Ginger Mead

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Gamrchick

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Ginger Mead
A Medium Sweet Ginger Metheglin
5 Gallons

7 lbs of orange blossom honey
7 lbs or clover honey
5.6oz pulverized ginger
5 grams Fermaid K
10 grams (2 packets equiv) of Lalvin D47
10 g Goferm

Add honey to 5 gallon carboy and top with water to 5 gallons. Use hammer or meat tenderizer to mash the peeled ginger. Add ginger and Fermaid K to carboy. Rehydrate yeast with Goferm per directions. Add to carboy. Ferment in primary until target gravity is reached.

OG = 1.106
Target FG = 1.004 (13.36%)
1/3 Sugar Break: 1.072 (add 2g fermaid)
2/3 Sugar Break: 1.038 (add hulls)

Some notes from our logs:
08/23/10 (Day 15)
G = 1.012 (12.31%)
Still bubbling. Smell and taste are fairly pleasant. I'm thinking this could use more ginger without risking being overpowering. Hopefully will be almost done by this weekend.

08/25/10 (Day 17)
G = 1.008 (12.84%)
Smell is very young, but the taste isnt bad. The sweetness is approaching what I am looking for - a very lightly sweet mead.

09/25/10 (Day 48)
G = 1.005 (13.23%)
Bottled. Beautiful electric yellow color. Ginger comes out well in the smell and taste. Still young but promising.

5365-ginger-mead.jpg


Sorry, I do not have a picture of this in a glass. The batch is all gone except for the reserve bottles which won't be opened until next year.
 
Does this dry out completely? Did you cold crash at 1.005 or rack to secondary? This would be my first mead so any details would be appreciated.
 
Hi there. When the gravity hit 1.005 we racked on to metabisulphite and sorbate to still. That was on day 20 for this batch. We let it settle in the secondary for another week then racked again and added Superkleer. This was before we decided to start bulk aging, so we bottled as soon as it cleared.

This was my boyfriend's favorite from the 1st bottle, which had only aged a few of months, though I thought it still tasted too young. After about 8 months it started to lose the hot taste I associated with the youngness. It became a lot smoother and started disappearing a lot faster!

Let me know if you need anything else. I hope you like this.

Rebecca
 
I put this together on Saturday. Here is my variation
6lbs blackberry honey
6lbs clover honey
8oz of acid blend
.9oz of Diammonium Phosphate
two packets Red Star Champagne yeast dissolved and bubbly when I pitched it.
5oz of fresh mashed ginger
OG =1.085 corrected

I have it in my ferm chamber at 72 and it is bubbling heavily enough to hear it without opening the door. I think I am going to let it dry out completely since my OG is a little lower than yours. Then I will kill and sweeten to taste.

Gravity after one week 1.012
The sample definitely tasted green.

Gravity after 12 days 1.003
Raw ginger is front and center in the sample. Yeast is already starting to drop out.

Still at 1.003 on day 16. A lot clearer than I thought it would be. I am going to rack this on Friday and put it into long term storage.

This is my first meade. Thanks for the recipe.
 
I had this down around 60 for a few days and it cleared nicely. No change in FG, so I racked to secondary for long term storage. I am thinking about putting this down in my unfinished basement so that I can "forget it" for a year or so. Just have to remember to check the airlock once in a while.
 
Nice, I think I will get one going as well next month, when my other meads are coming out from the 10 litre jars.
 
I tend to have a lot of candied ginger for cooking/baking. I'm wondering if this would be just as good, or would the sugars in the ginger throw things off?
 
I'm going to have to scale this down and try a 1g, as my 5s are all in primary. Hrm... maybe I'll pick up a 3.
 
I tend to have a lot of candied ginger for cooking/baking. I'm wondering if this would be just as good, or would the sugars in the ginger throw things off?

Alright. It's almost a year later, but shoot me. I only just found this thread.

Shouldn't make enough of a difference to matter. If you wanted you could just give it a good rinse first.
 
Only 5.6oz of pulverized ginger?

I put 1 lb of ginger into one gallon. It was not overpowering and had a very pleasant ginger flavor.

What is a sugar break?
How did you strain the ginger out of the mead?

Ginger Mead
A Medium Sweet Ginger Metheglin
5 Gallons

7 lbs of orange blossom honey
7 lbs or clover honey
5.6oz pulverized ginger
5 grams Fermaid K
10 grams (2 packets equiv) of Lalvin D47
10 g Goferm

Add honey to 5 gallon carboy and top with water to 5 gallons. Use hammer or meat tenderizer to mash the peeled ginger. Add ginger and Fermaid K to carboy. Rehydrate yeast with Goferm per directions. Add to carboy. Ferment in primary until target gravity is reached.

OG = 1.106
Target FG = 1.004 (13.36%)
1/3 Sugar Break: 1.072 (add 2g fermaid)
2/3 Sugar Break: 1.038 (add hulls)

Some notes from our logs:
08/23/10 (Day 15)
G = 1.012 (12.31%)
Still bubbling. Smell and taste are fairly pleasant. I'm thinking this could use more ginger without risking being overpowering. Hopefully will be almost done by this weekend.

08/25/10 (Day 17)
G = 1.008 (12.84%)
Smell is very young, but the taste isnt bad. The sweetness is approaching what I am looking for - a very lightly sweet mead.

09/25/10 (Day 48)
G = 1.005 (13.23%)
Bottled. Beautiful electric yellow color. Ginger comes out well in the smell and taste. Still young but promising.

5365-ginger-mead.jpg


Sorry, I do not have a picture of this in a glass. The batch is all gone except for the reserve bottles which won't be opened until next year.
 
How long after FG should this stay in Primary before bottling? Trying to schedule my next 3 or 4 brews

Thx
 
I would rack to a secondary when the gravity falls to about 1.005. At that point you don't want any headroom and the CO2 being produced by the yeast will be dropping off
 
I'm mostly concerned with racking too soon and having a lot of sediment. Only doing a 1g batch, so my secondary is technically a glass jug.
 
Having a lot of sediment in the secondary? The answer to that IMO, is to transfer the sediment to your fridge in a large mason jar or some other tall and narrow container and allow the cold to help the solids better fall out of solution. More and more of the liquid will be pressed out from the lees as (depending on the flocculativity (is that a word?) of the yeast) the sediment becomes more firmly compressed. After a few hours - certainly after a few days you will have another pint or two of mead you can add to your secondary.
 
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