Hard Ginger Ale with ec 1118 Concoction

[oceanbrew]

I've tweaked a recipe I found on this site with a different recipe I found on this site. The spices are all from a ginger ale soda recipe, and the excessive amount of sugar is for the yeast. I think this will be dry, and I did this because even though I own a hydrometer I never use it, and have to guess when to bottle based on bubble activity. So I will pretend I am bottling beer and use either corn sugar or table sugar, once there's 'sufficient' slow down in fermentation.
:
2.5 lbs. Ginger root (peeled and chopped in food processor)
*****5 lbs. table sugar
1.25 cups lemon juice
2.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp nutmeg
1.5 tsp allspice
2.5 tsp fennel seed
1.25 tsp vanilla extract

5 gallons water......I use a 6.5 gallon carboy.

2 ec-1118 packets

I'll update this post once it's bottled.

 

[jro238]

This is going to be *very* dry. You're going to end up with a ginger wine here and I would definitely be prepared to back sweeten it like a cider. I cant imagine it will taste very good with a F.G. below 1.000 (or in the area at least), but with a little help after fermentation it might end up as good hard ginger soda...which I've never tried.

 

[oceanbrew]

This is just a follow up to end this thread for now. The brew got infected and was extremely dry. So I've let the idea go for now.

 

[dkennedy]

Thanks for the followup. At minimum, you got me thinking about something that my better half might really enjoy...

 

[oceanbrew]

I suggest 10 to 12 pounds of table sugar. A minimum of 10 pounds. I made a blueberry wine, 6 gallons only 5 pounds of blueberries to save money. I used 10 pounds of table sugar. It came out sweet, perfect for the party it was drank at. when I make this hard ginger ale again I will use 10 pounds of sugar as a minimum. Or I'm going to use a beer yeast and maybe a little less sugar.