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  • Ginger Wine

    From Jack Kellers website

    GINGER

    The root of the ginger plant has long been an important food supplement. Dried and ground, it is a spice. Pickled, it is a relish. Candied, it is a delicacy. Shredded fresh, it is a condiment. In the condiment form, it is sometimes added to wine recipes which would otherwise yield uninspiring results. But it can be used to make a wine of its own.

    Ginger wine can be enjoyed in its own right or used as a blend to give life and interest to wines that would otherwise lack them, especially herbal, grain and vegetable wines. As a separate wine, it should be stabilized and sweetened to a specific gravity of 1.008 (2% residual sugar). It goes well on a cold day, being both pleasant and warming. On warmer days, it should be served chilled.

    GINGER WINE



    • 7-1/2 pts unsweetened white grape juice (from concentrate)
    • 1/2 lb chopped or minced golden raisins
    • 2 oz ginger root
    • 2 lbs granulated sugar
    • 1/2 tsp acid blend
    • 1/4 tsp grape tannin
    • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
    • 1 pkt Champagne wine yeast


    Mix up the grape juice and dissolve the sugar into it in the primary fermentation vessel. Shred the ginger and add it and the chopped or minced raisins to the primary. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient to must and stir well to dissolve. Sprinkle dry yeast on top of must (do not stir) and cover primary with sterilized cloth. After two days, stir twice daily until specific gravity drops to 1.020. Pour must through nylon straining bag (to collect solids) into secondary and squeeze bag to extract all juice. Discard solids and fit airlock to secondary. Rack after 30 days, top up and reattach airlock. Ferment to absolute dryness (about 2 more months), stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 additional days, and rack into bottles. May drink immediately, but will improve with 6 months aging. This wine may be served as is or blended with other wines lacking in interest. [Adapted from W.H.T. Tayleur's The Penguin Book of Home Brewing & Wine-Making]
    N.G.W.B.J.
    Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
    Wine, mead and beer maker

  • #2
    A different Ginger Wine recipe.

    Ages ago, I was on a mission to find a ginger wine recipe that might produce something like the commercially available products i.e. Stones etc.

    On a different wine forum I asked if anyone had any recipes. One of the 3 posted was the one at the start of this thread, another was quite similar, but the third one was from a website about Cornwall/Cornish stuff - Now I didn't know that the Cornish where big growers of ginger

    Anyway, it's like this

    Ingredients
    2 gallons of water
    12 cups sugar
    large piece root ginger
    12 lemons
    3oz fresh yeast
    1/2 pint brandy
    raisins (if desired)


    Method
    - Boil the sugar and water.
    - Add the ginger and boil gently for half an hour.
    - Peel the lemons and pour the hot sugar and water onto the peel.
    - Allow to cool.
    - When cool, add the juice of the lemons and the yeast.
    - Put it into demijohns and when it has stopped working divide 1/2 pint brandy between the demijohns. - Some raisins can be added at this stage if desired.


    I've made a must for some this afternoon, only because, being off work this week, we went and did our shopping, and the local tescos' happened to have fresh root ginger at £1.25 per lb, so I vaguely remembered the recipe and just filled a bag full.

    On getting home and reviewing the recipe, I discovered that it only needed "a large piece root ginger".

    Well, as it wasn't really defined, and I happened to have just under 3 and a half pounds (weight) of root ginger, I thought I'd modify the recipe a bit and made the must up for it.

    So, my version is to put a gallon of water (haven't got a pan big enough for the two gallons) and the sugar on to boil.

    When boiling point is reached, I put the 3lb 6 oz of ginger I had into the food processor to chop finely, this is then placed into the boiling sugar/water mix for 15 to 20 minutes.

    In the meantime, I juiced the 12 lemons. I got a fermentation bucket and put the second gallon from the original recipe into it and grated the lemons into the water.

    When the 15/20 minute boil of the sugar/water/ginger had finished, I poured this into the fermenter bucket with the other gallon of water and grated lemon peel.

    I left it to cool for a couple of hours, and have since placed it into the chosen fermenter vessel (along with the lemon juice) to finish cooling (down to room temperature).

    The only additional ingredients I've added, are some B1 tablets (the mix is about 12 litres so I used 6 i.e. 2 per gallon) and I've added 2 grammes per gallon of Gervit Yeast nutrient powder.

