CHOW Ginger Beer Recipe
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This is a recipe for making ginger beer from scratch (that is, with natural yeast), so of course we can’t guarantee that it is going to work, because the yeast needs to do its job to start the bug, or culture. We got it to work quite a few times, though, so with some patience and persistence you have good odds.
Special equipment: You can buy a special ginger grater, but unless you are going to be using it on an almost daily basis, we think it is more practical to get the affordable and multipurpose zester from Microplane.
You can find cheesecloth at most grocery stores and kitchen supply shops.
A fine-mesh strainer is a useful kitchen tool.
Use an instant-read digital thermometer for this recipe.
Look for bottling equipment at a craft-brewing supply store. You can also buy the equipment online from San Francisco Brewcraft.
4 large (22-ounce) dark glass crown-cap or bail-top bottles
4 bail tops (if using bail-top bottles)
4 new metal crown caps (if using plain bottles and caps), plus more for mistakes
1 wing bottle capper (if using plain bottles and caps)
1 small plastic water bottle (around 16 ounces)
1 small funnel
1 large funnel
- 1 piece fresh ginger (about 6 inches long)
- 1 cup turbinado sugar
- 12 cups distilled water
- 2 medium lemons
- Combine 1 teaspoon grated ginger (unpeeled), 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar, and 1 cup distilled water in a small bowl. Stir, cover with cheesecloth, and leave in a room-temperature area (70°F to 75°F works best). Add another teaspoon of ginger and sugar every other day until the bug becomes active (it should take 6 to 8 days). The bug is active once there are a few bubbles on the surface and a white residue forms on the bottom of the bowl.
For the ginger beer:
- Halve the lemons and juice them, reserving both the juice and the rinds. In a large pot, combine 1 quart (4 cups) distilled water with 2 teaspoons grated ginger (about 2 inches), the remaining turbinado sugar (should be a scant cup), the juice of the lemons, and the lemon rinds and bring to a boil over high heat. Let this mixture boil for 15 minutes and then remove from heat. Discard the lemon rinds.
- Add the remaining 7 cups distilled water and let the mixture cool to room temperature (about 70°F to 75°F). Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large, clean pot. Then strain the bug into the pot (stir before straining to make sure that the white residue gets included). Mix to combine, and now you’re ready to bottle.
- Set the sealed ginger beer bottles upright to ferment at room temperature (about 70°F to 75°F works best) in an area where it is OK if the bottles explode (such as a bathtub). Let the soda ferment for about 7 to 10 days. Around day 7, test the flavor and carbonation of the ginger beer by sampling the test bottle. (Note: We fermented the soda for about 8 days and were happy with the balance of sugar and ginger at that point. The longer you let the soda ferment, the more sugar the yeast will consume, and therefore the less sugary the soda will be.) When the soda is ready, place the labels on the bottles and put the bottles in the refrigerator to halt the fermentation process. Make sure the bottles are completely cold prior to opening.
pogrob - Yeast is in the air all around us. It eats sugar, and produces Carbon Dioxide, which carbonates the ginger beer, and a small amount of alcohol. The "bug" in the recipe will contain this naturally occurring yeast.
Made a few batches. The latest I'm making with Isabella Beaton's iconic cookbook from the 19th century. I agree that trying to culture a random yeast bug out of the air seems crazy - we have a century or so of yeast husbandry that saves us the work. Use bread yeast, or even better get a good quality beer yeast and benefit from a few generations of work.
Still, macrobiotics are fun, so if you have a closet biologist in your make-up, go ahead and culture yeasts from the air - but it's a bit of a Russian roulette regarding what your animals will taste like.
i do not see anything about the yeast in this recipe. seems to be missing. when and how much do i ad?
Just made a batch with bakers yeast and its the best GB I have ever had, and you can make it to your liking. No more paying obscene pricing for subpar ginger beer. Six days to grow your GB plant 30 minutes to make syrup and 1 1/2 days to carbonate. Make sure to swirl bottles a little when serving and chill before( otherwise it will gush). if any one would like my recipe let me know it's a(all natural) lime flavored GB.
Why bother waiting for some random yeast culture to fall in out of the air? Because it is natural? So it poison ivy. Don't waste your time. Breakdown and add some dry yeast.
