Ginger Snap Brown Ale.

[Revvy]

So I was talking to someone about Iron Brewer, and went back to the basic brewer podcast on the subject, and they were talking about putting frosted oatmeal cookies in the mashtun, and how much the flavor came through. I'm a big fan of gingersnaps so I thought I'd give this a try.

Figuring out a rough amount of gravity points for the cookies is difficult. I used this nutrition facts website for the amount of sugar per box http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/ginger-snaps It gives a rough Idea, I'm actually go to take a preboil gravity and tweak the hops accordingly I want a balanced hop bill so the cookies will shine through.

I've found with my brewing experiments of adding things to the mash tun, such a chocolate and even tortilla chips, that they grain will actually absorb any oils in whatever you add. Contrary to what people have thought I've never had problems from the fats of chocolate in my mole porter, or fats and salt from my tortilla chips in my cream ale affect the heading of the beer. So I am really not worried about anything undesirable coming from these cookies. And since the iron brewers have done cookies, and James spencer has done breakfast ceral in the mash, I'm excited to see how this turns out. I may add more cookies to the boil if it seems like they didn't come through as heavily in the mash.

Ginger Snap Brown Ale
Brew Type: All Grain
Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Volume: 3.50 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Kitchen Setup 4.5 gallon Pot/5 gallon cooler


Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
1# Ginger Snap Cookies Adjunct 16.37 %
2 lbs 1.7 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 45.83 %
1 lbs 2.1 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 24.55 %
8.2 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 11.13 %
1.6 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %
0.60 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
0.32 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.052 SG (1.030-1.110 SG)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.005-1.025 SG)
Estimated Color: 17.2 SRM (5.0-50.0 SRM) Color
Bitterness: 26.4 IBU (0.0-70.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 4.1 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.01 % (2.50-12.00 %)

Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 4.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 4.60 lb Mash


Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 1.44 gal of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
Sparge Water: 2.86 gal @ 168 Degrees.

Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Notes
Base is 11c Norther English Brown Ale 1.040-1.052 OG, 12-22 srms, 20-30 ibu's. 1 Lb box of ginger snaps in mash tun. 1 Box of Nabisco = 176g of sugar or 6.2 ounces. Used the calculation for 6.2 ounces turbinado sugar for a rough gravity assumption. Will actually be using Meijer's brand snaps.

My base recipe is an english brown, as opposed to a more hoppy american. I've never done that style. But I figured Marris Otter, and biscuit would hopefully be a nice "crackery" backbone. The oats are just for a little more help with heading.

What do you think? I'm actually more interested in what you think of the base Brown recipe, than anything else. Also, anyone got a better yeast suggestion that would bring out what I'm hoping to achieve? The only English Ale yeasts I've ever used have been 04 and windsor. I am hoping to bring out the crispness/bisquityness of the grain bill.

 

[Revvy]

This is how I primed it.

I've done chilies, citrus peels, and even some spices in the boil and strained out after. I decided to add 1.5 ounces of ginger to my priming sugar boil.

As you can see it has a nice straw color as opposed to the clear you are used to. It smelled amazingly like ginger.

I've also done it with dried chilli peppers for my chocolate mole porter. And done citrus peels with various beers such as using orange peels in my wits.

You could do it with any dry spice, such as cloves, coriander, star anise for a licorice beer, cinnamon and even a vanilla beer. You can do with this is to add some lactose to the boil as well, since it is unfermentable, it should sweeten the flavor somewhat.

 

[Red Clay]

Ha! I was just last week talking to my brewing crew about trying a Ginger(Snap)Ale by putting the Ginger Snaps in the mash. They weren't as enthusiastic about it as I am, so I figured it would be one of my personal experiments.

I don't have near the experience brewing that you do, but I see that we had some of the same thoughts. I was going to go after the biscuty flavors for sure. I think that Marris Otter sounds like a nice start as a base. I figured I'd use a touch of oats in the mash as well (although I might toast them a bit first.)

I would likely toss in a bit of wheat malt as well (15% or so). I'll probably split that Caramel Malt up into a several smaller crystal additions. I just like the complexity that I get from a range of crystal notes.

