Can I ginger up my kit brew?

[Stevoster]

Howdy,

I want to make a ginger beer using a blonde beer extract kit. What I am thinking of doing is grating some ginger and adding to the brew at some point but have a couple of questions - any ideas or tips much appreciated!

1. Is this even possible or am I going to destroy my nice blonde beer?
2. Should I add ginger to primary or secondary?
3. How much should I add? I want a nice ginger spicey kick and a burn in the back of the throat.
4. Is there a better type of extract I should use besides the blonde beer?

Thanks!
Steve.

 

[babalu87]

Hell yeah you can, thats what makes this hobby great.

I would think a few additions so you get a depth of flavor/character from the ginger.

15 minutes, 5 minutes and at flameout then maybe dry root in a secondary for a few weeks.
I'm thinking rough graded/chopped

Amounts I wouldnt begin to guess though.

 

[Marko73]

I am honestly not sure about ginger in the primary or the secondary, but for all the recipes I have seen that use ginger, it is recommended in the boil. I think the taste components depend on when you add the ginger.

For instance, Papazian has a "Vagabond Gingered Ale" that calls for 2 to 4 oz. of freshly grated ginger at the beginning of the boil. This recipe uses dark malt extract so you may want to consider adjusting based on the blonde.

He also has a "Holiday Cheer" spiced ale that the 1 oz of ginger is added with 10 minutes left in the boil.

So to boil it a good amount might give you that real ginger spice flavor, where the 10 minute addition gives just a slight ginger flavor.

Hope this helps! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Bbabu]

I brewed a light ale extract recipe with steeping grains a couple of months ago - I added fresh cranberries that had been mashed with fresh ginger into the wort at flameout.

Sat in primary for a month - turned out really nice! Slight cranberry and the ginger is definitely there, as well... not overpowering, but a nice subtle flavor addition.

 

[elixirg]

Stevoster,

I know very little about home brewing, but I know plenty about ginger. My company makes a ginger extract - ingredients: Ginger, Lemon, Sugar. A brewer in Colorado orders cases of our mix and adds it to one of their specialty brews. Their customers really enjoy it, but I'm sure its a trade secret on the process.

At PF Chang's they use our product as a topper to Kirin Ichiban draft. Their recipe calls for a pint of beer and 1/2 oz ELIXIR G over the top - this adds plenty of kick. If you went this route you would not have to worry about ruining an entire batch. Then you could regulate how much kick each beer had.

Hope that helps,
Aron
www.elixirg.com

 

[Stevoster]

OK here I go. At primary I added about 1lb of ginger at flameout. It has been sittin gin primary for about 3 months and on Saturday I am going to transfer to secondary and chuck in another 2lbs of fresh grated ginger (probably boil for few minutes to kill any bacteria or maybe not). I know it's a lot of ginger. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Steve.

 

[dlloyd]

Howdy,

I want to make a ginger beer using a blonde beer extract kit. What I am thinking of doing is grating some ginger and adding to the brew at some point but have a couple of questions - any ideas or tips much appreciated!

1. Is this even possible or am I going to destroy my nice blonde beer?
2. Should I add ginger to primary or secondary?
3. How much should I add? I want a nice ginger spicey kick and a burn in the back of the throat.
4. Is there a better type of extract I should use besides the blonde beer?

Thanks!
Steve.

I have done this a number of times, first time with about 6oz of ginger simmered in honey for 15 minutes, added at 45 minutes into a 60 min boil. Last time, i followed https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/ginger-cream-braggot-138002/ almost, but using a northern brewer blonde kit and no honey. Just the two pounds of ginger. Turned out nice and warm, kind of peppery with a nice ginger flair. For what its worth, every woman in my life has loved this beer, ranking it top 1 or 2 out of everything I have brewed (either says something about my brewing or that beer, you pick).