There's no link to my method. It's just through trial and error. Here's the recipe:
What you'll need:
Blender
Funnel
2L plastic soda bottle or several smaller plastic soda bottles.
Plastic cooler big enough to put your bottle in.
Strainer.
4-6 oz ginger. Depends on how much you like it ;)
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime
Water
1 tsp baker's yeast.
Optional: 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg and a small stick of cinnamon.
1. Puree ginger in blender with a bit of water.
2. Add to your bottle through the funnel with all the other ingredients.
3. Shake to combine.
4. Firmly close the cap and place in a covered plastic cooler. This step is just insurance in case you forget about it and it explodes. This has never happened to me. Plastic bottles are extremely resilient.
5. Store at room temperature for 24 hours.
6. Gently open the cap to let gas escape. It may take 3-5 minutes of careful observation so that you don't get overflow. It may seem interminable as you wait for your delicious drink.
7. Pour through a strainer into a glass to sample. I often have an empty 2L bottle ready with a funnel and strainer so that I can transfer the contents.
8. Place bottle in the fridge to stop fermentation. It'll be easy to open the bottle after this.
You'll end up with a wonderfully fizzy and delicious ginger beer.
Mulligatawnybreath,
Do you have a link to your method?
YUM! I'm on my second batch! 3 questions. The first batch was just barely bubbly. Is that what is supposed to happen?
I'm sweetening with honey and I see bubbles on top and a white film on the bottom after 1.5 days. Does that mean I should bottle it that early?
I thought I'd do the full 6 days anyway and the bug smells fermented with a lot of bubbles and white film. Is it still edible?
I've now experimented with adding about 10% pineapple juice to the initial mixture and found it to be tasty. This is closer to Reed's Ginger Brew which is 25% juice. I also realized that using a blender to puree the ginger is much easier than grating. My method is down to 15 minutes or less for prep with baker's yeast, water, ginger and sugar, bottling (in plastic soda bottles) and clean up. I would not recommend the Chow method above for a first timer. Way too drawn out and complicated!
Plastic soda bottles are designed to handle higher pressures. For the initial fermentation, I also keep mine stored in a standard insulated picnic cooler. If I forget about it and it explodes, I have an easy time cleaning up. Never had an explosion though. The bottles can stretch quite a bit.
Should I stir the bug when I feed it?
QUESTION RE BUG - can you feed it too much so that it consumes itself? Mine went ballistic, you could hear it popping like crazy. Then it stopped and despite added sugar and ginger and a nice warm place, no more loud bubbling. Just bottled a batch using this bug, but I've started a new one in case it was "exhausted." Anyone have an experience like this, or with letting the but get big, as in expanding to about quart size? Is this ok?
It works - makes delicious, live ginger beer. Why use distilled water? Also, you can use any screw top used bottles that will hold the pressure/carbonation. I've been using friends old vitamin water and TJ Kombucha bottles, as well as bail tops from Ikea. Sandor Katz, WILD FERMENTATION, is an awesome source for simple fermentation recipes, including ginger beer, mead, saurkrauk, pickles, etc. He takes a traditional, wholistic, no-expensive-stuff needed approach. I've recently had great success with the ginger beer, pickles and kraut. Awesome tasting, awesome for your heath, and you don't was $$$$ buying this stuff.
Rmooter, this recipe is a lot more in-depth, and requires plastic bottles.... sorry about your explosion!
http://www.squidoo.com/gingerbeer
Umm...so my ginger beer DID explode, and it wasn't in a good place (my closet). My question is, why would it explode? and what should I do with the other bottles? Does that mean they're ready? Or I just filled them up too much? Hmm...that sucked, two bottles, blown to smithereens! Next time I won't put them in the closet!
Thanks for the recipe, I'll be giving this a try this weekend.
One quick question-I've made scandinavian meade (also yeast based and lightly carbonated) in plastic soda bottles before. Do you think they would be fine for this recipe as well?
Also, did I understand correctly that if you leave the bug for longer the ginger taste will be stronger? Or can I just add more ginger to the boiling pot to make the end product have a bit more kick?
How about a Ginger Beer with a Pineapple Tepache Starter?