As to the yeast, I was looking for something clean that would accent the malt a bit, finish a bit on the sweet side and not produce much sulfur. I've had good luck with WL028 Scottish Ale Yeast in the past (nice slow fermentation starting at 60F), and was considering that. I've not tried it (and it's a platinum strain, so it might not be available), but the WLP037 Yorkshire Square description sounds interesting:

"This yeast produces a beer that is malty, but well-balanced. Expect flavors that are toasty with malt-driven esters. Highly flocculent and good choice for English pale ales, English brown ales, and mild ales."

I'll whip up my recipe and post it. Maybe we can both give it a go and compare results.

 

[Revvy]

Ha! I was just last week talking to my brewing crew about trying a Ginger(Snap)Ale by putting the Ginger Snaps in the mash. They weren't as enthusiastic about it as I am, so I figured it would be one of my personal experiments.

Finally. I was feeling lonely in this.

Feel free to post your recipe as well.

Have you listend to the Iron Brewer's Podcast?? It's not the best interview in the history of brewing podcasts, but it's interesting nonetheless.

January 14, 2010 - GBS Iron Brewer Competition


Jeff Britton, president of the Garage Brewers Society of O'Fallon, Missouri, explains his club's current contest centering around mystery ingredients.

Listen MP-3

 

[Red Clay]

I'm starting with JZ's Southern English Brown Ale recipe as a base.

What potential yield did you end up using for the Ginger Snaps? I went with 1.025, but frankly that was just a stab in the dark. I see that five Murray's Old Fashioned Ginger Snaps has 22g of carbs, which accounts for 5/6 of the total mass (25g). But I don't know how to account for the sugar versus the toasted wheat flour. I figure it is less convertible than grains (which have 1.035 potential.) But that's just a wag.

EDIT: Ah, I see in your notes that you figured out the grams of sugar in a box and converted it to raw. Cool I might well be assuming way more conversion than I get, but since I'm 5 points high versus the Southern Brown Ale style, then I should be a right.

I did listen to that podcast. I thought it was great (Cap'n Crunch Beer = pure awesome). I don't think I heard the end of it as I had to board a plane iirc. I'll give it another listen tomorrow.

Here is the recipe I'm making on 12/19/2010.

Recipe: Ginger Snap Ale
Style: Southern English Brown Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 2.42 gal
Boil Size: 3.51 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 19.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 17.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item % or IBU
12.0 oz -- Ginger Snap Cookies ----- 16.45%
2 lbs ----- Pale Malt, Maris Otter --- 43.86%
8.0 oz --- Caramel Malt - 90L ------- 10.96%
4.0 oz --- Caramel Malt -120L ------ 5.48%
4.0 oz --- Caravienne Malt ---------- 5.48%
4.0 oz --- Oats, Flaked ------------- 5.48%
4.0 oz --- Special Roast ----------- 5.48 %
4.0 oz --- Wheat Malt, Ger --------- 5.48 %
1.0 oz --- Acid Malt -----------------1.32 %
0.50 oz -- Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) 17.9 IBU
1 Pkgs --- Burton Ale (White Labs #WLP023) Built up in a 1 liter starter and pitched at high krausen.


Mash Schedule: BIAB Stovetop
Total Grain Weight: 4.56 lb
----------------------------
BIAB Stovetop
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 16.75 qt of water at 158.1 F 154.0 F


Notes:
------
Add 4 oz of crushed Giner Snaps in a bag at flame-out (adjust based on taste of the boiled..and cooled...wort before flameout.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I picked up, but didn't buy, my intended hops (Kent Goldings). So I've got some Tettnang in the freezer that will have to serve. It's just for bittering anyway, so hopefully it won't have too much influence.

 

[Red Clay]

Okay, it's in the fermentor! My OG was off a bit, but mainly because I'm still dialing in my BIAB system and overshot my batch volume and ended up with 3+ gallons instead of 2.5- gallons. That's 72% efficiency on the volume, so the difference in sugar is all in that little bit that wouldn't fit in my 3 gallon Better Bottle. I should have boiled longer.

(I'm already predicting a mess since I've got over 2.5 gallons in it that 3 gallon BB...I don't think my blow off hose is big enough and might clog up before I can get a larger one in the morning.)

