Ginger beer

[Raine]

Ginger beer

Ingredients

4 oz. dried ginger root
1 gallon water
juice from 1 medium lemon
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 lb. sugar

Method

Pound or grind the ginger root, then boil it in ½ gallon of water for 20 minutes. Remove and set aside. Mix lemon juice and pkg. of dry yeast in a cup of warm water and add to the ginger root water. Pour in remaining water and let mixture sit for 24 hours. Strain out the root bits and stir in the sugar well. Bottle in sterilized glass bottles and place in refrigerator. Don’t store at room temperature or bottles may explode. Makes ten 12-oz. bottles.

 

[VeraBlue]

I love ginger beer. It's one of the main components in two of my favourite drinks. Does this actually make an alcoholic ginger beer? The types I use are more like soda..non-alcoholic.

And, any idea where to get these sterilized bottles?

Sorry for replying so late...

 

[TATTRAT]

Though "ginger beer" IS NOT typically a buzzy beverage(atleast by BDA standards) i like the idea. i think vera and I are thinking of the same beverage too

 

[ronjohn55]

Raine's recipe will indeed make a "fizzy" ginger beer (or ginger ale, if you want). Very much a soda pop type beverage.

It will have some alcohol in it, but only a trace amount from the yeast, which are only there to provide carbonation. That's also why you have to store them cold, otherwise they'll keep eating sugars and you will continuie to get a "drier" tasting beverage until the bottle can no longer contain the pressure. Then you get a bomb. Seriously.

Another note - don't store them in the fridge indefinitely. The cold only severly slows the yeasties, it doesn't stop them completely.

As for the bottles, you can re-use old crown cap beer bottles if you have a capper, or swing top bottles (Think Grolsch beer). You can also re-use plastic PET bottles, but they can be hard to get the odor of the previous soda out of there (Especially a Cola or ROOT BEER).

John