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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator

Contents:
  how much ginger? (Dick Dunn)

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Date: 28 Nov 88 22:34:28 MST (Mon)
From: hplabs!utah-cs!cs.utexas.edu!raven!rcd (Dick Dunn)
Subject: how much ginger?

Jay Hersh recently gave us a recipe for a gingered beer.  His is a
relatively light beer with 3 oz of ginger.  I'd like to suggest another
approach--not a "correction" but just a different style.

We've made a number of batches of a gingered amber ale (I say it this way
to avoid confusing people with the term "ginger(ed) ale").  We use a fair
amount of ginger--I think I'd always use at least 8 oz.  I entered one in
the AHA national competition in 1984 and got a 1st in the extract-
specialty beer category for it.

Here are the interesting characteristics and some thoughts about gingered
beers:
   - It was an ale; I think you want the greater character of ale behind
     the ginger.
   - It was an amber--a pound of crystal malt along with light extract. 
     Again, you want some "stuff" along with the ginger.
   - This particular recipe used 9.5 oz. of chopped ginger root.  We've
     tried the range from 4-12 oz and eventually decided that 8-10 was
     about right.  Of course, ginger varies quite a bit in strength; your
     mileage may vary.  
   - OG 1.054, FG 1.011 - thus a moderately strong beer, about 5.5% vol.
   - hops were bullion, Saaz in the boil (the Saaz because I had them to
     spare at the time), and Saaz to finish.  You might fiddle around with
     the finishing hops, but consider whether they'll go with the ginger.
     For example, I might use Hallertau but I wouldn't even think of
     Cascade.  Personally, I think Saaz is the best choice because it's got
     a spicy character of its own, yet won't try to overpower the ginger.
   - Try to get a little residual sweetness, and/or add some non-fermentable
     stuff at bottling (like malto-dextrin).  This will bring out the char-
     acter of the ginger and make it a little smoother.

This recipe, with its minor variations, has been one of our favorites.  It
goes well with spicy food, since it has some spice of its own.  We par-
ticularly like it with Szechuan or Hunan style Chinese dishes (many of
which contain ginger also).
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Dick Dunn	{ncar;ico;stcvax}!raven!rcd		(303)494-0965

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Date:         Tue, 29 Nov 88 19:23:57 EST
From: brian bulkowski <GE710012%BROWNVM.BITNET at MITVMA.MIT.EDU>

Hi Gang:

I'm a bit new to homebrewing, and have only a few decent batches to my
credit. Being a student does that to ya. So here are some rather basic
questions:

I've been brewing with exstract, and only use one fermenter. What are the
advantages of using a two fermenter system?

About hops: I'm in a quandry about when to add them to the must, and when
to remove them. Should I throw them into my fermenter, put them into the
must about 10 minutes before stopping boiling, or put them in at the beginning?

About boiling: should it be at a full rolling boil, or just lower than a
boil (slight boil)?

In all these cases I've had information both ways, and am looking for reasons
for doing one over the other. I've currently got several batches going several
ways, and if all else fails, I'll just go with what tastes good to me.

I've put on some cider (having a local orchard that sells w/o preservatives),
and didn't know weather I should boil the stuff to get out whatever yeast
it was currently fermenting on. One gallon I boiled, one gallon I didn't.
I've just sampled the unboiled gallon, which has a slightly off aroma, but
is strong as the dickens. Perhaps you can tell: my typing's a bit off
this evening.

Thanks,
Brian
Acknowledge-To: <GE710012 at BROWNVM>

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