magazine (I subscribe). This is Gordon Strong (beer guru extraordinaire)'s clone recipe of Carillon Brewing Co.’s Ginger Pale Ale: Carillon Brewing Co.’s Ginger Pale Ale clone - Brew Your Own

This recipe calls for 2.25 lbs. (1 kg) fresh ginger root, peeled, sliced. This seems like a huge amount, but note that the ginger is sliced and not shredded (I'm sure that surface area is important), and that the ginger goes in the mash and not the boil (I'm pretty sure lower temperature will extract less flavor too). To be clear, I have not brewed this recipe.

You beat me to it…

 

[youngdh]

I recently did my regular session NEIPA with ginger for my homebrew club as part of a white elephant exchange we did. I did a 2.5G batch where I added 5oz fresh shredded ginger in last 10 min of boil. I soaked for 3 days 2oz shredded ginger in 4oz of tequila adding the tincture at kegging. I could not taste or smell the ginger either post boil or after kegging. This ratio of fresh ginger was based on other threads on this site. Obviously no where near enough ginger to make a difference.

 

[BrewBoyd]

I recently did my regular session NEIPA with ginger for my homebrew club as part of a white elephant exchange we did. I did a 2.5G batch where I added 5oz fresh shredded ginger in last 10 min of boil. I soaked for 3 days 2oz shredded ginger in 4oz of tequila adding the tincture at kegging. I could not taste or smell the ginger either post boil or after kegging. This ratio of fresh ginger was based on other threads on this site. Obviously no where near enough ginger to make a difference.

So, support for the 2+ lbs. or at least much more than 7 oz.

 

[z-bob]

I brewed one 2 months ago. It's not very good, but it's getting better with age. Not sure yet if I'll try it again. Notice it's 3 gallons, not 5. I used pilsner malt instead of just plain 2-row because that's what I had an excess of. The hops are mainly for preservative. The citric acid was mainly for pH adjustment because I have alkaline water; normally I use phosphoric acid but I thought citric might taste better here.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: 0122 Ginger Beer

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4.51 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.042
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.022
ABV (standard): 5.35%
IBU (tinseth): 15.46
SRM (morey): 6.3
Mash pH: 5.36

FERMENTABLES:
5 lb - Pilsner (74.1%)
1 lb - Rice (14.8%)
12 oz - Munich Dark 20L (11.1%)

HOPS:
10 g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 7, Use: Boil for 45 min, IBU: 15.46

MASH GUIDELINES:
Simmer the rice in a gallon of the strike water until it turns to mush (about an hour)
Infusion, Temp: 154 F, Amount: 4.5 gal

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
10 g - Citric acid, Time: 60 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
4.5 oz - Ginger, fresh, grated, Time: 30 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
2 tbsp - Ground Ginger, Time: 10 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1 tsp - Irish moss, Time: 10 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Red Star - Cote des Blancs

Generated by Brewer's Friend - Brewer's Friend | Homebrew Beer Recipes, Calculators & Forum
Date: 2022-03-19 19:12 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2022-01-22 17:19 UTC

 

[Ibrew2]

Hey -- planning to make a beer with ginger, not a non-alcoholic ginger beer. Having trouble deciding how much ginger to add to the last of the boil and how much to dry hop. Anyone out there with experience? Thanks in advance.

Hey -- planning to make a beer with ginger, not a non-alcoholic ginger beer. Having trouble deciding how much ginger to add to the last of the boil and how much to dry hop. Anyone out there with experience? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ibrew2]

Hey -- planning to make a beer with ginger, not a non-alcoholic ginger beer. Having trouble deciding how much ginger to add to the last of the boil and how much to dry hop. Anyone out there with experience? Thanks in advance.

JP,
I have made a lemongrass ginger beer that the wife and I found very nice to drink on a warm day, or any day for that matter!

I bought a BIAB recipe kit that uses 8 lbs of 2 row, 1/4 lb of rye, 1/2 lb of honey malt, 1 lb of honey, 1 oz of lemongrass, 1/4 oz of ginger and 1 oz of Kent Goldings hops.

Not sure if I can mention the name of the store I ordered it from, but they are in Austin Texas. Rumor has it, they may be closed or going to close.

About 5 1/2 % abv. Ginger flavor was a bit subdued but noticeable, with the lemongrass being a bit more noticeable.

If I were to make it again, I would use more ginger.

Hope that helps!

Ibrew2