Types of ginger...

[gratus fermentatio]

Greetings all, since my intended end product is more like a cider than anything else, I posted here. The question: What (if any) are the differences in taste between candied ginger, crystalized ginger (a form of candied) and fresh ginger in an apfelwein-type of hard cider? I know the sugar in the 2 kinds of candied will add to the ABV, but I'm wondering if the flavours will be as different as belgian candy sugar vs white cane sugar, or maybe a better example would be brown cane sugar vs white cane sugar. If anyone has experimented with these, I'd appreciate some info on the flavour profiles, GF.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Guess nobody knows... It was worth a shot. EDIT: Nice to see a few responses, thx!

 

[Nerro]

Well, the candied varieties of ginger will have less of the spicynes that would otherwise be present. Perhaps a gingerwine made using fresh ginger will have a bit more of a bite to it. As far as the sugaring goes, you can always adjust the amount of added sugar make for some standardized ABV.

Maybe it's fun to try using all three and comparing.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Thanks, I was sorta thinking the same thing, but it's good to have a second or 3rd opinion on these things. Regards, GF.

 

[Freezeblade]

And I thought this was going to be a thread about the different varietys of ginger, like the hawaiian blue ginger, vs ganglal (sp), etc. I'd think that the candying process heats the ginger alot, so that would cause that front pallet "spicyness" to be replaced by the soft back pallet ginger flavor that is also caused when you boil ginger.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Freezeblade: A good & interesting point, your response was the catalyst for an idea: I might use both to sort of "round out" the ginger flavour. I was already thinking about using ginger in primary and secondary, but I don't want to overwhelm the apple flavours, just compliment them. Maybe just adding some fresh squeezed ginger juice at bottling. I'm not sure how much is fermentable in ginger juice, but in theory, those fermentables on top of the 3/4 cup priming sugar, should give me the sparkling nectar I was planning on putting into champagne bottles. Since I don't own a refractometer, I'll have to do a little research to see what I can see on that... Any ideas on the sugar content of fresh ginger? Regards, GF.

 

[bmd2k1]

Greetings all, since my intended end product is more like a cider than anything else, I posted here. The question: What (if any) are the differences in taste between candied ginger, crystalized ginger (a form of candied) and fresh ginger in an apfelwein-type of hard cider? I know the sugar in the 2 kinds of candied will add to the ABV, but I'm wondering if the flavours will be as different as belgian candy sugar vs white cane sugar, or maybe a better example would be brown cane sugar vs white cane sugar. If anyone has experimented with these, I'd appreciate some info on the flavour profiles, GF.

Wondering which of these gingers have become your fav?? Was gonna try some crystallized ginger from Trader Joes in a batch of my cider for the holidays (I already use the pickled ginger leftover from a sushi order in my ciders and really enjoy that.)

Cheers!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

WOW! The orig. post is over a decade old! I never did get around to trying anything other than fresh ginger. It didn't work out so well in the champagne style I made, but I learned from my mistakes & have had good results with it in cider.
Regards, GF.

 

[bushman101]

Just to chime in with my (limited) experience.

I've only ever used fresh ginger for anything.

I made a Ginger Beer using only Fresh Ginger, Lemon Juice and sugar (mix of brown and white). While it was good, I felt it needed something. Maybe the Ginger to water ratio was off.
I think about that brew a bit. I really want to retry this recipe, but I have other things to ferment before that.

Sorry, this thread got me thinking about it again.
But maybe I'll try some of the ginger varieties mentioned by the OP