# Ginger Beer Dry 'hopping' Experiment



## bum (2/3/10)

Currently doing what could be a stupid experiment with my just bottled GB. Posting this more as a way to force myself to actually keep some sort of record of the process rather than thinking this'll be an idea that'll set everyone's heart a-flutter.

I like to muck around with additions to my ginger beers. Currently my favourite addition combination is cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. I've spent a bit of time thinking about (and trying) other additions and a few months back I had a revelation. A revelation that felt entirely stupid so I didn't bother trying it on other batches. Kinda sick of wondering about it so I'm giving it a crack now.

What was my revelation, you ask? Well, I just thought about the additions on their own rather than as ingredients in my GB. What goes well with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and, of course, ginger? Yep. Curry leaves. What is basically my favourite smell in the whole world? Yep. Curry leaves. So I'm dry 'hopping' some bottles from my latest batch. 3 longnecks with one heavily crushed curry leaf. 3 with 2 and another 3 with 3 leaves. Once the straight ones are ready I'll start trying one of each a week or two apart and see how it goes.

What am I expecting? To be honest, either a wild yeast infection or some oil or something to come from the leaves that'll ruin the beer. I'm pretty sure I won't get too much of the nucleation point problems some report with bottle dry hopped beers as I don't think the leaves will break up like pellets. What I am hoping for is just a hint of that beautiful aroma sitting behind the big flavour of my GB.


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## RetsamHsam (2/3/10)

bum said:


> Well, I just thought about the additions on their own rather than as ingredients in my GB. What goes well with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and, of course, ginger? Yep. Curry leaves. What is basically my favourite smell in the whole world? Yep. Curry leaves.



Onions are another ingredient you could add to that list.. If you can't find them in the supermarket you could always chuck in some Marco Polo :icon_drool2: 

Let us know how it turns out.. :icon_cheers:


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## RdeVjun (2/3/10)

Is that with the fresh or dried leaves, bum?

Probably a crap suggestion, but ever wondered about Star Anise in the GB? :blink: I find it delicious in a dry stout albeit not totally unexpectedly, i.e. similar to liquorice stout (crap in a sweet stout though), but that's just me...

Interesting experiment though, keen to hear how it unfolds so I'll keep an eye out for your record- keeping! :icon_cheers:


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## bum (2/3/10)

Fresh leaves but now that you mention it I'm wondering if dried leaves might have been 'safer'? Oh well, we'll see.

Star anise would work really well used sparingly but I don't particularly like the flavour (or licorice, etc) so I haven't done it myself.

lol @ the marco polo

Forgot to mention this batch also has chilli. I think I'll bung some chicken in the next one and be done with it.


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## RdeVjun (2/3/10)

Yeah, fresh or dried- that's what I don't know about either... Boiled la hops I'd certainly try with the fresh stuff, just not sure how it will handle straight immersion- so let's just find out! There's nothing quite like serendipity, good on you for giving it a go! :icon_cheers:


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## bum (2/3/10)

RdeVjun said:


> Boiled la hops I'd certainly try with the fresh stuff



I considered this but I wasn't sure about the 'utilisation' of the leaves and didn't want to risk pulling out too much of the flavour - I just want the aroma. Probably doesn't work that way anyway but I figure boiling them up has got to push the flavour forward more than loose leaves. Probably should have done a couple bottles that way regardless.


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## jyo (2/3/10)

bum said:


> I considered this but I wasn't sure about the 'utilisation' of the leaves and didn't want to risk pulling out too much of the flavour - I just want the aroma. Probably doesn't work that way anyway but I figure boiling them up has got to push the flavour forward more than loose leaves. Probably should have done a couple bottles that way regardless.



Keep the updates coming on this Bum. Lurve curry leaves.
Could you PM or chuck the recipe up? I was saying to the missus last night I was keen on trying my hand a ginger beer from scratch.
Cheers, John.


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## bum (2/3/10)

Mine isn't from scratch but it definitely doesn't taste like a straight kit. Can't remember this one's recipe exactly now but it is very close to this one of GravityGuru's. http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&recipe=972 Except I use the cooper's kit, omit the spirits, use raw sugar instead of dex and I boil the ginger (1kg) for an hour instead of soaking overnight. And the above spices, obviously. Can check my notes tomorrow if you'd like but GG's recipe is definitely enough to get you going (and everyone who tries it seems to rave about it).


