I’ve had a ginger-y beer on my to-do list for quite some time, now I’m finally ready to do something, only problem is I forgot what my original plan for a gingery beer was [probably wrote it down on the back of an envelope which wound up in the recycle bin - my filing system could use a redesign]. For those who make or have made ginger containing beers, what types of beers have you added it to, in what general quantities, and how and where in the process are you adding it?
Ginger can be good in a graff (hybrid of beer and cider), IMHO. The ginger-graff that has worked best for me was about 3/4 pale beer, 1/4 cider, at about 1.055ish OG range.
It did take several months for it to get to where I enjoyed it (I hated it at first), but my wife and daughter loved it from day 1 (they both enjoy sours and gose, styles I don’t care for). Once the ginger-graff reached that ‘mature’ window at about 6 months, it surprised me.
Only 1 bottle left, might have it tonight, now that you mention it.
You could get a head start on your Holiday Beer ;D
I’ve only used it in my Christmas Ale, but it was really nice. I peeled the root, then peeled shavings to go into last couple minutes of boil. Probably an ounce or two. It wasn’t strong at that rate, but was enough to compliment the cinnamon and honey.
I have used a lot of ginger in beer – just buy fresh ginger and grate it at the end of the boil. Try starting with about 2-4 oz fresh grated ginger per 5 gallons during the last 10 minutes for pronounced ginger flavor and adjust it up or down from there.
This is also my preferred method for using ginger in my Christmas Ale. I also use cinnamon and honey! I try to mimic Great Lakes Brewing’s Christmas Ale, which use to be a great beer. 
Yes!!
Any particular types/styles of beer that you’ve found it a nice addition to?
Belgian White works nicely. The one below is one of my original recipes when I started Yellowhammer. Not sure if they still use the same recipe or not.
Thanks Keith. I hadn’t thought of combining ginger & Kaffir lime, but I always keep some of both on hand as I use them together frequently in stir-fry and crock pot meals. I guess we’re not supposed to call it Kaffir anymore though, not sure what the replacement name is.
Had not heard we weren’t supposed to call it “kaffir”… why is that?
From wikipedia:
In South Africa, the Arabic kafir was adopted by White colonialists as “kaffir,” an ethnic slur for black African people. Consequently, some authors favour switching from “kaffir lime” to “makrut lime,” a less well-known name, while in South Africa, it is usually referred to as “Thai lime.”
I have heard the term Makrut lime before, but I honestly didn’t realize that it was the same thing as Kaffir.
Whatever one chooses to call it, it’s waaay cool stuff, and it doesn’t take a large amount to have a significant flavor impact. A former girlfriend bought me a " " lime tree years ago and it was great always having some fresh leaves available. Unfortunately it only lasted a couple years before dying, I suspect it may not have been suited to our arid climate.