Brewniverse

Ginger Binger

A few months ago my cousin visited me from her home state of Vermont.  Understanding my propensity for craft beverages and anything forged in a ‘brewing’ process, she came bearing gifts of some locally bottled Ginger Beer.  Immediately I was intrigued by the designation of ‘beer’, as the beverage before me held no alcohol and contains no barley.  At the time I had very little experience with this particular beverage outside of the relatively lifeless versions of Canada Dry or Schwepps, so I eagerly dove in and poured a small glass. 

A tiny head of meringue perched on top of the hazy golden liquid perfused the air with a most pleasant aroma.  The intensity with which the spice and ginger tickled my nostrils I had never before experienced from this exotic root.  Then I sipped.  A tsunami of heat and spice cascaded over my palate as a touch of sweetness provided structure for a lingering warmth.  Turns out I like ginger.  A lot.

So naturally I became obsessed with making my own.  I have a converted refrigerator in my basement which is designed to hold four old soda kegs.  Typically I just have beer on tap, but this is the perfect excuse to delve into another dimension of the beverage universe.  I decided I would have home made Ginger Beer on tap at all times, so I began doing a little research.  Most of what I turned up followed these two fundamental steps:

1. Clean and chop ginger root.

2. Heat Ginger root in water with sugar.

That was all the instruction I needed.  I figured I’d scale my sugar additions to be about half of what you find in a typical ginger ale.  I really wanted this beverage to shine with the refreshing flavor of ginger and a bit heat associated with the root rather than just pure sweetness.  I was intrigued with the fact that the commercial example I poured held a bit of a head and actually had some body, so I decided to make a small addition of maltodextrin (a branched carbohydrate which contributes body and head retention in beer).  Lastly, I knew I’d need something else to add a bit of depth to the flavor, so I decided to add a whole lemon to the process.  All that said, here is my take on draft Ginger Ale.

Ingredients for 5 gallons:

• 3.25-3.5lbs of ginger root trimmed and sliced (thats about 4-4.5lbs of the raw stuff before its trimmed.)
• 1.5lbs cane sugar/unrefined sugar
• .5 lbs maltodextrin
• 1 lemon
• 1 large muslin bag

And here is the process:

1. Begin heating about 1.5 gallons of water to 180F in a large pot.  As the water heats, dissolve the cane sugar and maltodextrin.
2. Clean and chop ginger root.  Quarter the lemon
3. Use a blender or food processor with a few cups of water to finely chop the ginger root and lemon (peels and all).
4. Pour the ginger/lemon slurry as neatly as you can into the muslin bag and steep in hot water at 180F for 30 minutes.
5. Use a funnel and kitchen strainer to separate the solid from liquid portion of the beverage, and top off the keg with cold water.  Refrigerate and carbonate at about 30psi for about 5 days.
6. Drink and Enjoy

Check out the full photostream on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewwinehobby/sets/72157629951812251/

Cheers!

Got some sexy new Cam-lock fittings from Proflow dynamics.  They are relatively inexpensive, very easy to connect/disconnect, form a very tight seal, and pretty much rock.  I’ve tried using the polysulfone (foodsafe plastic) disconnects in the past.  They’re much more expensive, very fragile, and don’t seat nearly as well.  If you’re looking to make an upgrade to your home brewery this is one I’d highly recommend.  I’ll get some more pics of how I established the whole system soon.