Ginger wine

[Bigeck]

I have a DJ of this on the go at the moment. My mum used to make the Coop stuff at Christmas and I have been hankering after some decent stuff for ages so thought I would give it a go.

125g Root ginger
1.5kg Demarara sugar
3 Medium oranges
2 Lemons
500g Raisins
Water to make 5ltr
Yeast and nutrient

Grated the ginger and boiled for 30 minutes with chopped raisins.
Added the sugar to the boil mix.
Grated the rind form the oranges and lemons (after washing off excess wax that may have been present), then chopped them and added to a 25lts FV with the boil mix.
Topped off with cold water to 5ltr and added yeast and nutrient.

Fermentation was vigorous.

After 12 days strained off the fruit and racked to DJ to finish fermentation.

In hindsight, I should have added pecto so am prepared for the wine not clearing.

I'm currently awaiting fermentation finishing.

 

[Bigeck]

Finally bottled.

It didnt clear well but that was expected.

It smells quite very nicely of ginger but unfortunately tastes like cat ****. :sad:

There is a taste of orange, with only an aftertaste of ginger. And strongly of alcohol!

Very disappointing considering this was someone else's published recipe, and that I used 25g extra of ginger to give it more zing.

I added some sugar to sweeten the wine a bit but just cant drink it. I am loathe to pour it down the sink so will keep for a while. I cant see it improving much in the bottle but maybe i can come up with something to mix it with.

I will try this again sometime but I think 400g of ginger is more in order and leaving out the oranges and lemons.

 

[GDog]

i'm sure i read somewhere that ginger wine needs a year at least?

don't give up hope, stick in in your garage till NEXT Christmas

 

[jthomas]

Bigeck - i have done quite few home-brew drinks with ginger and I am professional chef so know cooking side of it. So here we go, cooking by itself weakens ginger flavor (same with garlic, onions, and many more, include some spices and herbs), so Your ginger was after cooking castrated already :) next, fermentation weakens flavor of ginger as well a bit, much less than cooking, hence ginger should be added in 2 steps, 40% of total quantity as raw shreds in first step fermentation and remaining 60% on second stage - quiet fermentation also raw shreds. For 5 litres, 200g (flesh without peelings) should be sufficient to make strong flavor of ginger.
And wine its cloudy coz of citrus fruits. For me Your recipe its bit strange - i know its not Yours - but after grating zest You put fruit with bitter white bits into wine and very acidity citrus flesh into FV? why, zest should be enough thats why is strage taste/aftertaste and white flesh from under skin is prevent from clearing/claryfing, but thats only my humble opinion, i would done this different, but (again) some recipes are sh*t worth, possibly were never done and are writed by someone who newer made it.

How to fix? 2 ways: add more ginger fresh, raw shredds, leave for 10-21 days, strain, leave for 1-3 month to mature/rest, and/or add some dry banana wine to add more flavor and body or both. Good luck

 

[Bigeck]

Bigeck - i have done quite few home-brew drinks with ginger and I am professional chef so know cooking side of it. So here we go, cooking by itself weakens ginger flavor (same with garlic, onions, and many more, include some spices and herbs), so Your ginger was after cooking castrated already :) next, fermentation weakens flavor of ginger as well a bit, much less than cooking, hence ginger should be added in 2 steps, 40% of total quantity as raw shreds in first step fermentation and remaining 60% on second stage - quiet fermentation also raw shreds. For 5 litres, 200g (flesh without peelings) should be sufficient to make strong flavor of ginger.
And wine its cloudy coz of citrus fruits. For me Your recipe its bit strange - i know its not Yours - but after grating zest You put fruit with bitter white bits into wine and very acidity citrus flesh into FV? why, zest should be enough thats why is strage taste/aftertaste and white flesh from under skin is prevent from clearing/claryfing, but thats only my humble opinion, i would done this different, but (again) some recipes are sh*t worth, possibly were never done and are writed by someone who newer made it.

How to fix? 2 ways: add more ginger fresh, raw shredds, leave for 10-21 days, strain, leave for 1-3 month to mature/rest, and/or add some dry banana wine to add more flavor and body or both. Good luck

Cheers for they reply.

Those are good tips. I shall be making more at some point so will bear these in mind.

Thanks

 

[Tau]

I used twice the amount of root ginger and overall the flavour was disapointing although strong in ginger. Apparently you need a tablespoon of 'ginger beer plant' for a deeper flavour like ginger beer. Could find online but difficult to find gbp in shop generally.

 

[Bigeck]

I opened a bottle of this tonight as I had need of a spare bottle. The flavour has started to round out a bit so there may be hope for the batch. I couldn't drink more than a glass at the moment but I will leave the rest to mature till Christmas.