How much ginger?

Hi all,

Newbie here looking for some advice.

I've made three kits already so am a little familiar with the process, but this will be my first from scratch.

The recipe I am making is an orange wine as follows:

All purpose yeast
15 Oranges
Water (1 gal.)
1 tsp Pectolase
1 Campton Tablet
3 lb Granulated Sugar
2 Tsps Citric Acid
1 lvl tsp Yeast Nutrient

I would like to add ginger to flavour this to create an orange and ginger wine. I do not want the ginger to be overpowering but to be quite subtle. Here go the questions.

Would fresh or powdered ginger be recommended? Or a mixture of both?

How much would be recommended for a 1 gallon end product?

When would the best time to add the ginger? (the recipe calls for at least 2 racking processes to be completed before bottling. It can be drunk straight away but will mature with age.)

Thank you in advance.

{....
currently making: Kit bought chardonay

Currently drinking: Kit bought Elderflower
....}

My only experience with ginger is with beer, and 1/2 oz. in a 5-gallon batch is just right for my taste buds - helps the beer finish clean, and the actual ginger flavor was present but not overpowering.

For a gallon batch of wine, I would use 1/4 oz. Since wine needs to sit for a LOT longer than most beers, the ginger flavor will have a chance to mellow out IF you end up putting too much in. Good luck! Hope this was some help.

Wine yeast, not all purpose yeast.

Thanks for the advice mrphillips. I'll try the 1/4 oz and see how this pans out. if it's too much or too little I can change quantities if I decide to do the same recipe again. Does it matter when it's added? I was thinking of fresh ginger as well, what do you reckon?

Good advice on the yeast as well Doc.

I've played around with making a ginger extract (just diced ginger root soaked on 1/2 cup vodka for a week), but I always come back to just using the fresh ginger itself.

I did a Witbier where I added 1/4 oz. of ginger to the last 5 minutes of the boil, and the ginger came across more as a "clean finisher" than an actual ginger flavor. I did an APA with 1/2 oz. that I put into the secondary, and that gave it a REAL nice ginger taste, PLUS the same clean finish.

I've never made wine, but I might swing for the fences with a full 1/2 oz. I think the higher ABV will mask some of the ginger, as well the months it will take to condition the wine. Experiment! I've only been brewing for a couple months, so what do I know?

Thanks mrp I'm thinking experiment is the only way. I didn't even think about adding to the boil first off I was thinking of adding in the racking process. I may boil it in with my first attempt. This will probably cut down on the possibility of fresh ginger going off when steeped in the finished wine.



Happy brewing.

However you do it, I wouldn't leave the ginger in the carboy past a week...2 at the most, but a week might work better.