I’m going to be brewing the cream ale extract kit this weekend but wanted to get some thoughts on added fresh ginger root to the wort for the last 20 min of the boil.
I’m very new to brewing, this will only be my 3rd batch so not sure if this will be like putting a slice of lemon on a burger.
I’m totally up for any suggestions on amount of ginger and when to add it or to just leave the recipe as is.
Thanks in advance
If you want to try ginger, go ahead and try it. Additives to beer tend to be stronger than we expect. How ever much you think you need, use about 1/4th of that. What I would do is shred fresh ginger root (2 Tablespoons) and add it at Flameout.
Alternatively, you could make a tincture. In a sanitized jar, put 1/2 a cup of vodka and a shredded ginger root. Seal the jar and let it soak in the fridge for a few days. Then pull a few samples of the fermented beer, add 3 drops of the ginger vodka to one, 6 to another, and 15 to the third. Taste them, try different amounts of tincture until you find one that you like, then scale it up to the batch size. Add 1/2 what you calculate to the batch, taste a sample, then add more if you want more. Then bottle/keg.
That sounds like great advice. If anyone has a better idea I’m up to hear it but if not, I think I’m going to try that.
Quick question for you before I take your advice…when you say pull samples, do you mean in bottles then pour back into the batch? I’m really new at brewing so I want to make sure I understand everything.
Thanks for the reply!
I use a wine thief and put an ounce into each of three or four small glasses. You could set everything up for bottling, and using the bottle filler wand, fill an ounce or two into glasses. Don’t pour back anything that you taste. Those taste samples will be drunk or poured out. You want to maintain sanitation, of course.
Got it. Thanks again.
