I'm interested in making a ginger wine --- not the kind like Stone's
Green Ginger Wine (although that's good), but a white or rosé wine
fermented with ginger in it, probably a strong apéritif-like one.

These [1,2] are the closest recipes that I've been able to find, and I
wonder if anyone here has recently tried them or anything similar. In
particular, I'd appreciate advice on the following points.

* How much ginger for about 4.5 litres of wine? (I like ginger and
won't mind if the result has a very strong taste.)

* Should I peel it before shredding it?

* How long should it stay in the must?

Thanks.


[1]
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques41.asp
[2]
http://www.greenchronicle.com/connie...inger_wine.htm


--
Classical Greek lent itself to the promulgation of a rich culture,
indeed, to Western civilization. Computer languages bring us
doorbells that chime with thirty-two tunes, alt.sex.bestiality, and
Tetris clones. (Stoll 1995)

On Aug 20, 7:05*am, Adam Funk > wrote:
> ...
> * How much ginger for about 4.5 litres of wine? *(I like ginger and
> * won't mind if the result has a very strong taste.)
>
> * Should I peel it before shredding it?
>
> * How long should it stay in the must?

Jack Keller's recipe calls for 2 ounces of ginger root for a 1-gallon
batch of wine. That's close enough to 4.5 liters. I think that much
ginger will contribute a pretty distinctive taste over a week or so
(see below). If you decide you want more, use more ginger for the
next batch.

I don't think it matters if you peel the ginger root before shredding
- I don't think the thin skin of the ginger root would contribute
anything to the wine that would be a problem.

Leave it in the must until you rack into a carboy -- probably around a
week, rough figuring.


Doug

In article <6353eeea-7668-4caf-9396-fa3b21128b29
@a70g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>, says...
> On Aug 20, 7:05*am, Adam Funk > wrote:
> > ...
> > * How much ginger for about 4.5 litres of wine? *(I like ginger and
> > * won't mind if the result has a very strong taste.)
> >
> > * Should I peel it before shredding it?
> >
> > * How long should it stay in the must?
>
> Jack Keller's recipe calls for 2 ounces of ginger root for a 1-gallon
> batch of wine. That's close enough to 4.5 liters. I think that much
> ginger will contribute a pretty distinctive taste over a week or so
> (see below). If you decide you want more, use more ginger for the
> next batch.
>
> I don't think it matters if you peel the ginger root before shredding
> - I don't think the thin skin of the ginger root would contribute
> anything to the wine that would be a problem.
>
> Leave it in the must until you rack into a carboy -- probably around a
> week, rough figuring.
>
>
> Doug
>

From someone who lives in the land of ginger.

It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.

I don't know whether you have it in your country but here, where they
raise the stuff, there are two types of ginger. New ginger, i.e., just
picked, and old ginger, i.e., last years crop. The new ginger has a
fresher taste and the old ginger is "hotter". For table use ginger is
peeled. My wife doesn't know why - she assumes that the peeling tastes
bad - but was taught by her mother to "do it this way".

--
Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok

On 2008-08-23, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

> From someone who lives in the land of ginger.
>
> It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
> still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
> off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.

How much was too much in that case?


> I don't know whether you have it in your country but here, where they
> raise the stuff, there are two types of ginger. New ginger, i.e., just
> picked, and old ginger, i.e., last years crop. The new ginger has a
> fresher taste and the old ginger is "hotter". For table use ginger is
> peeled. My wife doesn't know why - she assumes that the peeling tastes
> bad - but was taught by her mother to "do it this way".

We (in the UK and the USA, AFAIK) get two kinds of ginger: fresh root
and dried powder.

I wasn't aware that ginger aged well; when I leave it in the fridge
too long, it gets mouldy. How do you recommend keeping it for a
while?


--
Take it? I can't even parse it! [Kibo]

In article >,
says...
> On 2008-08-23, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
>
> > From someone who lives in the land of ginger.
> >
> > It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
> > still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
> > off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.
>
> How much was too much in that case?

Lord! I made the stuff three years ago. I can hardly remember what I did
yesterday.

If I remember correctly (and I may not)I used about 125 gm. (4.5 oz.) of
fresh ginger per 5 lt. (1.4 gal) water which made a good light wine.
The strong stuff I have left probably was 300 - 500 gm./5 Ltr.
One point here, I ran the ginger through a food processor and then
simmered it with a little water for a while before adding it to the main
quantity of water.
>
> > I don't know whether you have it in your country but here, where they
> > raise the stuff, there are two types of ginger. New ginger, i.e., just
> > picked, and old ginger, i.e., last years crop. The new ginger has a
> > fresher taste and the old ginger is "hotter". For table use ginger is
> > peeled. My wife doesn't know why - she assumes that the peeling tastes
> > bad - but was taught by her mother to "do it this way".
>
> We (in the UK and the USA, AFAIK) get two kinds of ginger: fresh root
> and dried powder.
>
> I wasn't aware that ginger aged well; when I leave it in the fridge
> too long, it gets mouldy. How do you recommend keeping it for a
> while?

According to my wife you can keep fresh ginger in the fridge for about
two weeks or you can just leave it in a basket/bag that allows air to
circulate and it will last for a year. Of course it is then "old
ginger".

By the way. there is a recipe floating around the Internet to make
ginger beer in a black garbage bag. DO NOT DO THIS!

A friend of mine made several batches and developed a "tingling" in his
extremities that gradually turned into pain. He stopped drinking the
garbage bag beer and recovered. It appears that some, at least, garbage
bags are impregnated with rat poison.

--
Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok

On 2008-08-24, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

>> I wasn't aware that ginger aged well; when I leave it in the fridge
>> too long, it gets mouldy. How do you recommend keeping it for a
>> while?
>
> According to my wife you can keep fresh ginger in the fridge for about
> two weeks or you can just leave it in a basket/bag that allows air to
> circulate and it will last for a year. Of course it is then "old
> ginger".

I've probably been storing it wrong, then. Thanks.

> By the way. there is a recipe floating around the Internet to make
> ginger beer in a black garbage bag. DO NOT DO THIS!

I haven't heard of that, but I wouldn't try it anyway...

> A friend of mine made several batches and developed a "tingling" in his
> extremities that gradually turned into pain. He stopped drinking the
> garbage bag beer and recovered. It appears that some, at least, garbage
> bags are impregnated with rat poison.

....fortunately.


--
Classical Greek lent itself to the promulgation of a rich culture,
indeed, to Western civilization. Computer languages bring us
doorbells that chime with thirty-two tunes, alt.sex.bestiality, and
Tetris clones. (Stoll 1995)

On 2008-08-23, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

> It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
> still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
> off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.

You could try mixing it with something else.

A long time ago I made a 5-gallon batch of normal beer and turned 1
gallon of it into garlic beer by adding a tiny piece of raw garlic to
each bottle. It was undrinkable straight, but I found that mixing one
bottle of the "special" beer with two bottles of normal gave a
pleasantly garlicky result.


--
Classical Greek lent itself to the promulgation of a rich culture,
indeed, to Western civilization. Computer languages bring us
doorbells that chime with thirty-two tunes, alt.sex.bestiality, and
Tetris clones. (Stoll 1995)

In article >,
says...
> On 2008-08-23, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
>
> > It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
> > still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
> > off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.
>
> You could try mixing it with something else.
>
> A long time ago I made a 5-gallon batch of normal beer and turned 1
> gallon of it into garlic beer by adding a tiny piece of raw garlic to
> each bottle. It was undrinkable straight, but I found that mixing one
> bottle of the "special" beer with two bottles of normal gave a
> pleasantly garlicky result.

Yes, I could dilute it with something but I have only three bottles left
and I am waiting to see whether it improves with age or not. At the
moment it has been the bottles for nearly three years. I open a bottle
about once a year and so far it hasn't mellowed much.

--
Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok

On 2008-08-26, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:

> In article >,
> says...
>> On 2008-08-23, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
>>
>> > It is definitely possible to put too much ginger in your mix. I did and
>> > still have several bottles I'm ageing with the hopes that it will cool
>> > off enough to drink - 3 years now and not much change.
>>
>> You could try mixing it with something else.
>>
>> A long time ago I made a 5-gallon batch of normal beer and turned 1
>> gallon of it into garlic beer by adding a tiny piece of raw garlic to
>> each bottle. It was undrinkable straight, but I found that mixing one
>> bottle of the "special" beer with two bottles of normal gave a
>> pleasantly garlicky result.
>
> Yes, I could dilute it with something but I have only three bottles left
> and I am waiting to see whether it improves with age or not. At the
> moment it has been the bottles for nearly three years. I open a bottle
> about once a year and so far it hasn't mellowed much.

I don't mean that I mixed and re-bottled; I mixed three bottles gently
in a large pitcher and poured into glasses from that. If you have a
bottle of something undrinkable, you could always try mixing a small
sample with some other wine just to see....


--
Nam Sibbyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla
pendere, et *** illi pueri dicerent: beable beable beable; respondebat
illa: doidy doidy doidy. [plorkwort]

On 2008-08-22, Doug wrote:

> Jack Keller's recipe calls for 2 ounces of ginger root for a 1-gallon
> batch of wine. That's close enough to 4.5 liters.

(For me, now, 4.5 litres is 1 gallon. I think that was probably the
case for the _*Penguin* Book of Home Brewing and Winemaking_ too, but
I note that Keller's recipe is "adapted" from that.)

> I think that much ginger will contribute a pretty distinctive taste
> over a week or so (see below). If you decide you want more, use
> more ginger for the next batch.

Right.

> I don't think it matters if you peel the ginger root before shredding
> - I don't think the thin skin of the ginger root would contribute
> anything to the wine that would be a problem.

True; there's nothing equivalent to citrus pith.

> Leave it in the must until you rack into a carboy -- probably around a
> week, rough figuring.

Thanks.


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