Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Ginger Ale

[DragonTail]

Recipe Type

Extract

Yeast

WYeast 1056

Yeast Starter

1qt

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.052

Final Gravity

1.006

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

32

Color

5.2 SRM

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

7 days ~60F

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

7 days ~60F

Grain: 1# CaraPilsner

Extact: 3# Light LME, .5# Light DME

Extra "Sugar": 3# Clover Honey, 1# Cane Sugar

Hops: 1oz. Cascade pellets, 1oz Willamette pellets

Extras: 40oz Fresh Ginger Root (grated), 2 Lemons (juice,zest & rinds), 1tsp Irish Moss

Steep grain in 1.5gal water @ 150-155F for 30 min.
Sparge/rinse with 2qts 170F water.
Add DME and enough water to bring up to 2 gal.
Bring to boil and add Cascade pellets.
After 30 min, add LME, ~2# honey, lemon juice and rinds, and ~3/4 of the ginger.
After 15 min, add sugar and Irish Moss, remove lemon rinds.
After 5 min, add rest of honey, rest of ginger, and zest of lemons.
After 8 min, add Willamette pellets.
After 2 min, chill, add to primary, top up to 5-5.25 gal, aerate, and pitch yeast.

When fermentation is finished, bottle or keg as you like.

Notes: For more lemon flavor/aroma, save zest and add to secondary. (microwave zest for 10 seconds before you add)
For a little more malt, change sugar to LME.
For more "heat", save second addition of ginger for secondary. (microwave like lemon zest before adding to secondary)

I know this sounds like a lot of ginger, but much of the intense "heat" gets cooked out durring boil.

Cheers,

 

[feedthebear]

I'm interested in the recipe after mine failed so miserably.

But is that really 40oz of grated ginger? That's 2.5 lbs.

 

[homebrewer_99]

No, that's gotta be 4 oz. I've used ginger in the past for meads and don't use anywhere near 8 oz.

 

[DragonTail]

Yes it really is 40 oz. (2.5#)
Like I said, it sounds like a lot, but comming from the cooking side of things, (I've been cooking waaaaay longer than I've been making beer) it's not going to turn out as "hot" as you would think from that amount. By cooking the majority of the ginger for a longer time, you get all the flavor without the spicyness.

Cheers,

 

[feedthebear]

I'm more concerned that I wouldn't be able to taste anything but the ginger.

It has given me some ideas for my second attempt though. Thanks for posting it.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

I am not so sure about that....I used a small amount of ginger in my christmas ale, and the flavor was really prevalent, I am not positive how much I really used, but I wrote down 1oz and everyone who tasted it identified ginger as the flavoring immediately.

 

[DragonTail]

Well, this is a GINGER beer, so ginger flavor IS what we are after.
Everyone, including contest judges, has liked it.
You can get more malt flavor, which I'm working on for the next batch, by exchanging some of the 100% fermentable "sugars" with malt extract.

 

[david_42]

I can believe it. I've seen some ginger punches that ran 4-6 oz. per serving. I use 12 oz. in a batch, but I boil it briefly and add it to the secondary.

 

[DragonTail]

Like I said before, I'm using cooking experience here.
Just like with garlic, cooking the ginger "mellows" it out and sweetens it.
You can use less and just add it later in the boil or even just put it in the secondary, I won't know unless you send some my way.
This is just the amount that I started with the first time I made it, 3 years ago, and haven't felt the need to change it in the following batches.

 

[Moonshae]

I made a similar recipe, but it amounted to an alcoholic soda, rather than a beer; ie, no hops, no malt. Just sugar, ginger, lime, and water for the boil. Used 2.5 lbs of ginger (sliced, rather than grated), and the heat was pretty much gone. I would definitely add more to the secondary if you're after that nice ginger heat.