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## jyo (3/3/10)

bum said:


> Mine isn't from scratch but it definitely doesn't taste like a straight kit. Can't remember this one's recipe exactly now but it is very close to this one of GravityGuru's. http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&recipe=972 Except I use the cooper's kit, omit the spirits, use raw sugar instead of dex and I boil the ginger (1kg) for an hour instead of soaking overnight. And the above spices, obviously. Can check my notes tomorrow if you'd like but GG's recipe is definitely enough to get you going (and everyone who tries it seems to rave about it).



Good one. Cheers mate. :icon_cheers:


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## Bongchitis (3/3/10)

Man 2-3 is alot of curry leaves for a longie. I usually only use 1 for a batch of curry. They do smell great though and at that dosage you will certainly know it is in the beer. Great idea! Getting towards a chai beer now hey?

Love seeing people try new things, onya bum..... or should that be upya bum?


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## bum (3/3/10)

Bongchitis said:


> or should that be upya bum?



Whoa! People here don't normally ask first. I guess that makes you the local romantic?

I know personal preference comes heavily into play here but when my missus makes a curry (and it is pretty tremendous) she puts in 3 to 4 of the little twig things worth of leaves (making six servings of curry in total). I don't think I'd ever even notice a single leaf in a curry. But yeah, I too am concerned that 3 leaves will be too much but all I'll lose is 3 bottles if so.

As for the chai, yeah kinda. That's what gave me the cardamom idea in the first place.


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## bum (19/3/10)

Tried the non-curry ones last night and they are drinking well (even if I say so myself).

So tonight is the first trial of a curried bottle - one of the three leaf bottles. My intention (more hoping against hope really) was to get a fair hit of curry aroma and little else. And essentially that is what I have got but if you think too much about the smell it seems to combine with the other aromas as something more similar to freshly toasted mustard seeds (which is still nice), So not a complete success but not a complete failure either. As for the flavour, the only contribution it seems to have on this reasonably young example is that the curry accentuates the small amount of chilli I put in to extend ginger tail - not unpleasant in flavour at all but my lips are burning a little which is uncomfortable I guess. The real issue, however, is that this bottle is much more effervescent than the non-curried bottles - to the point where my headmaster glass is sporting a thin but creamy head. I'm guessing that this is a sign of something really bad. I'll just drink these 3 leaf bottles post-haste and see if there might be a little more longevity in the lesser curried bottles. 

I'll probably have a bash at a single leaf bottle tomorrow.


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## RdeVjun (20/3/10)

On ya bum for giving it a whirl, at least it hasn't been a complete failure. GB doesn't usually pour a head, does it? 
Mind you, the uncomfortable burning lip sensation would have me wondering if it should be done again. Do you want to perhaps reply back here so we can be sure it didn't knock you off your perch during the night?!  

This reminds me, when I was a wee tacker, Ma used to add a few sultanas and that sort stuff to the batches she made for us, it was usually a G- rated version but I think the sultanas added some sugars as they ended up with a bit of a carbonic zing when bitten into, not unlike a fruit tingle, but soft and on a much calmer scale.


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## bum (20/3/10)

RdeVjun said:


> GB doesn't usually pour a head, does it?


 No. Which is why it worries me in the bottle above. 



RdeVjun said:


> Mind you, the uncomfortable burning lip sensation would have me wondering if it should be done again. Do you want to perhaps reply back here so we can be sure it didn't knock you off your perch during the night?!


 I'm what passes for okay. 


RdeVjun said:


> This reminds me, when I was a wee tacker, Ma used to add a few sultanas and that sort stuff to the batches she made for us, it was usually a G- rated version but I think the sultanas added some sugars as they ended up with a bit of a carbonic zing when bitten into, not unlike a fruit tingle, but soft and on a much calmer scale.


 
I have considered sultanas but have read (possibly unrelable) posts about how they can be used to innoculate GB plants and didn't want some wild yeast battle going on in my GB. I'll possibly boil some up for my next batch and chuck them in once primary has died off. Or maybe another bottle dry sultanaing experiment is in order? I'm not calling this a loss yet. I am concluding that 3 leaves is too much though. Drinking a single leaf bottle now and the results are almost exactly what I envisioned. Not sure it works like I planned but if I had a whole batch like this you'd hear no complaints from me. The chilli is still pushed forward more, so that is still an issue. I'd also be seriously concerned that the possible infection signs of the 3 leaf bottle would manifest given time. I'll hang onto one for a bit and see.