    I'm going to pitch the yeast tomorrow - I don't have any "fresh" yeast so I'm going to use Lalvins 71B-1122 Narbonne yeast as it seemed to give quite good results with a recent mead recipe i.e. some residual sugar/sweetness and honey taste/aroma. Hence I'm hoping it will still have the residual sugar/sweetness and given that I've "kicked the QUACK!QUACK!QUACK!QUACK! out of" the ginger, plenty of ginger "bite".

    I have absolutely no idea whether this is going to work or not, but I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't.

    Obviously I'll report back when it's done.

    regards

    fatbloke
    Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    Some blog ramblings

    Comment


    • #3
      That is one hell of a lot of ginger. You should have no trouble tasting that!
      Let's party


      AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries

      Comment


      • #4
        Just love ginger, keep us updated, i fancy a go at this but have so many things queued up for brewing that it will be some time before I get the chance.
        National Wine Judge NGWBJ

        Secretary of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Society

        My friends would think I was a nut, turning water into wine....... Lyrics from Solsbury hill by Peter Gabriel

        Member of THE newest wine circle in Yorkshire!!

        Comment


        • #5
          Ha ha! yes Mamgiowl, I'm starting to work out just how much

          Just before I came upstairs to have a quick look round the forum, I checked to see if I thought it was cool enough to pitch the yeast (no it wasn't - it was still slightly warm to touch so it's still over 37 degrees C), but theres a bit of ginger still floating on the top, but the rest of it seems to have sunk into a sludge that takes up half the bottle - a 12 litre cooler bottle (about 15 to 16 inches high).

          If I can, I'll get a picture of it and post it tomorrow.

          And yes Richard_S I will keep you/forum updated. Don't forget I'm only having a try of it now, because Tesco had such reasonably priced ginger.

          regards

          fatbloke
          Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

          Some blog ramblings

          Comment


          • #6
            I've been thinking on this and the additions of so much raw material.....


            I'm not sure that such vast amounts of the ingredients are required, but would perhaps suggest adding the stuff that you want to extract the flavour or smell out of, much later in the ferment, that way you will only need a tenth of the amount (perhaps even less fro strong tasting/smelling things) and there is less chance of the taste/smell being blown off by the vigorous early stages of fermentation.

            And you also get the bonus of alcohol extraction, which is a little less "violent" than y fermentation.

            It also means you get more wine out of the ingredients.


            just some random thoughts, that I hope yopu find useful

            regards
            Bob
            N.G.W.B.J.
            Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
            Wine, mead and beer maker

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by lockwood1956 View Post
              I've been thinking on this and the additions of so much raw material.....


              I'm not sure that such vast amounts of the ingredients are required, but would perhaps suggest adding the stuff that you want to extract the flavour or smell out of, much later in the ferment, that way you will only need a tenth of the amount (perhaps even less fro strong tasting/smelling things) and there is less chance of the taste/smell being blown off by the vigorous early stages of fermentation.

              And you also get the bonus of alcohol extraction, which is a little less "violent" than y fermentation.

              It also means you get more wine out of the ingredients.


              just some random thoughts, that I hope yopu find useful

              regards
              Bob
              Cheers for the tip Bob. The actual recipe that I've used doesn't actually need anywhere near as much as I've used, it's just that I bought too much ginger in error (I couldn't remember how much I was supposed to need, so I just got a carrier bag full as it was cheap at the time).

              For info, the "Barshack Ginger Mead" recipe that I got from a different forum, was racked off last weekend.

              The actual recipe for that said about 6 ounces was fine, but when I'd originally finished the ferment, I couldn't taste much ginger or any base honey flavour.

              so I meddled a bit and added another 2 lb of honey and another 6 oz of ginger.

              When I racked it off, it still didn't have much of a honey flavour (might remedy that later with some extra honey) but the ginger was excellent.

              So I might just follow the recommendations from the original recipe next time

              regards

              fatbloke
              Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

              Some blog ramblings

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by lockwood1956 View Post
                From Jack Kellers website

                GINGER

                The root of the ginger plant has long been an important food supplement. Dried and ground, it is a spice. Pickled, it is a relish. Candied, it is a delicacy. Shredded fresh, it is a condiment. In the condiment form, it is sometimes added to wine recipes which would otherwise yield uninspiring results. But it can be used to make a wine of its own.

                Ginger wine can be enjoyed in its own right or used as a blend to give life and interest to wines that would otherwise lack them, especially herbal, grain and vegetable wines. As a separate wine, it should be stabilized and sweetened to a specific gravity of 1.008 (2% residual sugar). It goes well on a cold day, being both pleasant and warming. On warmer days, it should be served chilled.

