Ginger Wine

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup dried ginger (not powdered)
• 2 campden tablets
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 oranges (rind and juice)
• 2 lemons (rind and juice)
• 2 campden tablets
• 7 cups brown sugar (demerara)
• 1 tsp nutrients
• yeast
• water

METHOD:

1. Simmer ginger, raisins and thinly peeled orange and lemon zest in 4 cups water for 15 min. Strain liquid into primary fermentor. Put solids back into saucepan and add another 4 cups water. Simmer again for 15 minutes and strain into primary fermentor. Simmer solids in 4 cups water one more time, and strain.
2. Add juice of oranges and lemons, campden tablets, sugar and nutrients to primary fermentor. Stir to dissolve. Add water to make up to 1 gallon. Let sit overnight. Add yeast.
3. Stir daily for 5 to 6 days or until Specific Gravity is 1.040. Siphon into secondary fermentor and add airlock.
4. For a dry wine, rack in six weeks, then every three months for one year. Bottle.
5. For a sweet wine, rack at six weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old.
6. Bottle the wine when it is 6 to 12 months old. I like to continue racking for a whole year to ensure the wine is as clear as possible. Wine is ready to drink one year after the date the batch was started.
7. Bottle the wine when you are sure it is stable.