I’m a big fan of ginger. I love candied ginger, ginger tea, ginger beer soda, pickled ginger—you name it. Naturally, when I saw a pale ale with ginger on tap at a local Chinese dumpling place, I had to try it. But I was left wanting more, and so I began my quest to brew a better ginger pale ale.
The beer is designed as a classic American pale ale with generous additions of fresh ginger root that are complemented by citrusy Cascade hops. A simple grain bill of mainly American two-row malt and a small amount of medium crystal malt allows the ginger the stand in the forefront, and the hop bitterness is balanced just right make this beer very drinkable without being either bracing or cloying.
Our Ginger Pale Ale is still very much a work in progress, but it’s already a palate pleaser, and I’m excited to continue improving it. For the next batch, I’m planning to bump up the ginger a bit more (did I mention I like ginger?), as well as increase the hop flavor with more Cascade hops and possibly another Northwest hop variety for some complexity.