                GINGER WINE



                • 7-1/2 pts unsweetened white grape juice (from concentrate)
                • 1/2 lb chopped or minced golden raisins
                • 2 oz ginger root
                • 2 lbs granulated sugar
                • 1/2 tsp acid blend
                • 1/4 tsp grape tannin
                • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
                • 1 pkt Champagne wine yeast


                Mix up the grape juice and dissolve the sugar into it in the primary fermentation vessel. Shred the ginger and add it and the chopped or minced raisins to the primary. Add acid blend, tannin and yeast nutrient to must and stir well to dissolve. Sprinkle dry yeast on top of must (do not stir) and cover primary with sterilized cloth. After two days, stir twice daily until specific gravity drops to 1.020. Pour must through nylon straining bag (to collect solids) into secondary and squeeze bag to extract all juice. Discard solids and fit airlock to secondary. Rack after 30 days, top up and reattach airlock. Ferment to absolute dryness (about 2 more months), stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 additional days, and rack into bottles. May drink immediately, but will improve with 6 months aging. This wine may be served as is or blended with other wines lacking in interest. [Adapted from W.H.T. Tayleur's The Penguin Book of Home Brewing & Wine-Making]
                Bob did you try this recipe?
                I'd like to make this as a Christmas pressie for my junior.
                Ahh i'll just have a go and see what happens
                Nia xxx
                Everybody should believe in something; I believe i'll have another drink!

                Comment


                • #9
                  I didn't try it Nia no......


                  iposted the recipe as someone wanted one, ginger wine? nah....not my style
                  N.G.W.B.J.
                  Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                  Wine, mead and beer maker

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Ginger is a homeopathic medicine for stomach ailments. I think ginger wine would also make an excellent marinade base for ribs or chicken on the BBQ.Where is Martina when needed.
                    http://www.winensuds.com/ Gotta love this hobby

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      i made a green tea and ginger wine that used a similar amount of ginger to the first recipe in this thread i think. The ginger flavour is definately there - not subtle but not overpowering either - despite adding it it at the start. Those who like ginger much more than i do would almost certainly enjoy a bigger ginger flavour.

                      The recipe using 3.5 lbs worth will be well worth keeping a track of tho. You never know how such things will turn out and if you love ginger then you may be onto a winner. If the flavour is way strong then perhaps it would make an uber base for next year's bucket full of sunny day BBQ punch
                      To most people solutions mean answers. To chemists solutions are things that are mixed up.
                      A fine wine is a fine wine, 1st time may be by accident, 2nd time is by design - that's why you keep notes.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by ms67 View Post
                        i made a green tea and ginger wine that used a similar amount of ginger to the first recipe in this thread i think. The ginger flavour is definately there - not subtle but not overpowering either - despite adding it it at the start. Those who like ginger much more than i do would almost certainly enjoy a bigger ginger flavour.

                        The recipe using 3.5 lbs worth will be well worth keeping a track of tho. You never know how such things will turn out and if you love ginger then you may be onto a winner. If the flavour is way strong then perhaps it would make an uber base for next year's bucket full of sunny day BBQ punch
                        If I could be bothered to re-mix the bottled stuff and then back sweeten it, it would be very similar to "Stones". Either way, I do enjoy the firey "winter warming" feel/taste I get - though I've recently just boiled down the carrier bag of ginger I got with 4 kilo's of sugar and it's made a rather hot/spicey candied/sweet pickled ginger...... I'll have to wait for it too cool though as it's still a bit hot (temp-wise) at the moment

                        regards

                        JtFB
                        Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

                        Some blog ramblings

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Sounds good JtFB . I'm going through a spell of finding ginger increasingly delicious myself. Not sure if i'm ready yet for the full on taste you describe in abundance, but i can see myself increasing the amount of ginger i use in future brews as each year passes. I'm sure my other half won't mind that either.

                          The only thing that worries me is that this new found appreciation of ginger seems to be going hand in hand with the amount of grey hairs i have and the two taken together are a sure sign that age is catching up with me ! maybe is should be considering an open top sports car and some driving gloves in the near future
                          To most people solutions mean answers. To chemists solutions are things that are mixed up.
                          A fine wine is a fine wine, 1st time may be by accident, 2nd time is by design - that's why you keep notes.

                          Comment

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