I may do my next batch of tepache that way.
(Forget bottling it; just refrigerate it and drink it within a few days.)
http://mexkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/0...
Will this work better in a home where there is a lot of yeast floating around? For example, where bread is often baked from scratch, where there's an open window in a rural area with plants and animals and wild yeast floating around, next door to a bread bakery, etc?
in the end, does the ginger beer contain alchohol?
Pinkpetra: How did it turn out??
My mother used to make it with dried stem ginger - the ones they make the ginger powder, or ground ginger, from - which was boiled in the water for quite a while. The flavour is quite different. I like to combine the two, both dried, boiled to an infusion, and then with fresh added as you do, though considerably more - which makes for a really 'hot' refreshing cold drink. No lemon peel, only a touch of juice to cut the sweetness, and white cane sugar.
aidam
thanks for your response and support. i am going to bottle today and will let you know what happens. i will also check out sodapop project. hey have you ever made gingerale using yeast? that is my next experiment...and oh is this recipe really gingery?
happy day.
petra
Pinkpetra: I am excited to hear that you are making the soda.
I must reiterate that there is a chance this won't work, but we are just up north from you and we got it to work quite a few times. What is happening here is that you are making soda via natural fermentation (take a look at the Soda Pop Project intro for more on this). That means that the "bug" IS your yeast culture. And, from what you've explained here, your "bug" sounds like it is doing fine (there will be just a few bubbles on the surface).
As for your other qs, you do indeed strain both the "bug" and the soda base through the fine mesh sieve (make sure you bring that white residue over as it helps fermentation along). Also, it'd be preferable if you did things with a thermometer, but if you trust your own judgement as to the temp range that you are going for take a crack at it. Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions/concerns.
Today it has been 6 days. I am concerned. I have a white residue at the bottom of my bowl however on the surface I have some bubbles but mostly a film of what looks like ginger.....I am going to bottle on saturday...Just to clarify - you strain the "bug" through a fine mesh sieve as well? There will be enough yeat for carbonation? I spoke to a brewer today and he did not understand how carbonation would take place with out yeast.....I am very curious to see what happens. ps. I live in Los Angeles and am not using a thermometer - this is okay, no? Thanks for the help and the inspiration to actually do this!
Ah, thanks,...I see I didn't read through step 1 carefully enough the the first time!
Actually, Caitlin, you need to develop or grow the bug for a period of 6 to 8 days and every other day after you have started the bug you need to add a teaspoon of grated ginger. Thus, if you were to develop the bug for 6 days you'd use 3 teaspoons of grated ginger whereas if you were to develop the bug for 8 days (to get a more gingery flavor) you'd use 4 teaspoons. In total this would necessitate a total ginger amount of 5 to 6 teaspoons (roughly 5 to 6 inches of fresh ginger).
I am confused about the amount of ginger called for in the ingredient list versus what is used in the recipe instructions. Step 1 uses 1 teaspoon of grated ginger, and step 2 uses 2 teaspoons of grated ginger, for a total of 3 teaspoons, which does not equal the 5 to 6 teaspoons you describe in your comment, aidam, and would not use an entie six-inch piece of fresh ginger, in my experience.
Thanks for your response, cheftoni55.
You are correct in saying that we are referring to a piece of ginger that is six inches measured, not including the nubs. The key is that you want enough ginger to yield the appropriate amount, about 5 to 6 teaspoons grated (peel and all), to complete the recipe. Your other tips are very helpful as well.
Please note one more thing though: Because you are not using all the ginger in one day, you should try to keep the original piece intact so that it does not dry out and/or shrivel up.
I think they mean six inches measured, not including the nubs. Take a piece of fresh ginger (make sure that the "skin" is a uniform color--no mold and no mushiness--basically, it shouldn't look old and dried out. If you break off a nub around the edge, the area where you broke it off should be moist with a nice zingy scent), snap off the smallest nubs, use a ruler and measure it lengthwise to about six inches (it's not going to be exact, because ginger grows curvy sometimes, and sticks out all over the place) and then peel/cut off the skin (you can use a good sharp peeler, the edge of a spoon, a really sharp knife) then grate.
What does six inches of ginger mean?