Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Ginger Lemongrass Wheat

[JeffD1]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

Belgian Wit Ale (WLP400)

Batch Size (Gallons)

5.5

Original Gravity

1.051

Final Gravity

1.012

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

16.6

Color

4.4

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

14

Tasting Notes

I\\'ve made this twice, and it is the best beer I\\'ve ever made (and I usually like dark

3 lbs 12.3 oz Pilsner (2 Row) 40.8 %
2 lbs 7.9 oz Wheat, White (Cargill) 27.0 %
2 lbs 1.1 oz Wheat, Flaked 22.3 %
11.0 oz Oats, Flaked 7.4 %
3.6 oz Honey Malt 2.4 %
0.69 oz Hallertauer [5.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min 14.2 IBUs
0.35 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 15.0 mins) Spice
3.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 mins)
.5 oz of lemongrass
0.57 oz Hallertauer [5.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min 2.4 IBUs
1.0 pkg Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) [35.01 ml] Yeast 10 -

I've made this twice, and it is the best beer I've ever made (and I usually like darker heavier beers). However, the first time i used too much lemongrass (1oz) and too little ginger (2oz). It tasted like lemonade with a hint of ginger. The second time I used .5 oz of lemongrass and 3 oz of ginger and I think I got the ratio perfect for my liking. The ginger flavor is very noticeable (with minimal heat) and the lemongrass is also definitely there but no longer dominates. The flaked oats give this beer a chewy mouthfeel and I love the flavor the wlp400 adds.

 

[Beeru]

Sounds interesting. I'll bookmark it for later.

 

[gusbologna]

Looks good, I was thinking of making a beer with ginger and lemon lately. When do you add the lemongrass?

 

[JeffD1]

Looks good, I was thinking of making a beer with ginger and lemon lately. When do you add the lemongrass?

I added both the ginger and the lemongrass to the boil with about 20 min left. I read recently on here that if you add ginger to the boil you'll lose the spicy heat of the ginger. From my experience that seems to be true. Even though there is a pretty strong ginger flavor, there is almost no heat, which I kind of like.

 

[zhubbell]

Did you use fresh lemongrass?

 

[JeffD1]

Did you use fresh lemongrass?

Yes. I found it at Whole Foods.

 

[Coppinburgh]

Anyone care to convert this to extract with steeping grains for me?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[CelticSmoke]

I can't get this to enter correctly in Beersmith. Only giving me 1.045, 12.6 IBUs, 3.6 SRM...I have all the percentages right...any ideas?

 

[JeffD1]

I can't get this to enter correctly in Beersmith. Only giving me 1.045, 12.6 IBUs, 3.6 SRM...I have all the percentages right...any ideas?

It probably has to do with your efficiency. I believe when I had it in beersmith, I had it at a high efficiency (something like 75-80%). Make sure your efficiency is close to what you typically get and then use the gravity adjustment to scale the recipe.

 

[Leadpencil]

Sounds like a interesting beer. Are you chopping or dicing the ginger?

 

[rjthomas21]

Any ideas on how to add ginger and lemongrass post-fermentation to get a good result? I brewed 10G of a Bavarian Hefe and I want to tweak one of the kegs to change things up a little and this recipe sounded great.

Would it be as simple as making adding ginger/lemongrass to vodka for a week and then throwing it in the corny?

 

[colinthehippie]

So it sounds like you've used fresh ginger and fresh lemongrass. I have dried of both. I can get fresh ginger, but lemongrass...not so sure. Just wondering if dried lemongrass will sub well; I suspect the lemon flavor is more muted. Anyone know?

 

[JeffD1]

Sounds like a interesting beer. Are you chopping or dicing the ginger?

I chopped it fine and then ground it with a mortar and pestle, but that's probably over kill. I don't think it matters, just as long as you through ginger in there.

 

[JeffD1]

So it sounds like you've used fresh ginger and fresh lemongrass. I have dried of both. I can get fresh ginger, but lemongrass...not so sure. Just wondering if dried lemongrass will sub well; I suspect the lemon flavor is more muted. Anyone know?

I'm no expert, but I don't see why it should make a huge difference...maybe just use a little extra?

 

[JeffD1]

Any ideas on how to add ginger and lemongrass post-fermentation to get a good result? I brewed 10G of a Bavarian Hefe and I want to tweak one of the kegs to change things up a little and this recipe sounded great.

Would it be as simple as making adding ginger/lemongrass to vodka for a week and then throwing it in the corny?

I've done this in secondary with good results.

 

[clintandhisbeer]

Is this a 5 gallon batch?

 

[clintandhisbeer]

I followed ur recipe assuming it was a 5 gallon batch, my og came out to 1.042.... U wanna chime in on ur gravity readings?

 

[AlmostWitty]

I've got something similar going now (lemons not lemongrass) and I've found that freezing and grating the ginger works well.

I use the 3068 wyeast because I like the German clove addition, but I'm sorry I didn't see the honey malt addition last week before I brewed. I bet that adds an awesome dimension.

I also like 4oz ginger added at flameout and 2oz as a secondary addition, FWIW. Glad to hear I'm onto something with the flavor profile, or that at least I'm not the only one... :beer: