As you all know I'm a big ginger fanatic ;D So here's my recipe for ginger wine:
for each liter of liter use:
25g peeled ginger root
7g raisins
1/2c white sugar
1/2Tbs light corn syrup
place sugar and just enough water to make it into a thick syrup into the bottom of a tall saucepan. Heat, stirring, until sugar starts to melt. Add corn syrup and stir to stabilize. Leave it alone until it turns a golden brown. Reduce heat and swirl to darken into a rich, thick caramel. Carefully add water (it will spit!!) and stir to dissolve. Bring to a simmer and add ginger and raisins. Puree with an immersion blender (if you don't have one it really sucks for you. You can try fitting it all in a regular blender). Originally I simmered for an additional 30 minutes but in retrospect it doesn't really seem necessary excpet to kill the wild yeast in the ginger. You could add extra sugar if you wanted a more alcoholic wine, but i would be careful how much of it you actually caramalize, otherwise the caramel flavor gets too strong. Another note is that no acid was added in the initial brewing process, but it will be added before bottling in the form of lemon juice. Don't sub for acid blend though, the lemon flavor adds to the complexity alot. Use roughly 1 Tbs. per liter
Use whatever yeast you want; i used pasteur champagne just because i have 3 packets to use up, but it has a pretty neutral flavor profile and I feel this wine would greatly benefit from an ester producing yeast like 71B. Since the raisins are the only nutrient source here, you may wish to add more nutrients or DAP if you decide to use a high nutrient yeast.
Rack at 1 month, leaving some of the finer lees so you get enough yeast to finish fermentation and to carbonate (if you so choose; i like it flat).
for each liter of liter use:
25g peeled ginger root
7g raisins
1/2c white sugar
1/2Tbs light corn syrup
place sugar and just enough water to make it into a thick syrup into the bottom of a tall saucepan. Heat, stirring, until sugar starts to melt. Add corn syrup and stir to stabilize. Leave it alone until it turns a golden brown. Reduce heat and swirl to darken into a rich, thick caramel. Carefully add water (it will spit!!) and stir to dissolve. Bring to a simmer and add ginger and raisins. Puree with an immersion blender (if you don't have one it really sucks for you. You can try fitting it all in a regular blender). Originally I simmered for an additional 30 minutes but in retrospect it doesn't really seem necessary excpet to kill the wild yeast in the ginger. You could add extra sugar if you wanted a more alcoholic wine, but i would be careful how much of it you actually caramalize, otherwise the caramel flavor gets too strong. Another note is that no acid was added in the initial brewing process, but it will be added before bottling in the form of lemon juice. Don't sub for acid blend though, the lemon flavor adds to the complexity alot. Use roughly 1 Tbs. per liter
Use whatever yeast you want; i used pasteur champagne just because i have 3 packets to use up, but it has a pretty neutral flavor profile and I feel this wine would greatly benefit from an ester producing yeast like 71B. Since the raisins are the only nutrient source here, you may wish to add more nutrients or DAP if you decide to use a high nutrient yeast.
Rack at 1 month, leaving some of the finer lees so you get enough yeast to finish fermentation and to carbonate (if you so choose; i like it flat).
