Mino’s Ginger Hard Cider

40 CommentsRECIPES, , , , ,
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinteresttumblrmail

This award-winning hard cider made by Mino Choi was sampled and discussed in Chop & Brew – Episode 21. Thanks to Mino for sharing the basics of this recipe with us. Per Mino:

5 gallons store-bought apple juice
2 lbs corn sugar
Wyeast wine nutrient
Bunch of fresh ginger root
Nottingham ale dry yeast

Sanitize 6.5 gallon bucket, add juice and dissolve corn sugar in it.
Add 1 tablespoon Wyeast wine nutrient.
Peel and shred ginger on a mandolin or in a processor and put in bucket.
If available and in-season, add 4-5 lbs of black currants or any other dark skin berry: mulberries, elderberries, etc. or any other fruits you want to try like strawberries or dark cherries.
Add Nottingham ale dry yeast, put lid on and ferment in the lower 60s-F for 7-10 days.

**Staggered nutrient addition treatment:
Add 1/2 tsp Wyeast wine nutrient first day, then next 3 days in a row. Each day, agitate the bucket with lid on, rocking it to degas.

After fermentation, gravity should be close to 1.010 or less.
I sorbate 2 1/2 tsp in primary, cold crash, then rack to keg.
Add a can of frozen concentrated apple juice and dissolve 1 cup corn sugar to keg.
Pressureize and carbonate.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinteresttumblrmail

40 Comments

  1. Pingback: Chop & Brew – Episode 21: Meet the Brewer – Mino Choi | Chop & Brew

  2. MattyB

    I was wondering how the canned juice and corn sugar at the end might effect this if I wanted to bottle condition. How would you change the recipie? Could you still back sweeten or would it get eaten up in conditioning?

    • chopandbrew

      I’m not an authority on it, but I have always been told you should/could not bottle a cider that you are going to backsweeten for the risk of making bottle-bombs. It’s suggested to keg instead, pressurize and then fill bottles from the keg — cap on foam.

      • MattyB

        I assume I could bottle condition it without back sweetening though right? Same as I would do for a beer.

      • Dave Watson

        I’ve backsweeted, bottled, and allowed to slightly carbonate, then pasteurized. (10 minutes in a 160F water bath). It came out quite nice. It’s a bit of a nerve-wracking process, though. I recommend wearing safety glasses in case any of the bottles explode.

        Now when I’m making my ciders I’ve just been sorbating and kegging. I’m entering a cherry cider into a local competition under the C&B banner. Hopefully it comes out good… here’s my recipe:

        “Zombie Apocalypse” Cherry Cyser (clone of B Nektar’s Zombie Killer)
        3 gallons grocery store apple juice
        1 packet Cote des Blanc yeast

        Once fermentation is done (1-2 weeks), add sorbate and keg with 1 lb honey and 1 pint sour cherry juice.

        My wife loves this stuff, and it’s incredibly easy to make.

    • mino

      Once u sorbate u must keg carbonate ur usual options without kegging are dry and bubbly or still and sweet but semi sweet and carbonated is ideal
      there is a way to achieve this would be to add a can of frozen concentrated apple juice and maybe 5 oz and 1 cup priming sugar but u must not sorbate then put bottles in a warm place for maybe a day or 2 grab a bottle and shake it to see if there is carbonation then grab differnet bottle and taste for residual sweetness if uts sweet and bubbly then put under refrigeration forever to stop yeast activity then drink them but must be kept in permanent r efridergation to avoid restarting fermentation thats the only way I know of to achieve bubbly and some sweet

    • Jerrid Schilling

      The sorbate won’t allow the cider to ferment anymore. That is why you can back sweeten. I’m not entirely sure how to bottle condition when back sweetening if you want carbonation. You can back sweeten and bottle after sorbating though if you like but it will be a still cider.

  3. Bill

    Question about the ginger. Do you have to sanitize the root to prevent bad yeast or bacteria on the skin from contaminating the brew?

    • chopandbrew

      Mino says he simply peels, grates and drops it in the bucket. No boiling, steaming, dipping in sanitizer, etc.

  5. Calli

    Ditto on the carbonation? Also, by using the frozen concentrate do you find that the end product is not that clear?

  6. Bill

    This might be a dumb question.. but, here goes. When I use Notty for beer, fermentation is complete at about 1.010. Just won’t go any more. So, if this seems to be about all that yeast can do?

    If I back sweeten.. why is it necessary to pasteurize if the yeast can only do so much conversion.. Ie sugar to alcohol? Is it just the type of sugars that cause it to stop at 10… and added juice adds a different type of more easily converted sugar?

    And to comment on Calli’s comment.. Yes, my cider stays cloudy unless I add a fining agent like gelatin. Even at that, my last cider is staying cloudy.. despite cold crashing, gelatin, added pectonase, etc..

  7. Bill

    Forgot to ask……
    Should you degas cider like you would a mead? Shake the can.. er, bottle?

    • mino

      Notty quits at 1.010 when I make cider I sorbate just so by chance it wont restart if the bottles get warm or shaken up it might start up again I do it just to be on the safe side

  8. Bill

    Dang, another added note on cloudy cider. I’m a beginner and have been making my cider out of a variety of juices.. All of them have had a cloudy base like Whole Foods Organic Cider or Mussleman’s Cider to which I usually add clear juice as well.. 50/50 clear/cloudy. Maybe I should be using clear or adding a good dose of pectic enzyme a day or two before adding the yeast.

