Adding ginger to cider
- Thread starter DaveC73
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No, but for FYI when making something like cherry/apple cider I add the cherries to secondary when I rack after the turbulent primary fermentation foam has settled. This works for me and ditto with hopped cider. I taste, taste, taste and make sure that the fruit or hops can be taken out when the right flavour profile is reached otherwise it can get "too much".
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pvtpublic
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You could do either. Ginger can have wild yeast on it, so unless you want that in your cider, make sure you sterilize it.
You could get a test for that too, split batch, one sterilized, one not, and see what those little buggers will contribute.
I recommend adding pinches of sterilized ginger at a time to primary after ferment is done, let it sit a few days, taste it, and keep adding until you get your desired amount in there. Then get that ginger out so it doesn't continue infusing more flavor. Then do another batch with the unsterilized ginger in with your pitch. Wild yeast can be a lot of fun to play with.
You could get a test for that too, split batch, one sterilized, one not, and see what those little buggers will contribute.
I recommend adding pinches of sterilized ginger at a time to primary after ferment is done, let it sit a few days, taste it, and keep adding until you get your desired amount in there. Then get that ginger out so it doesn't continue infusing more flavor. Then do another batch with the unsterilized ginger in with your pitch. Wild yeast can be a lot of fun to play with.
pvtpublic
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Why not add to primary after ferment? Then you can simply rack to seconday when the taste is right and save yourself some time and work. If it's autolysis you're concerned about, you should be ok for a couple of months, so long as your yeast was healthy to begin with.
Make ginger tea and add that to taste. I have made non alcoholic ginger ale by simply steeping grated fresh ginger in 170 degree water. Works great, you can make it as strong as you like. I do about 2 lbs in a 3 gallon batch. You would want to be stronger to avoid diluting the cider.
Abhishek Dewan
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Another way to do is add vodka to grated ginger, just enough to cover them nicely. Cover it and stir twice a day. After a week, squeeze out infused vodka. Add in incremental smaller quantities to cider, until you like it.
Thanks for all the responses, this place is great. I decided to do a batch of each: one to primary and one to secondary, to see which I prefer. I'm going to be the one drinking most of this, so this approach makes the most sense to me. Thanks!
Racked the first batch (ginger in primary) a couple of days ago. Shredded ginger was in there for just over seven days. Pleasantly ginger-y so far. I'm interested to see if it mellows out over the next month or so.