 

[geekyasiwannabe]

I just made your ginger ale this week with a couple of changes. I added the ginger to the wort in 3 additions to get the sweet mellow ginger flavor and the spiciness. I saved about a 1/3 of it to add to the secondary, as you suggested, and I subbed lime for the lemon and added the peel of one orange. I also used a dry ale yeast, since I was really looking for the ginger flavor and felt the ginger would overpower anything the white labs ale yeast would've imparted. I'm hoping this will be super spicy and citrusy. Thanks for the recipe!

p.s. I made a Ginger Kolsch this spring that was published on the AHA's beginner guide. It was delicious, but with only 6 oz. of ginger, it was merely a ginger whisper.

 

[nostalgia]

I made this tonight. I knocked the initial ginger down to 8oz and will be adding 4oz after a week in the primary. I also added 3.5oz malto-dextrin for body. My OG came in at 1.060.

We'll see how it goes! Thanks for the recipe,

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

After two weeks in the primary, SG is 1.008. Taste is quite good, with the ginger being very mellow and in the background.

I added another 2.5oz of grated ginger. Looking forward to this one!

-Joe

 

[effectrammstein]

the amount of ginger doesn't sound too much - like you said it will mellow out with the boiling - just like garlic does

I am an avid cook - recipe looks great to me mate - will try it out!

 

[effectrammstein]

could also try some cinnamon in the secondary as well!

 

[nostalgia]

Just cracked a bottle of this. I used 8oz of ginger in the boil and 2.5oz in the secondary, and I think it's just about perfect for what I was looking for. There's a subtle ginger aroma when you stick your nose in the glass and a great ginger flavor on the tongue. It's fantastic!

And it cleared and carbonated beautifully. I couldn't be more happy with how it came out. Thanks for the recipe!!

-Joe

 

[maztec]

Has anyone here tried this with the full 40oz? I like strong ginger brews and find most to be too weak. Has anyone kept one of these for a year and then cracked it open? What was it like then? Hoping to get a batch of this going and ready before July 4.

 

[nostalgia]

Has anyone here tried this with the full 40oz? I like strong ginger brews and find most to be too weak. Has anyone kept one of these for a year and then cracked it open? What was it like then? Hoping to get a batch of this going and ready before July 4.

Nope, only about 6oz in the primary and 2oz in the secondary. I cracked one after about 8 months and if anything the ginger flavor had intensified. Still not overpowering, but definitely the dominant flavor.

I'm planning to do this as an AG recipe soon, replacing the extract with 4# of 2-row.

-Joe

 

[maztec]

Welp. Brewed it up, following the recipe as is. So far, tastes great, but hella sweet. I imagine the sweetness will back off as it ferments. It is now in the primary.

Few notes, following the recipe as-is, I ended up with an OG of 1.058.

We'll see how it tastes in six weeks.

 

[maztec]

Update:

Followed the recipe. It has been in the fermenter for a week. It off-gassed non-stop for four days, it kept the airlock going vigorously. I did not test its SG until now ... and I have hit an SG of 1.008! On tasting, it is just right on ginger. However, I think I am going to bottle half of it with lemon juice and simple syrup ... which leads to a question.

How can I add some sweetness back into this for half the batch, and not create bottle bombs?!? I know I am going to add a touch of sugar to all of it to prime it .. . so what should I add to make it a bit sweeter, without making bottle bombs? Thanks!

Right now the ABV is 6.83%, I don't expect it to change too much more, but we will see. I can't wait to open a bottle of this!

If the OP is still around, any advice he may have is appreciated (as is everyone elses).

 

[HillbillyDeluxe]

Splenda, Body, sweetness with no fermentables

 

[maztec]

Splenda, Body, sweetness with no fermentables

Hillbilly, thank you for the recommendation. If I wasn't opposed to Splenda and other fake or chemically redesigned sweeteners, that would be a great solution.

Unfortunately ....

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

M

PS: [I have nothing against you or anyone else if you like Splenda and please do not turn this into a sweetener flame war people. I am just expressing a personal opinion, without any backing whatsoever, and like people who hate beer - doesn't need explanation.]

