Hard Ginger Ale & Other Weird Homemade Drinks

[nacho]

Finally got around to making "hard" ginger ale.  Nothing to it... Grate some ginger, juice a lemon or two, sugar, yeast, water, put in a corner for a few days.

It won't really be too boozy.  Maybe 10-15% alcohol by Thursday, according to my recipe. Then it becomes a homemade freakout mixer!

I'll write about my hallucinations in this thread before I go blind.

[nacho]

Wow...so... This shit got very alcoholic very fast. I sat here and had four glasses of what is really a very fizzy, refreshing ginger soda... And. without knowing (or trying), it got me pretty drunk.

Cool.

So that's $2.50 of fresh ginger root (there's lots left over -- enough for six more batches!), a cup of sugar, a tablespoon of yeast, two 99 cent lemons, and water...for two liters of death fluid.

Beat that.

[Nubbins]

Sounds like someone's ready for a block party!

[Cassander]

Does it taste like that stuff we had at the rum distillery?

[nacho]

A little bit. I made it too sweet, I think.

[monkey!]

I want some.

[nacho]

So, anyway, my trip report on this is that it was pretty rough.  But I think I figured out my mistakes and will try again.

Of course, it costs about $1.00 a gallon, so, no worries.

I was also super paranoid about the container.  I used a plastic bottle and the thing was like the Hindenburg and, clearly, very angry.  So I probably didn't let it ferment correctly.  The solution: I buy a fermenting bucket and use that. Or a carboy with a gas valve.

[nacho]

Here... I'll expand on this thread, since I consider the hard ginger ale to be a failure.

Next up (which I'll prepare on Saturday) is the following:

Cranberry Liqueur

Ingredients

    * 1 cup water
    * 2 cups granulated sugar
    * 2 cups fresh cranberries
    * 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
    * 1 tablespoon grated orange rind
    * 2 cups vodka (Use decent vodka for the best results)

Preparation

   1. Combine sugar and water in heavy saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer sugar syrup for three minutes, making sure all of the sugar has dissolved in the water.
   2. Add cranberries, orange juice and orange rind.
   3. Remove syrup mixture from heat and cool slightly.
   4. Add mixture to Cuisinart and chop just slightly to open up berries; cool completely.
   5. Add vodka and mix thoroughly.
   6. Pour into container; glass or plastic. Cover and store in a dark, cool location for 3 weeks. (I put mine in the garage at Christmas time!).
   7. Stir ingredients every couple of days.

Once the mixture is ready, strain through fine metal sieve; saving the berries. Be careful and not eat the whole bowl full of these beauties; great on vanilla ice cream with a splash of the liqueur. We float a bit of them in cocktails made by mixing Spanish Cava with the liqueur.

Pour liqueur into glass jars and store in airtight container. To ship this for gifts; I put it into these bottles with a tight seal and then wrapped the top and seals with clear plastic strapping tape just to be safe!

[nacho]

Here... I'll expand on this thread, since I consider the hard ginger ale to be a failure.

Next up (which I'll prepare on Saturday) is the following:

Cranberry Liqueur

Ingredients

    * 1 cup water
    * 2 cups granulated sugar
    * 2 cups fresh cranberries
    * 3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
    * 1 tablespoon grated orange rind
    * 2 cups vodka (Use decent vodka for the best results)

Preparation

   1. Combine sugar and water in heavy saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer sugar syrup for three minutes, making sure all of the sugar has dissolved in the water.
   2. Add cranberries, orange juice and orange rind.
   3. Remove syrup mixture from heat and cool slightly.
   4. Add mixture to Cuisinart and chop just slightly to open up berries; cool completely.
   5. Add vodka and mix thoroughly.
   6. Pour into container; glass or plastic. Cover and store in a dark, cool location for 3 weeks. (I put mine in the garage at Christmas time!).
   7. Stir ingredients every couple of days.

Once the mixture is ready, strain through fine metal sieve; saving the berries. Be careful and not eat the whole bowl full of these beauties; great on vanilla ice cream with a splash of the liqueur. We float a bit of them in cocktails made by mixing Spanish Cava with the liqueur.

Pour liqueur into glass jars and store in airtight container. To ship this for gifts; I put it into these bottles with a tight seal and then wrapped the top and seals with clear plastic strapping tape just to be safe!

 

My god... I love having weekends back!  12:30 and I've been all over the place getting my chores done... I made a big old pot of minestrone for my lunches next week, and I finally got around to making the cranberry liqueur quoted here...which I'll subject everybody to on my Jan. 15th dinner.

The good news (or bad news, if it turns out to be amazing) is that there's not much. Though I might try the Cava cocktails mentioned... That'll stretch it out for 10-15 guests. 

Now... The rest of the day will be spent doing laundry, cleaning, and getting my taxes in order. 

I like how NOT working seven days a week makes me feel more productive and busy.

[RottingCorpse]

Weekends off are great!

[nacho]

No shit... Okay, almost 3pm.  Done with cleaning (except for "the office," which is a whirlwind of receipts right now) and laundry... I'm up to last April for my tax spreadsheet.  No problem. 

[nacho]

Haha!  Just had to take a sip of the cranberry thing (I upped it to 3 cups vodka because it was suuuuper sweet).  It's sort of like: HELLO! I AM THE CRANBERRY SATAN! FEAR MEEEEEEE!!!!!

I'm supposed to let it set for three weeks?  Man. By the time the Jan 15th party rolls around, all I'll have to do is serve people three cranberries and they'll be reeling around and smashing mirrors.