Ginger Beer

(Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free)

 

Ingredients:

For the ginger bug:

§  3 inches, more or less, fresh ginger root

§  ¼ cup, more or less, granulated white sugar

§  1 cup water

For the ginger beer:

§  Water

§  2-8 inches fresh ginger, more or less depending on desired flavor, grated

§  2 cups granulated white sugar

§  Juice of 2 lemons

Preparation:

1.       Before you start: make sure you have 10 or 12 large bottles (enough to hold 1 gallon) in which to ferment your ginger beer. Glass is preferable, but plastic should work too as long as the bottles can be sealed very well. Before you make your ginger beer, boil the bottles (in batches if needed) in a large pot of water for about 10 min to sterilize.

2.      Start the “ginger bug” by adding 2 tsp grated fresh ginger (does not need to be peeled) and 2 tsp granulated white sugar to 1 cup water. Stir to combine, cover with cheesecloth (or a paper towel with holes punched in it will work), and leave in a warm place (consider labeling this odd concoction so that an unknowing passerby does not dispose of it!).

3.      Continue adding 2 tsps each of grated fresh ginger and sugar once a day for about 3 days (or anywhere from 2-7) until the ginger bug starts to get bubbly. Now you are ready to make your ginger beer. If you are not ready to make your beer right away, you can keep feeding your ginger bug every other day with the 2 tsps of ginger and sugar for a week or so until you have time.

4.      To make the ginger beer: Boil 2 quarts water and add grated about 2 inches grated ginger (can have skin) for a mild-tasting beer or up to 7 or 8 for an intense ginger flavor (I did 6 inches the first time and it wasn’t enough for me). Also add 1 ½ cups sugar and bring the mixture back up to a boil and boil for about 15 min then cool completely.  

5.      Strain out the cooled ginger water and the ginger bug and combine them with the lemon juice. (If you plan to make ginger beer in an ongoing rhythm, you will want to save a few Tbsp of the ginger bug and replenish it with water, ginger, and sugar). Measure out how much ginger beer mixture you have in volume and then put it in a large container and add enough water to the mixture to make it 1 gallon.

6.      Stir the mixture well to combine and then divide the mixture among the bottles, making sure to leave a few inches at the top for air pressure so that the bottles do not burst. Reseal all of the bottles very well so that they do not leak if turned over and so that carbonation does not escape. Place the bottles in a save, warm place for 2-3 weeks to ferment. (Take one out at 2 weeks and open it up. If it isn’t fully carbonated, give it another week or so).

7.      Chill the bottles well before opening and then open them someplace with lots of room (preferable outdoors or over a sink!) and be ready with glasses to catch the overflowing carbonation that comes rushing out!

Ginger Bug Day 1: water, sugar, and ginger,

no sign of life whatsoever

Ginger Bug Day 2: It's fed, but it still doesn't

look like more than backwash

Ginger Bug Day 3: Fed again and starting to

look more interesting, no sign of bubbles or

fermentation though

Ginger Bug Day 4: *Gasp* are those bubbles

I see? Hmm...still they are pretty small though...

don't think it's quite ready yet

Ginger Bug Day 5: Bubbly? Check! Ready to roll!

 Before you continue with your ginger beer-making,

make sure you have bottles with enough capacity

to hold 1 gallon. Then make sure you sterilize them

by boiling them in a large pot of water for 10 min

(sterilize the lids as well) and make sure they are

free of cracks or weak spots and can be tightly sealed

Above: 3 inches of ginger for mild ginger beer

Below: 5 inches of ginger for strong ginger beer

(I used 5 inches and it wasn't strong enough for

me though so I will try 7 or 8 inches next time)

5 inches grated fresh ginger adds up

to 3.1 oz to be exact

Boiling for 15 min

Strain it out. (You could use cheesecloth if you

really want to make sure you don't get any little

bits in your drink, but really I think they would

only contribute to your end result so why go

through the extra trouble?)

Looks kinda like chicken stock, mm?

The annoying part of this was pouring the strained

juice into a bunch of measuring cups to see how much

water I needed to add to get to a gallon. I couldn't

think of any simpler way of doing it... :/

This part can also get a little sticky...

Scooping out a quart of ginger water at a time

and then pouring it into the bottles made it

a lot easier!

I got about 10 (12oz) bottles in one batch,

filled with an inch or two of head room.

You want the head room to allow

for the air pressure that will

accumulate as the beer ferments

(too full and your bottles may burst)

 I stored my bottles in my bedroom,

with one group in a box covered with

a heat blanket to keep it warm as

recommended, and the other in a box,

covered at room temperature.

After 2 weeks of fermenting, the results between

my two test boxes are about the same. The

bottles have developed a sediment on the bottom

and some have a slight mold growing on top

(probably because I didn't boil the bottles that time,

I just washed them out in hot water), but after

opening a tester, they was very little carbonation

or flavor development so I gave them another week.

A bit over 3 weeks, ready to try again!

The beer has developed a nice pale gingery color

and is very clear (as long as I didn't disturb the

sediment on the bottom).

And like I'd mentioned before, some of the bottles

developed a film of white mold that turned a

weird shade of green-blue by the third week,

which I think was due to my improper sanitizing.

I poured the mold off of one of these and the liquid

beneath was not moldy so I took a sip. It didn't make

me sick or anything, at least not that one drink,

but it did have an bitter off-taste that you

definitely wouldn't want, so just watch

out for this.

I was sad to find that, after opening several

bottles, there was little or no reaction :(

Finally, I was down to 2 last bottles and I got...

THIS!!! Bubbles EVERYWHERE!! I was so excited!

I would DEFINITELY recommend

opening these outside or at least over

a big sink because I had ginger beer

pouring all over the place just from

my two that actually turned out all right!

The bubbles sure made me happy,

but I was even more delighted to find

that it really did taste good too! Like

I said before though, I think it needed a

lot more ginger because it reminded me

more of ginger ale than ginger beer.

As for the bottles that didn't come out so

great, I think my mistake there was not

sealing the bottles all the way so that they

were airtight and so it allowed the carbonation

to escape and I ended up with a very

yeasty flavored ginger drink instead of

something fizzy and fun.