braindead0
Member
In the past I've made ginger mead, generally slice up a few ounces and drop it into fermentation.. take out around 1.030 or so.. what I usually end up with is SPICY!!! Once it was really really spicy... undrinkable for me (however some liked it, and was awesome as marinade).
I searched around and all I could find was references to "Cooking ginger transforms gingerol via a reverse aldol reaction into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma." However no specifics on how to cook for this reaction. I tried baking for an hour at 425, boiling for 1/2 hour.. neither of which seemed to change the character of the ginger.
So I gave up and started reviewing recipes for Ginger Ale, surely however that was done would result in less heat and good flavor. I used a recipe from Alton Brown, scaled up for honey and 6 gallon batch and came up with the following:
18oz grated ginger
5# honey
1.5 quarts water
Heated the above in a pot over medium heat until it hit 150F..stirring to make sure the honey dissolved. Removed from heat and let steep for one hour. Strained ginger out with cheesecloth and squeezed out the juice (fairly gentle squeezin').
Made up full batch, 15# total honey, 5tsp yeast nutrient, 4tsp acid blend 1/2tsp tannin. 1.094SG
The must has a very nice ginger aroma and taste, there is some heat but mostly at the tip of the tongue.. not the whole mouth burning I've experienced in the past.
I should know in a few weeks if the heat is under control with this method.. if this works I have a feeling I'll use ginger more often..
I searched around and all I could find was references to "Cooking ginger transforms gingerol via a reverse aldol reaction into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma." However no specifics on how to cook for this reaction. I tried baking for an hour at 425, boiling for 1/2 hour.. neither of which seemed to change the character of the ginger.
So I gave up and started reviewing recipes for Ginger Ale, surely however that was done would result in less heat and good flavor. I used a recipe from Alton Brown, scaled up for honey and 6 gallon batch and came up with the following:
18oz grated ginger
5# honey
1.5 quarts water
Heated the above in a pot over medium heat until it hit 150F..stirring to make sure the honey dissolved. Removed from heat and let steep for one hour. Strained ginger out with cheesecloth and squeezed out the juice (fairly gentle squeezin').
Made up full batch, 15# total honey, 5tsp yeast nutrient, 4tsp acid blend 1/2tsp tannin. 1.094SG
The must has a very nice ginger aroma and taste, there is some heat but mostly at the tip of the tongue.. not the whole mouth burning I've experienced in the past.
I should know in a few weeks if the heat is under control with this method.. if this works I have a feeling I'll use ginger more often..