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Green tea & Ginger

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  • Green tea & Ginger

    Here's something a bit different, tho especially for Leahruts who asked for it.

    This was my template, but i did tweak it a bit

    http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request216.asp

    and here is my slightly different version - 3 gallons:

    30 Tspoons green tea leaves
    3 oz root ginger (peeled, bruised then finely sliced)
    250g raisins (i think i may have roughly chopped them)
    Zest and juice of 6 lemons (as always avoid the pith)
    2 Tspoons Tartaric acid
    1 Tspoon Malic acid
    4kg sugar
    nutrient
    sauternes yeast
    [1.5 Tspoon wine tannin]

    I put all the green tea in a muslin bag. In another bag i put the raisins, ginger and lemon zest - i used a potato peeler, not a grater for the zest). Both bags were simmered for 1 hour and then the juice and bags transferred to the fermenting bin. All other ingredients (except tannin and yeast) were then added and made up to 3 gallons and tightly covered. When it had cooled down (overnight) the gravity was 1099, the green tea was removed and then yeast was added. The other bag was turned at least once daily and after 6 days i transferred to DJ's and removed the other bag of solids. 6 Weeks later racked and topped up.

    Now some chatty stuff .... after another 8 weeks or so it still wasn't clear.not cloudy but had a haze. I started reading up a bit on clearing (i try not to use finings normally). There were a few suggestions around and about for using tannin to clear some wines, even as a late addition. As i hadnt used any so far, and as green tea isn't particularly astringent, i decided to give it a whirl. It didn't work, lol. So anoter 6 weeks or so later i finally gave in to finings and bought some youngs 2 part liquid finings. followed the simple instructions, went away for a few days and came back to find clear wine and a whispy sediment. 2 weeks later the sediment was much more solid so i racked, added campden and sorbate, and had a sneaky taste of course. All those great flavours of root ginger are there and i would advise to use root, not ground ginger. The wine is dry or perhaps medium dry, has some citrus about it too. tho root ginger has that flavour too so it may not all be from the lemon juice/zest. The smell is incredible, each time you raise the glass you breath in aromatic and floral notes that are not in the taste. I'm not sure what the green tea gives to the wine, i'm just not familiar enough with it to pin point the green tea flavours.

    My acid mix is not the usual ratio. i didn't want to tinker too much with the original recipe but i did want a little of the qualities of tartaric acid to come through. i'm new to using different acids and prefer to get into it gradually with a helping of experience, rather than simply follow a recipe/formula. That's just how i am! Sauternes yeast is my favourite having semi-stumbled upon it i found it suits my brewing style (that high OG at the start being one reason) and from what i read you get extra esters from sauternes compared to most (all???) other yeasts. i like esters

    we're gonna leave this about another month before we have our first bottle, and that will be the time when i bottle the remains of the first DJ. The others will sit in DJs until we want to drink it.

    The idea for brewing this came from having a little head scratch to find something my better half would particularly enjoy. Sadly for her i also find it delicious so i'll probably drink just as much of it, and possibly more!

    If you are nuts about ginger then you may want to add more. I think the balance is about right for our tastes. There's nothing subtle about the ginger flavour, but then again its far from overpowering. If ginger is something that you struggle with a bit then halving the amount should reduce it to a subtle but discernable flavour. Less than that and i reckon it'll still lend something to the wine but be harder to identify. i don't know what the final gravity is, i'll take a measurement when i bottle the first batch.

    If you give it a go i hope it delights you as much as it is for us. And Leah, i'd be curious to know how your's turns out and which recipe you use if you fancy sharing that.
    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.

  • #2
    Last years brew was meant to be an improvement on the previous year .... and boy is it!

    the aim was for more aromatic, floral type flavours. more in terms of some extra and also in terms of enhancing what was there. OG was 1095 (just a few points down on the 1st run). Malic acid was left out and tartaric acid was upped to compensate. the label on the tub says "enhances bouquet and flavour ..." so that was the reason for the swap (don't shoot me i'm just the messenger and it did what it said on the tub!). I continued to use sauternes yeast cos i love it for the esters (remember my aim) and the hassle free ferment. and i swapped some lemons for limes (including zest), and used about 30% more ginger (but its still way way way down on the amount many folks use).

    At a few months old it is way better than the first one was at this stage, and barring anything weird happening its going to overtake the 1st run in terms of quality very soon - even given that that the first one is a year older!

    i couldnt be happier with this result, and won't try to improve it next time round..... so glad i made 5 gallons rather than the usual 3!
    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.

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