Mega Gingered Holiday Ale

Classification: spiced ale, christmas ale, holiday beer, extract

Source: Paul Baker (bakerp@amhsgwy.jpl.nasa.gov), HBD Issue #1630, January 13, 1994

All of the great tasting holiday ales available last year have inspired me to make my own this year. I choose to make my first holiday ale a traditional one.
The fermentation went normally and I bottled after two weeks. It has been in the bottle for six weeks now.

So here's the problem: the ginger is completely overwhelming. It dominates the flavor profile so much that only a touch of cinnamon can be found. The orange peel is nonexistent and the slightly dry finish that the honey should have added is not there. In fact this holiday ale starts and ends with mega ginger. None of the other spices have a chance of coming though. Hopefully, the ginger will mellow with age, but I am finding it difficult to be optimistic.

Ingredients:

7 lbs. light DME
1/2 lb. light crystal malt
1/2 lb. chocolate malt
1 lb. orange blossom honey
hops (don't have the specifics on hand, about 28 IBUs)
BrewTek Belgian Ale #2 from slant (1 qt. starter)
1-1/2 oz. fresh grated ginger
9 inches cinnamon stick
1-1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

Procedure:

Add 1 oz. fresh grated ginger, 6 inches cinnamon stick, and 1 tsp. orange peel in last 15 minutes of boil. Before bottling simmer 1/2 ounce ginger, 3 inches cinnamon, and a 1/2 tsp. orange peel (simmer for 5 minutes and then strained the resulting tea though a coffee filter and added it to the bottling bucket.)