Ginger Spiced Cider

This was the first thing i ever brewed, i didnt record anything then and now iv been trying to recreate that original recipe because it was delicious. I'm still tinkering with it so its subject to change, but this is were its at so far.

Ingredients:1 gallon apple juice or cider, i use the cheap stuff and its fine.
- 1/2 pound of chopped ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1/4 cup or less lemon or lime juice
- 3/4 cup of any kind of sugar or 1/2 cup honey

process- Sterilize everything. Put some apple juice and yeast in a covered container at the start of all this process if you want a starter. Chop up all the ginger or run it through a food processer really quick then throw it in a grain bag. Pour 1/2 gallon of applejuice into a pot with the bag of chopped ginger. start heating that up to around 150 degrees. add the lime/lemon juice and cayenne powder. then let it all boil for 15-30 minutes. Set the ginger in a funnel going into your fermenter and pour the apple juice off the stove onto it. Let that cool, then pour in some of rest of the apple juice, but don't fill it up all the way, it can have a pretty heavy fermentation if use a starter, and will develop a krausen. Once its cool enough pitch yeast or the yeast starter. Throw away the ginger, or save it for tea or whatever you want.
ferment for 3 weeks, or longer if you want. When its completely dry, prime with 1/4 cup of whatever sugar of your choice, and let carbonate. Its also good still and heated up in the winter

The ginger heat goes out the door with the boiling process ithink, so you really just keep the ginger flavor , and alot of the heat comes from the cayenne. Its great in the winter when everyones getting sick, and it does wonders for your throat. I've never had any problems with the clarity from the boiling process. I originally made this with plain ol cane sugar. now i'm trying 3 different batches, 1 with raw unrefined sugar, one with brown sugar, and one with honey(a cyser, i know) After i figure out my favorite of those i'll start tinkering with other factors of the recipe.The lime juice was in the original recipe, but not the second batch and it really seemed like something was missing, thats really its only purpose. When i fermented it with ginger in the primary, it produced some off tastes that took awhile to age out. If its too hot for you, just let it age awhile, an the heat really smoothes out.

I get killer sore throats and it's almost verging on winter now. Might give this a try

yeah when i got sick or had sore throats i'd always make some tea and throw tons of ginger an cayenne in there an then eat some garlic cloves after. an that sorta transformed into this, cept no garlic. if you have any left over in the spring and summer too, its really refreshing cold and carbonated

This is my first post after joining HomeBrewTalk

I just made this myself and I think it came out pretty well. It turned out with bright yellow/orange color after the primary fermentation. Tasted a bit of it and the spice was a little overpowering so I'm going to try and age a little of that out. I might not be able to wait that long though...

Overall a good recipe, but might have to cut down on the cayenne powder if I try it again.

Thats like alot of the input I've been getting on it. Alot of people say to cut both down to make a more drinkable cider, which I'm in complete support of. But at the same time, I have people like myself who say Reeds and other ginger based drinks arent gingery enough, and to keep it how it is. And i prefer catering to those unfulfilled few, rather than those who are already happy with their drinks. Its a good recipe to tinker with to your own desires. Im glad that you made it, And its a great one for aging if you can leave it, It really cleans up wonderfully with some good bottle time and good fermenting temperatures. I'm excited to hear how it turns out.