Adding Ginger to a Hef

[crashlann]

I was thinking about adding some Ginger to a Bavarian Hef, both of which my wife loves so it will gain me some major bonus points for brewing in the future. I was thinking about adding fresh ground ginger to the fermentor maybe in a boiled solution like I would fruit, or maybe adding some extract before bottling (also in a bloiled solution). Any opinions? I could always just buy a bottle of extract and add it to each glass like they do at PF Changs, but that would be boring...Thanks.

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

All I know is from personal experience, it's ridiculously strong. I think I used a quarter ounce fresh in a saison and it was all you could taste. Just my experience. A hefe is not as attenuated as a saison though so it might not stand out so much. I think ginger goes better in beers with a little sweetness. I don't really use it anymore, but I wouldn't rule it out from future experimentation.

[Crinkle]

I like to use candied ginger. It's a little sweet, a little sour, and still gets the ginger flavor. I've added it to a boild and made sure it got the the primary, and I've boiled it and added to secondary too. It worked either way, no more than an once.

[BDawg]

[dwarven_stout]

I added 1/2 oz fresh grated to 3 gallons of Bav. hefewiezen for a week, and got a mild ginger flavor that started mid-palate and lasted through the finish.
I've also used 1/4 oz candied in a belgian golden at 5m left in the boil, and got a very mild, almost undetectable ginger bite in the finish.