Cranberry ginger shandy

[sfgoat]

So SWMBO is really digging the leinekugel cranberry ginger shandy and she wants me to develop a clone for it so she can have it year round. I tried a couple to get an idea of what it is and I'm thinking the grain bill is simple enough probably a simple American wheat. It is beer forward with the cranberry being an after taste mostly. Slight tartness but not overpowering and the ginger is so suttle you might not even notice it if they didn't tell you it was there. I think I can handle cloning the base beer but getting the cranberry and ginger right is where I'm a little iffy.

Can anyone offer some input on this.

 

[McKnuckle]

The only input I can offer is regarding ginger. I tried it in a Dunkelweizen, adding about 1 oz sliced fresh ginger to the secondary in a mesh bag. The batch was small, about 2.5 gallons.

The ginger was not even steeping for an entire 24 hours, and the resulting flavor was fairly overwhelming. It faded a little over the ensuing weeks that we took to drink it all, but from this, infer that ginger flavor is easily conveyed to beer! And be conservative when you use it.

 

[sfgoat]

Kinda wondering if I'd get the flavor I was looking for by adding a touch of ginger at flameout and just priming with cranberry juice?

 

[sfgoat]

Turns out I would have to force carb this beer because it needs to be blended with cranberry juice and bottled without further fermentation. Or so they told me in an email response. That's all I was able to get for info though.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

You either need to force-carb, or you can just brew the base beer with a hint of ginger (0.5 oz at most IMO) and blend with juice when serving out of the bottle.

The base beer is almost certainly the Honey Weiss. Find a clone for that, add the ginger and any other spices, and blend with cranberry juice to taste.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

All of Lienie's beers except for the Big Eddy's are all lagers. If you can't do a lager, I'd use a clean floccuating strain like Notty and ferment as cool as possible.

 

[sfgoat]

I can do lagers. Just don't keg anymore so force carbing is out.

 

[hartlesj]

Glad I found this. I have the same question being asked of me. Any luck on your end?

 

[sfgoat]

Glad I found this. I have the same question being asked of me. Any luck on your end?

I haven't tried anything yet. Need to get my pipeline built up again before I do any experiments.

 

[spikestheclown]

So this probably isn't anywhere near exact, but this is what i came up with:

Cranberry Ginger Shandy - 6.25 Gallon BIAB 55% eff

6# Avengard Pilsner
3# Avengard Pale Wheat
2.75# Flaked Rice
2# Avengard Pale Malt
1# Avengard Vienna

15g Cluster (6.5% AAU)@ 66 Min
7 g Cluster (6.5% AAU) @ flameout with 10 minute rest

1 tsp Irish Moss @15 min
1 tsp gelatin @ secondary
3.75 oz Ginger Extract @ secondary
1 pk Mangrove Jack M20 Bavarian Wheat Yeast

1 can Cranberry juice concentrate@ primary after furious fermentation ceases (usually on day 3-5)
1 can cranberry juice concentrate@4 days before bottling

Mash @ 155 for 60 minutes (1.64 qt/lb)
Rinse @ 212 for 10 min with 2 Gallons of Water
for rough total of 8.5 Gallons preboil

Boil 90 minutes minimum timing hop additions for longer boils

Ferment as cool as possible with 12 days primary and 9 daysish secondary.

Carb to preference
_____________________________________________________________



Again not exactly a clone just the Weiss beer i use little spice and a little less hops to help the cranberry/ginger shine through.


Let me know if you have any suggestions, plan on brewing this soon so any advice from past brew would be great.

 

[spikestheclown]

Had trouble finding Food grade ginger extract so i thought i would post my home made ginger extract recipe.

12 grams shredded (i used a cheese grater, but a food processor would work i think. The finer the grate the better the extract.) fresh ginger

4 oz of cheap vodka 40% or stronger (i always use everclear)

1 - 6 oz or larger container with lid

Pretty simple put ginger in jar add vodka put lid on and shake well for 2 or 3 minutes. Put in fridge and shake every 6-12 hours for minimum 2 weeks, better after 6 weeks. Then strain through a coffee filter.

 

[Ike]

Just a thought, but I'd think a little fresh, grated ginger in primary would go a long way. I've been brewing the hell out of some ginger beer (crowd favorite) and all the ginger is in primary, and ALL the flavor survives primary.

 

[spikestheclown]

Thanks for the feedback!!! I pulled the ginger from a ginger ale recipe i found, however locating the extract was a pain so i started my home made batch today. Should i just put the 12 grams(the amount I'm using in the extract) straight to primary? Is 12 grams more than you would use in your average ginger beer? Also what about sterilization of the root itself, do i need to boil it first since I'm not using alcohol? I've never made a ginger beer nor a ginger ale soft drink so please forgive my ignorance. This is one of my favorite winter brews and I figured I'd take a crack at the flavoring. Any more thoughts on the recipe?

 

[Ike]

Should i just put the 12 grams(the amount I'm using in the extract) straight to primary? Is 12 grams more than you would use in your average ginger beer?

DISCLAIMER: I'm pretty sure we're talking apples and oranges, here. You're trying for a ginger-note-having-beer, I'm talking about a straight up ginger beer that I brew. That said, when I make my ginger beer (it's basically a Crabbie's clone, if that helps at all, really all ginger and no beer-y-ness at all) I use 0.6# of ginger per gallon. I haven't tried the brew you're trying to clone but I'd bet money that's way more ginger flavor than you're looking for.

Also what about sterilization of the root itself, do i need to boil it first since I'm not using alcohol? I've never made a ginger beer nor a ginger ale soft drink so please forgive my ignorance.

Can't say for sure. If you're adding to primary, I'd say boil it with everything else. If you're going into secondary, I'd say at least heat it over 180 degrees, cool quickly, then pitch. Ginger is pretty tangy and probably has enough built-in antiseptic character (based on how it feels on the tongue, and its long shelf life) but we're also talking about something that spent its entire existence in dirt.

ETA: If you're doing the extract, though, and adding after primary, I'd also imagine that vodka is going to do a lot to clean that ginger of any beasties that may bother your finished brew. OTOH, the naysayers around here will warn you that even vodka won't kill EVERYTHING.

 

[Thomas John]

You either need to force-carb, or you can just brew the base beer with a hint of ginger (0.5 oz at most IMO) and blend with juice when serving out of the bottle.

The base beer is almost certainly the Honey Weiss. Find a clone for that, add the ginger and any other spices, and blend with cranberry juice to taste.

Need help translating what you 'put out'. What volume does .5 oz relate to? The most common batch size is 5 gallons, i.e. 20 quarts.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Need help translating what you 'put out'. What volume does .5 oz relate to? The most common batch size is 5 gallons, i.e. 20 quarts.

Most of the people on this thread haven't been seen in years.

If you hover your mouse over a persons name, you can see when they were last seen online.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Need help translating what you 'put out'. What volume does .5 oz relate to? The most common batch size is 5 gallons, i.e. 20 quarts.

Some people like to over complicate things.
A simple solution, might be to brew a base beer, such as a wheat beer or a kolsch, then at serving add in a bit of gingerale and cranberry juice to the glass.. That way you can adjust as needed to get the desired flavor.