Brewing with Ginger

[tagz]

I've been looking for information on brewing with ginger and there's a pretty wide range of use. I've seen people using anywhere from 1 oz to 2 lbs. Some people have boiled for an hour, others tossed it in the secondary.

I'd like to compile some of this info to help guide a ginger wheat recipe I'm putting together for SWMBO. I'm shooting for something similar to the Harpoon Ginger Wheat from their 100 Barrell Series.

So, if you've used ginger and would like to help out, please post the amount you used, the timing of the addition, and then rate the heat and flavor on a 1-10 scale (10 = intense; 1= not noticeable).

Something like this...

Amount Used: 4 oz
Timing: 10 minute boil
Flavor: 6
Heat: 4
Notes: Yadda Yadda Yadda

I know the heat and flavor rating will be subjective but I hope it will give us a rough ballpark. Feel free to add any other notes. I know some folks have said that the heat fades after a few months, so that might be interesting to add as well. It seems like there were several attempts 2008 & 2009, so there must be some folks with wisdom to offer. Thanks in advance.

 

[thewurzel]

Just made a dark ginger wheat with 1 can Liquid wheat malt and 3lbs LDME with .5Lbs crystal 60 & .13 lbs Chocolate malt
.5oz Northern brewer (60 min)
.63oz Yakima magnum (60 Min)
S-04 Yeast

Was just using up supplies that I had lying around.

Amount Used: 16 oz fresh Grated
Timing: 15 minute boil
Flavor: 6
Heat: 4
Notes: Keged this beer and force carbonated it. The first few draws of beer were intensely strong with ginger. Then after a couple of days when I pulled some more and the ginger flavor seemed to have diminished. So it seemed to me that the ginger almost had settled in the keg and was drawn out with the first few pulls.
It still has a nice ginger flavor but I would have like it to be a little more. It also has a nice caramel flavor to it
I did ginger wheat also before where it had a nice ginger flavor. I believe I used only half the ginger with all wheat malt (all Grain) and used a American Hefeweizen Ale yeast which was very good but I didn’t want the wheat esters in there which is why I tried a different yeast this time.
Still would like to get a nice refreshing ginger wheat for summer time. I like the idea of having a high Attenuation yeast for a low body for a refreshing summer ale

 

[Philbo]

I often make a ginger wheat beer that I call Love Potion #9 (ginger is supposedly an aphrodisiac, thus the name).

Amount used: 4 oz chopped ginger root
Timing: 30 minute boil
Flavor: 5
Heat: 6
Notes: Ladies love this stuff. Seriously, a couple women I work with are constantly asking for more, and when I tell them when I'll have some ready, they write it down in their day planners.

 

[permo]

I used about 5 ounces of fresh, rough chopped ginger in my xmas ale last year and it was very nice. Add it at flameout.

 

[tagz]

Thanks for the info guys. Anyone else have experience to share?