So, OG ended up at 1.037 instead of the estimated 1.045...but it's dead in the middle of the style. So, yeah, I meant to do that

I ended up not adding any Ginger Snaps at the end of the boil. Bob (my LHBS owner) suggested that as a way to get more umph from the cookies. I tasted the wort and I could detect a slight ginger snap flavor. Since I was seeing tiny flecks of oil on the surface of the wort, I decided to leave it alone. The final wort has a definite, but slight, Ginger Snap flavor.

I'm fermenting cool for the yeast, starting at 63F and letting it rise to 67F. I missed high Krausen on the yeast by about 12 hours I think. But I'm betting I get a good start anyway.

Other than those changes, I stayed pretty much to recipe.

 

[Revvy]

I'm kinda torn. Have just started reading the latest byo, I'm intrigued by the idea of brewing a mild, EITHER the ginger snap one or the banana Bread beer as a session beer. I don't know. It's just that I have a stout and a chocolate mole porter already in the pipeling...so maybe another porter isn't needed...

I'll probably revisit the jamaican burnt sugar that I was trying to locate for my lion's stout clone to use in this beer as well.

So much to brew, so little time.

 

[Revvy]

Well, I have a brew day scheduled for tomorrow, and although I usually don't brew my experiments in 5 gallon sizes, I have the urge to brew this more than anything esle, so I guess I'm going to go for a 5 gallon batch of this......

 

[bwomp313]

Don't really have any input, but I wanna hear how it turns out, so...subscribed!

 

[Revvy]

I just doughed it.....2 14 ounce boxes of ginger snaps in the mash....

 

[Revvy]

And I am done!!!!!

Got a late start, but everything went well.

Here's the final recipe I ended up with.

5 Gallons.

4# 4oz, Marris Otter
2# 4oz Crystal 60
1.25# Biscuit
3 ounces Flaked oats.
Mashed With.
2-14 ounce boxes Ginger Snaps (I used Kroger brand, but wanted to use Meijer's house brand. Find one that you like the flavor of. Or bake your own.)

Mashed 2.88 gallons @ 154 for 60 minutes.
Sparged 5.75 gallons @ 168

Pre-boil volume 6.5 gallons

1.2 ounces Fuggles @ 60
.64 ounces fuggles @ 15

1.55 OG.

There is definitely a bisquity, crackery/cookie smell to the wort with a definite hint of ginger snap (not just ginger, but baked cookie.) I may have over hopped a tad, but I've noticed that with fuggles, it's pretty overpowering in the wort, so I won't really know til I'm actually drinking it if the hops overpower everything.

 

[Xcorpia]

Have you tasted the beer yet Revvy? I'm intrigued!

 

[Revvy]

Unfortunately I won't be able to drink alcohol for a few more weeks. I'm thinking in a few weeks sharing it with some family.

I did taste one after 10 days in the bottle the sat. before my surgery, and it was flat and green so there was really nothing I could glean from it, except that it didn't suck. I'll keep you all posted as soon as I can drink again.

 

[Xcorpia]

I didn't know about your heart surgery until I clicked on the link in your signature. Glad to know you're alive and well!

 

[pablo1337]

This is interesting...Seems like I have next an idea for a next batch...

Red Clay how did your batch turn out?(If you have tried it)

I am thinking maybe some spices used in ginger snaps at flame out (powdered ginger, clove) and bottle with molasses and use some ginger snaps in the mash(14oz for 3 g)

I really want to hear how your beers turned out before I try this (oh yeah and I have a couple other things on deck)

 

[Xcorpia]

I've become recently addicted to Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps. They would be perfect for this type of beer if Revvy and/or Red Clay pulled it off.

 

[Revvy]

I've become recently addicted to Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps. They would be perfect for this type of beer if Revvy and/or Red Clay pulled it off.

Yeah that's one of the brands I considered using. The trick is to use a brand that you like the taste of. All of them I've noticed are subtly different.

 

[PHBalanced]

I read threads like this and always have to ask myself "what is there that hasn't been tried yet?" knowing the answer is not much. I'd be interested to know how this comes out as well.

 

[biggben]

Ok so any news on how this one turned out revvy i am really curious about this one.

 

[laiced]

I am going to brew this one soon, but as an extract+specialty recipe due to not having my AG equipment...

Would I just put the cookies in with any specialty grains and steep?

I too am EXTREMELY interested in how this one turns out. And Meijer gingersnaps are phenomenal IMHO....too bad there are no Meijers in Utah...