 

[nostalgia]

I did this as an all-grain on 6/7. OG was 1.045, FG 1.002 with Safale US-05. Taste is fantastic, with a hint of ginger and definite lemon up front. I'm going to dry hop with another 2.5oz of ginger for a week before kegging to bring up the ginger flavor.

You may want to sparge with less water. I've heard more than 1/2 gal per lb of grain is about the max, but I followed the recipe below and didn't notice any tannins or off flavors. YMMV.


4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
1.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain

Mash In: Add 7.88 qt of water at 164.0 F
60 min - Hold mash at 154.0 F for 60 min
-- Drain Mash Tun
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 5.33 gal of 175.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 6.42 gal

60 min 1.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops
60 min 3.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar
30 min 2.00 items Lemon Juice (per lemon) (Boil 30.0 min) Misc
30 min 6.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 30.0 min) Misc
15 min 1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
10 min 2.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
10 min 2.00 items Lemon Zest (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2 min 1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (2 min) Hops

-- Cool wort to fermentation temperature
-- Add water (as needed) to achieve volume of 5.00 gal


Thanks again for the recipe!

-Joe

 

[maztec]

30 min 6.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 30.0 min) Misc
10 min 2.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
-Joe

Joe, I think the full 40 oz of ginger works really well with this recipe. You should try it sometime with the AG recipe. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised by the results and will not feel a need to add more ginger in the secondary.

Also, keep in mind that ginger in the secondary adds more heat than flavor from what I understand.

 

[nostalgia]

Thanks maztec. If I do it again I may up the ginger.

I did this before as extract as written with the exception of using 6oz/2oz ginger as in my AG recipe and really liked the results, so I was just trying to duplicate that.

-Joe

 

[HillbillyDeluxe]

Hillbilly, thank you for the recommendation. If I wasn't opposed to Splenda and other fake or chemically redesigned sweeteners, that would be a great solution.

Unfortunately ....

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

M

PS: [I have nothing against you or anyone else if you like Splenda and please do not turn this into a sweetener flame war people. I am just expressing a personal opinion, without any backing whatsoever, and like people who hate beer - doesn't need explanation.]

Well, Arent we the naturalist? Splenda is actually made from sugar, its the sugar alcohols, natural as an artificial sweetner can get. You are correct though, it is artificial none the less. I too have a series of recipes that i refer to as Monk beers.. Only modern thing about them is the propane that heats them. I tried to do some all naturals heating th wort with coals and wood but was very difficult to control temp in AG batches during sparge etc...

Back to your original question though. Try taking about 2# of dextrin malt and steeping it at 170degf for 1 hr in 1 gal (1/4 gal final yeild) and add that prior to bottling. Cut your priming sugar in half. that should leave plenty of unfermented sweetness behind without bottle bombs.

 

[HillbillyDeluxe]

oh i almost forgot! Add 2 weeks to conditioning

 

[nostalgia]

Here's mine from the AG recipe I posted above:

As you can see, head retention and clarity are beautiful. Flavor is delicious, clean with a good strong ginger flavor, but no heat. I think any more ginger would be much too much.

I had some friends over this weekend and one guy had 6 pints in an evening. So I guess it's not too bad

-Joe

 

[UnbakedToast]

Hey how's it going. Found your recipe the other day and tried it out. Just got finished making the batch. I did tweak with it a little bit for my own personal likings (used limes instead of lemons, 4.5# LME, no DME, orangeblossom instead of clover, and turbinado sugar). However, I will say that I did stick to the 2.5# of fresh ginger. The wort tasted pretty good... not too spicy at all but the ginger flavor was definately there. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[GreenMan]

Did this as an All-Grain a couple months ago with the 40 oz of ginger. Tastes great with a slice of lemon so the only thing I would change is up the lemons next time. There will definitely be a next time. Probably change it either 4 lemons or maybe just the zest of 4-5 lemons in the boil.

I like the idea of limes too as I love limes. Might not go with ginger though. How did it turn out UnbakedToast?