Ginger Pale Ale recipe critique

[skatermxracer]

Hey guys, my brother in law is coming to visit over memorial day. He put in request for a possible IPA with ginger. I think I have enough time yet so i'm going to try to throw something together and brew this weekend. I'm thinking a pale ale would be better as an IPA might over power the ginger as far as the hops. So i figured for something better balanced I'd try to stick with a Pale Ale. Going to try for a 2.5 gallon BIAB style recipe just in case it doesn't turn out well. Here is the recipe idea I've come up with.

Boil Size: 4.31 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.56 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 2.91 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.69 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 5.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 42.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.4 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
5 lbs 2.8 oz Pale Malt (6 Row) US
14.8 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L
3.2 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
3.2 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)


Hop Schdule

0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - First Wort
0.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min


0.60 oz Ginger Root (Boil 0.0 mins)


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 6 lbs 8.0 oz
Mash @ 148 for 90 mins




Let me know what you guys think. Also i'm considering "dry hopping" with ginger in the secondary.

 

[954surfer]

My $0.02 If you want to taste the ginger use a lot more. whirlpool is fine. The dry hop seems like a waste. Use like a half a root, chopped in quarter-size pieces.

Not sure about the synergy with cascade. I would leave a little sweetness in the beer to enjoy the hops and the ginger.

 

[skatermxracer]

what kind of hops would you suggest?

 

[nicklepickles]

Ive used almost a lb of ginger spread throughout the boil (in a 2.5 gal batch). I peeled the root and cut it into large chunks, threw roughly even portions at 60, 20,5, and 0, plus another 4 or so oz in the dryhop. It came out super delicious, lots of ginger flavor with low heat. This was an amber ale, that i hopped with c-type hops. Ginger definitely came out more than the hops!

 

[inthesound]

Glad to see other going the ginger pale ale route! I brewed a 5 gal batch with:

9# 2-row
1#victory
.5# red wheat

I used a little amarillo at the start of my late additions, and all citra going forward. Half ounce of citra and amarillo in the dry hop. I used 3 oz of peeled, sliced ginger @15. My next batch will have half as much in the boil, and I'll have a 2oz citra dry hop. Everything else in your beer is going to compete with the ginger. I suspect that even being modest with it, it will still be bright and present.

I would entertain the idea of sorachi ace with the ginger pale ale combo. I think it would probably be awesome. Think about it.

Hope this helps. Keep us updated.