 

[Xcorpia]

Please, pretty please post the results.

 

[Revvy]

Well, you do know that I haven't been drinking since the surgery, right? Last week though I took a bottle over to a couple guy's from here while they were brewing and I did try about a few sips of it. It's really good, though I think next time I will even go so far as to add another box or two to the boil, or just use double the amount in the mash tun.

I won't really be able to do a serious tasting for a couple more weeks my self official first real drinking day will be Natl Homebrew Day on the 7th.

Though redclay a few posts above did advocate adding it to the boil. So I quess even extract with grainers or partial mashers can do that.

Priming with the ginger infused solution is really nice, it get's the ginger across, but I'd still like more "cookie-ness" to it.

One thing I did learn and can't stress enough...rice hulls. Add a couple huge handfulls if you are using them in the mash tun, the cookies will become like concrete I had a stuck sparge, and now realize why. So get some hulls in there to help keep it from clogging.

One of the guys is a Bjcp judge, and he really like the beer, so I take that as a compliment.

My friends did say that it would be a great base for a Christmas beer, you added a few more spices to it at flameout.

If I brew it again, which I prolly will, I think I'd like to try a different strain of english ale yeast just to see what it does.

I look forward to hearing other folks experiences with it.

 

[Revvy]

It's official. I debuted it on Saturday at Natl Homebrew Day and folks really dug it. Most thought it didn't need anymore cookies in it, they thought the ginger came out nicely.

I guess this one's a keeper.

 

[Xcorpia]

Cool! Revvy: I'm definitely copying your recipe with Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps for the Holidays. Cheers, and glad to see you're recovering well.

 

[Xcorpia]

Revvy: I'm brewing your recipe in about 2 weeks. I'm planning on using TJ's Triple Ginge Snaps and I'm probably doubling the amount to really get the cookie flavor. I was also thinking about possibly doing a half batch with your recipe and the other half with Yury's Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale base since I'm not a big brown ale fan. What do you think?

 

[Revvy]

Sounds great Xcorpia, let me know how it turns out. Especially with the doubling of the cookies.

 

[Xcorpia]

Will do!

 

[Xcorpia]

So I finally recieved the ingredients and I'm going to follow Revvy's recipe with a couple of tweaks:

BIAB Method
4 X 14 oz Trader Joes Ginger Snaps in mash
Mash 3.30 gallons @ 154 for 60 minutes.
Sparge 2.20 gallons @ 168

4 lb 4 oz Pale Malt (Maris Otter)
2 lb 4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
1 lb 4 oz Biscuit Malt
3 oz Flaked Oats
60 mins 1.2 oz Fuggles
15 mins 0.64 oz Fuggles
Fermentis Safeale S-04

I'm participating in the Christmas beer exchange discussed in this thread.

So Revvy: I read something about priming with a ginger infused solution. How did you prepare it?

 

[Revvy]

Bottom of this post.

 

[Xcorpia]

So I finally brewed my version which came out like this:

BIAB Method
4 X 14 oz Trader Joes Ginger Snaps in mash
Mash 3.25 gallons @ 154 for 60 minutes.
Sparge 2.00 gallons @ 168

4 lb 4 oz Pale Malt (Maris Otter)
2 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
1 lb 4 oz Biscuit Malt
3 oz Flaked Oats
60 mins 1 oz Fuggles
15 mins 0.5 oz Kent Goldings
Fermentis Safeale S-04

As you can see I used 4 oz less of Crystal 60 and A tad bit less hops. I also made a mistake ordering my ingredients and used Kent Goldings as aroma hops. Doubling the ginger snaps made it difficult to strain the bag. It also made the wort thick and oily. Since its so hot out and I don't have temperature control I placed the carboy in a cooler with 3 frozen water bottles to bring the temperature down as close as possible to 68°F. The OG was at 1.058 and it was very tasty. I can really taste and smell the ginger sanps. Let's see how the final product tastes. I've got high hopes

 

[Revvy]

It never occurred to me, but part of the trick of being able to do this is that in a mash tun the grainbed actually absorbs the oils and keeps them out of the wort itself. It's the same with mashing with chocolate when making my mole porter- People always said adding chocolate would cause the wort to be oily, but I've put pounds in the mash tun, and never had that issue with the finished beer. But in the case of BIAB, the grain, not being in a formal vessel might not be able to absorb the oils and act as a filter.