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## OLDS2006 (20/3/10)

Hi bum, could you post your Gb recipe as I got most of the ingredients you mentioned today.


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## bum (20/3/10)

In many ways mine is very similar to GravityGuru's recipe linked above so do give that a once over as there are many good reports from other brewers on that one.

This is the recipe I came up with for this batch. Please understand this is a work in progress and the reason I've not put it up prior is because I don't feel it is perfected yet. This one worked out pretty well though.

Boil ingredients (boil for 1 hour in whatever volume you're comfortable with, prob min 5L):
1kg food processed aged ginger (grated is fine)
7 cloves (maybe less if this is your first use)
8 10cm cinnamon quills
15 cardamom pods
8 dried kaffir lime leaves (which I forgot I even had in there - my first use of these and don't really notice them so if you want them use fresh and maybe more, I'd probably omit them)
2 long red chillis (I'd only do one with curry leaves)
2 kit yeasts (one, or maybe even even none would still work)

Strain the above into your fermenter (once cooled) with these (feel free to add these late to your boil if this is your usual practice):
Cooper's Ginger Beer kit
1 bottle Buderim's Ginger Refresher
750g raw sugar
250g dark brown sugar

I used some left over S04 on this one but with such a strong flavour I'm not sure your yeast selection matters too much outside of the attenuation you're after.

OG 1030
FG 1001

The spice additions might look a little complicated but they really do take less than 2 minutes in a mortar and pestle or something.


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## Nevalicious (20/3/10)

Sounds great Bum... Thanks heaps!

I've just started drinking my kit ginger beer now, been in the bottle for a month and its gold! I too boiled up chillis and ginger but the next one I do will be with maybe twice to three times the ginger (ie 1kg) and twice as many hot chillis. 

Do you find you have too many flavours in the GB all competing, or can you actually taste the kaffir and cinnamon??

Cheers

Tyler


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## bum (21/3/10)

This is the first time I've used the kaffir lime leaves and I gotta say I can't notice them (but the ones I used were dry and not the freshest) and won't use dried again.

I can notice the spice additions but the ginger is still very much king. It may not look like it when written out but the additions comes across subtly.

If you are worried that there might be a bit too much going on I'd suggest just going with the cinnamon. Then maybe work out what other stuff you think would work well from there for next brews.

More importantly, if you're loving your current brew I'd be leaning towards keeping things as they are.

With the chilli I did one brew where I used 5 Thai Birds Eye chillies and put them in primary as well as the boil. It was tasty but if you want a session on them your guts won't thank you. Same as an amazing chilli wine I bought once. Loved the taste, drunk the bottle and was crook as. And I do not have the same result with spicy food. In a drink I think less is more when it comes to chillies.


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## bum (21/3/10)

Forgot the mention (and the edit button is gone) that the above recipe was made up to 22L.


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## OLDS2006 (21/3/10)

Thanks bum, I`ll be good to go when I get some chillies.


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## bum (29/3/10)

So these are all gone bar one single leaf bottle that I'm going to try to hang on to for a while to see how it travels. I guess my short-term conclusions are that the three leaf bottles showed some negative qualities that have me worried about their shelf-life but were still quite drinkable; the two leaf bottles showed none of worrying hallmarks of the three leafers and while they were slightly less present they were still very interesting; the single leaf bottles were really bloody nice and I wish the three leafers didn't have me so worried because I'd like to do a whole batch like this.


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## bum (30/5/10)

bum said:


> So these are all gone bar one single leaf bottle that I'm going to try to hang on to for a while to see how it travels.


 
Turns out I also had a 2 leaf bottle floating around and had both bottles the last 2 nights. In terms of the longevity concerns I had in regard to the short term effects of 3 leaves I have to say I was worried about nothing - no further development of suspected flaws. In terms of aroma the curry did come a little more forward but still leaned more to toasted mustard seed, strangely. Very nice but not entirely what I was after. In terms of flavour, the single leaf bottles developed really nicely. Had every bottle in the bath turned out like this I'd be putting the recipe up in the DB now. Really nice. The 2 leafer aged really nicely too but not as nicely balanced. 

So my final conclusion is I would definitely like an entire batch like the one or two leaf bottles - probably the two leaf because none of my GBs usually last as long as these two bottles. The difference between nice and overpowering seems to be pretty fine. I think in reality I'd still be a little afraid to commit to currying in the fermenter for a full batch - I'd still just do a few bottles. I'll probably do a few bottles out of every batch.


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