    • mino

      Yes I shake the bucket to de gas when I add frozen concentrate it doesn’t make it cloudy when I carbonate I make it pretty effervescent since I use the racking cane to pack it provider doesn’t have proteins like beer so it doesn’t foam up alot so I go heavy on the carbonation

    • mino

      I use clear juice I dont use cider clear apple juice is the way to go

  9. Pingback: Mino’s Ginger Hard Cider | Fellowship of the Brew

  10. Kevin

    This recipe sounds interesting. I have a bunch of canned juice and would like to give this a try. What ballpark is “Bunch of fresh ginger root”? 1 ounce? 2 ounces? More?

    • mino

      More ginger will fade a bit and calm down over time I use a cup or two

  11. Meatless in Montana

    Interesting tips. It’s a bit contrary to what you see on the internet, but that’s a good thing. You see a shitton of advice that says you have to wait months for cider to turn out. You hear the same stuff for beer. People are like, “I usually let it sit for 2-4 months to ‘clean up.'” I’m like, WTF? My beer is grain to glass in 10-21 days. And it’s good. What kind of crap are you making that it has to ‘clean up’ for 4 months? So what I hear about cider mirrors that for beer. Nice to see that fast turnaround cider is the norm not the exception.

    Not a fan of ginger, but I can do the store bought juice no problem.

  12. Greg

    Has anyone ever substituted the store bought apple juice for freshly juiced apples? Wondering if the sugars or additives in the store bought are needed. Id like to try this recipe with freshly juiced apples.

      • Jerad

        Awesome Site! I’m look ing to make a batch of this soon, I’m just unsure about the shaking method. Do I Shake the first couple days of primary, or throughout the entire 2 weeks? Also is it best to shake the carboy multiple times a day during the shaking period?

        • chopandbrew

          I believe Mino said he shakes the carboy during the first few days… but I’ll see if he’ll weigh in on your comment as well. Chip.

  13. mino

    I shake it during primary as many times as possible once fermentation has started then I keep shaking every day but if u do it right …..after 5 days ir so not much gas should come out of the air lock the u know u did ur job and the yeast has pretty much consumed all the sugar

    • Jerad

      Thanks for all the great info on this. Can you elaborate on the staggered nutrient additions. Do you use go ferm and fermaid k in tandem?

  14. Trey

    Is there a reason he uses corn sugar, or can you use any kind of sweetener like candi sugar or honey

    • mino

      Corn sugar is completely metabolized by the yeast for just alcohol and doesn’t lend any other flavor and for back sweetening it doesn’t add other flavors that might compete with the delicate ginger flavor but u can use whatever u want be creative

  15. Pulsatorius

    You talked about staggering nutrients in the episode, but I can’t see that in the recepie. How do you stagger? :o)

  16. TexasBrewer

    I just checked on my version of Mino’s ginger cider and after a week using the exact SNA schedule it is only down to 1.024. Is there anything I should do if this does not drop any further other than not back sweeten? Is the lack of full fermentation a common issue with this recipe? I used S-05 and I am wondering if that might be it. Otherwise this tastes delicious in the hydrometer sample!

    • mino

      Did u add nutrients? What temp are u fermenting at? Maybe go abit warmer .. really shake it up.. Nottingham always gives me 1.060 to 1.010 or less every time…. when u get a good recipie just follow it and dont make any changes I never substitute I always go and get exactly what the recipies calls for once I make it a few times succesfully THEN … u can tinker with it … this is a great base cider recipie instead of ginger u can sub in anything peach cherry etc… as for why the gravity isn’t dropping maybe it is the US 05 but since I learn this recipe 3 years ago I never use anything except for Nottingham

      • mino

        How Long in primary ?? U can let it sit afull 2 wks then check if its been that long u can rack and do a secondary ferment on it

      • TexasBrewer

        I forgot to add nutrients until about 36 hours in unfortunately but then started my SNA. According to your directions should I have pitched with the tablespoon then started the SNA? I’m 8 days in to primary and stuck at 1.022. I’ve used this base before without ginger and gotten down to 1.000 with S-05 no problem. I might just stick to the Notty from now on and pitch with the nutrient right off the bat. I’m also 5 weeks deep on your Super Berry 3.0 so thanks for all the solid recipes and the advice! If I’m stuck at 1.022 after two weeks what do you recommend for a secondary ferment? Pitch some champagne yeast or what?

  17. TexasBrewer

    I forgot to add nutrients until about 36 hours in unfortunately but then started my SNA. According to your directions should I have pitched with the tablespoon then started the SNA? I’m 8 days in to primary and stuck at 1.022. I’ve used this base before without ginger and gotten down to 1.000 with S-05 no problem. I might just stick to the Notty from now on and pitch with the nutrient right off the bat. I’m also 5 weeks deep on your Super Berry 3.0 so thanks for all the solid recipes and the advice! If I’m stuck at 1.022 after two weeks what do you recommend for a secondary ferment? Pitch some champagne yeast or what?

  18. Byron

    Wow. It was awesome. Ginger did fade after a while. I want to try cherry next. Any other ideas on additives?

Comments are closed.