I hope it turns out for you.

 

[BrewinUpNorth]

Xcorpia I am dying to see how the BIAB method turned out! I am planning my X-mas Ginger beer and was deciding whether to go with snaps or ground ginger and maybe some cloves. How long did you go primary and will you go secondary?

I would assume you would go 3-4 weeks in the primary to make sure unfermentables are all that is left.

 

[mikee]

I just mentioned this beer to my wife and she is all over it. Whatever keeps her happy keeps me brewin, but no complaints here. This looks awesome! :rockin:

 

[Xcorpia]

Xcorpia I am dying to see how the BIAB method turned out! I am planning my X-mas Ginger beer and was deciding whether to go with snaps or ground ginger and maybe some cloves. How long did you go primary and will you go secondary?

I would assume you would go 3-4 weeks in the primary to make sure unfermentables are all that is left.

Hi! I've had it in 1ry for 2.5 weeks at 64F. Yesterday I moved it to a warmer spot at 68F because it was still bubbling. I haven't taken a hydro sample yet, so I haven't been able to taste it since brew day. Looking good so far. It's got tons of trub. I hope I get at least 40 bottles to share for the Xmas beer exchange.

As to the BIAB itself, it worked out pretty good during brewday. The only annoying thing that happened was the disintegrated ginger snaps thay clogged the bag a little even though I added rice husks.

 

[BrewinUpNorth]

Xcorpia it looks like the recipe is a little light on the grains for a 5 gallon batch. Is your recipe for a 3 gallon after boil off? I was looking at this and thinking it may be better to add some light DME and maybe ginger extract....sounds like the two of you are having trouble with the cookie trub.

After 2.5 weeks, in your shoes, I may go to secondary just to get off the trub and continue fermentation.

Let me know what you decide and how it turns out!

 

[BrewinUpNorth]

I stand corrected....just ran it through beer smith and if you are getting any fermentable sugars out of the gingersnaps, you are right on target.

What did your OG start at?

 

[Xcorpia]

I stand corrected....just ran it through beer smith and if you are getting any fermentable sugars out of the gingersnaps, you are right on target.

What did your OG start at?

My OG was 1.056 after topping up to a volume of 5.5 gal. My initial boil started at approx. 6 gal since I used a 7.5 gal turkey fryer. I checked the carboy and its still bubbling. I'm planning on transferring to 2ry on Monday or Tuesday since I'm working this weekend.

 

[BrewinUpNorth]

This is interesting....I ran it in beer smith 2 and upped your grain bill to the following:
4lb 8oz Maris Otter
2lb Crystal 60L
1lb 8oz Biscuit Malt
8 oz Flaked Oats
With those numbers (which are 13 oz more grains than you used) I ended at 1.036 OG....
I tried adding 2lbs of light DME which got me to 1.05 OG

If your gingersnaps were in 1 lb boxes, the sugars in them actually are close to 1 lb of DME if not more based on your OG reading!

I have my grains ready to go, but would like to get your reading as you go into secondary....you should be nearly done fermenting and it would be very interesting to see how much of the Ginger Snap sugars get fermented...

I adjusted the sugars in the Ginger Snaps in Beer Smith 2 but am still figuring it out...dont know how this will work out, but it is throwing out an estimated FG of 1.014.

 

[Xcorpia]

I don't use Beer Smith, I use the Hopville calculator. I didn't factor in the ginger snaps. However, looking at the nutrition facts 1 serving has 12 g of sugar and each box contains 13 servings. I used 4 boxes which totals 624 g sucrose. That might give you a better estimate of the theoretical OG. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll rack mine to 2ry and I'll post the SG. I'm dying to know and I'm dying to taste it

 

[BrewinUpNorth]

I just cant wait for your gravity measurments and the taste! Came back here while at work to ask if you used a yeast starter or just dumped your Safale?

I would think with a higher OG a starter would help....it could also contribute to your longer fermentation time in primary.

Also, with all that trub have you considered doing a 3rd stage fermentation just so that you get all the brew out from primary...you can add a little of the trub with the first rack and end up with a clear brew if you rack one more time.