Ginger Beer

Classification: spiced ale, ginger beer, extract

Source: Dave Whitman (rsndww@rohmhaas.com), HBD Issue #1088, 3/2/93

I'm in the middle of a batch of ginger beer, using a recipe which is a hodge-podge of Cat's Meow recipes and my own warped ideas. What I'm shooting for is something with a pronounced ginger flavor and aroma, good body, but a very light color. I think I'm going to hit all the goals except the ginger flavor, which is a problem given that this is supposed to be a ginger beer.

Ingredients:

2 cans Munton & Fison extra light extract (for light color)
0.5 lb. maltodextrin powder (for body w/o color)
2 oz Hallertauer leaf hop (4.6% alpha)
3 oz sliced ginger root (peeled for lighter color)
4 each juice from fresh lemons
1 pkt Whitbread ale yeast

Procedure:

The ginger and hops were boiled in the wort for 45 minutes, then lemon juice was added along with my immersion chiller. After an additional 10 minute boil, the batch was chilled to 65F. ph: 5.3 before lemon juice, 4.0 afterwards. To my chagin, the resulting wort had very little ginger flavor.