Canada Dry Clone -- Please help

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

First time trying soda. My family loves ginger ale Canada Dry or Vernors (some of them are from MI) The like to drink it plain or mix it with whiskey.

I think it would be really fun to try and make some for them and they would really enjoy it. So...this is what I am thinking...after reading other threads on here.

5 gallons (going to keg and force carb)

3 roots (about 2 inches a piece)
2 cups of turbinado sugar
2 cups of dark brown sugar
3 limes zest
2 lemon zest

Get 5 gallons of water and heat it to 150ish dissolve the sugars and add the ginger and zests to simmer for about an hour. Strain and put in the keg and force carbonate.

Is this too much ginger? I don't want it to be very gingery in flavor and especially don't want it to be hot or spicy from the ginger...

Does the process seem right also?

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Update on this one..

I ended up using 1 1/2 cups of ginger root and only two limes.

Its been on the gas for one day and I took a pull to try it (obviously not carbonated). So far so good...its probably closer to Vernors than Canada Dry because it has a nice sweetness to it the ginger is not overwhelming but still brings a nice flavor. I will see what flavor does in the next few days as it carbonates and sits a little bit buy I have pretty high hopes for my first Ginger Ale..or soda ever.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I am going to keep updating this just incase someone is trying to do the same thing. I would go ahead and bring the recipe down to 1 cup of ginger as it has more time to sit the ginger is really coming out in the flavor. Which is good I like ginger and it's not overpowering or spicy but its more ginger flavor than you would get from a canned soda at the grocery store. So ..i'll try 1 cup next time.

 

[ericbw]

Is the ginger grated? It gets stronger even though it is strained?

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

No, I didn't grate the ginger I chopped it with one of those slap choppers. Yeah, the ginger really shinned after about a week or two of sitting and yes it was strained.

 

[jdrollason]

Any further updates on this?

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Any further updates on this?

I would say the ginger flavor was still stronger than your usually Canada Dry can but overall its not so much ginger its spicy or overwhelming.

When I make it again I would do 25% less ginger and I think it will be a lot better for me.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

The soda took about a month or so to drink, overall the friends and family who tried it enjoyed the flavor some more than others naturally but I would do this again.

 

[Homercidal]

You might want to age on chips. Vernors uses oak barrels to get some of it's flavor. I've been wanting to try a variant of ginger ale like these for a while now, but beer keeps getting in the way!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

You might want to age on chips. Vernors uses oak barrels to get some of it's flavor. I've been wanting to try a variant of ginger ale like these for a while now, but beer keeps getting in the way!

LOL beer does that.

Good information for sure.

 

[virtualpaul]

Any updates on the best clone recipe?

I have tried several iterations of recipes from books on sodas and did not come too close to the taste of that brand.

I did some research lately and realized that most recipes have no salt but most sodas have a lot of sodium so I am adding salt to my trial today to see if it helps.

I also read that this ginger ale does not have much ginger (if any) in it so that makes it even more difficult to achieve not knowing what it contains. 'Natural Flavour' can mean anything.