From Paul MacKenzie

THIS IS a hot and spicy drink with a strong ginger flavor; it’s basically like flat ginger beer at 40%. You would have to be huge fan of ginger to enjoy this. Fantastic chilled to the point of freezing.

Ingredients

  • 6.5kg Dextrose
  • 1 bunch of kale
  • 1 teaspoon citric acid
  • 40 grams SAF INSTANT YEAST or baker’s yeast
  • 50-100 grams dried ground ginger
  • 300 grams stem ginger in syrup pureed
  • 35 litres filtered water

Method

  1. Dissolve Dex in 5 ltrs water, boil for 4 minutes cool (more important if you use white sugar)
  2. Remove heavy steams on Kale, blanch in boiling water 30 seconds, refresh in cold water
  3. Drain and chop Kale, blend with some water and strain out pulp, keep juice
  4. Combine water (via a garden hose and hose filter to air rate), syrup, acid, ground ginger and juice, when at is at 30°C add yeast (no premixing required)
  5. Ferment for 14 to 18 days at 26°C

Yields about 3.4 to 3.6 liters at 92% through a T500, excluding 150 ml heads and no tails

The Run

Run the T500 still at 68°C, throw out the first 150 ml of head, collecting around 3 to 3.6L (no tails) of usable alcohol, let the spirit (at 90%) stand lightly covered for 24 hours.

Polishing

  1. Water down to about 40% using filtered water and add a ¼ cup of activated carbon granules (that is well washed and wet) per litre and allowed to stand for 2 weeks, agitating once a day, and opening the lid occasionally to allow it to breathe.
  2. Strain out carbon.
  3. Then pass it through a coffee filter and then a 1-micron filter of your choice, which should take about 24 hours.
  4. Add ginger puree.