That is the question. I've seen posts saying to do either for a gingerale & as I've never made ginger ale, nor boiled ginger, I'm really curious as to the difference(s) in flavour profiles between boiling & not boiling. I hope those in the know will let me in on it. Thanks in advance. Regards, GF.
I've only made ginger ale once (with raw, fresh grated ginger) and it was spicy. I've read that boiling the ginger reduces that "hot spicy" taste, and leaves it a little more muted.
In my experience, in both cooking and brewing, is that fresh ginger gives more of that front pallet "bite" where as once you boil it the character changes to a back-pallet muted "gingeryness." ymmv.
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The nice thing about soda is that you can taste it throughout the entire process, so there are really no surprises.
Actually I wasn't intending to use it in soda, But there seemed to be far more discussion on the subject of ginger here than any other forum. I've been doing some flavour research with sodas lately for just the reason you mentioned, as well as soda being fast & cheap when compared to actual fermentations. I know the flavours will change, but it gives me a rough guesstimation on potential flavour profiles. Regards, GF.
I have only used ginger that is fresh or steeped for a few minutes in hot water.
I avoid simmering or cooking ginger for long periods because of the concern of losing the heat that I like. I liken it to cooking garlic cloves for a long period turns the garlic from being pungent to sweet.
When I get back to making some soda, I may experiment with this.
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I used a pound and a half and boiled 1 pound for ~40 minutes. The other 1/2 lb i added later in the boil, this gave me a nice amount of heat (maybe still a little much) with some lingering mellow ginger flavor. If you don't boil it at all it will be very hot (try just biting into a small, very small piece of ginger).
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My method was boil 2 lbs of chopped ginger for about half an hour, then strain out the ginger. Then add 4lbs of sugar. Once it was all dissolved dumped it all in a corny keg, brought it up to volume, and refrigerated it. Once it was sufficiently cold, dialed up the pressure to about 15-20 psi. Shook it up every now and again for about a week. Let it sit for a few more days. Lowered the pressure to a serving psi of about 7. The results were good, not an overwhelming ginger flavor, not too sweet, well balanced, effervescent, and overall pleasant.
Ginger: to boil, or not to boil...
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