Ginger Beer, ahh the best fizzy drink going. Well that’s how I feel, now I want to share the recipe that I think is the very best.
This has been an experiment for me and I hope that if you try it you will agree that has been successful.
I will give alternatives to give quicker results which I will go over in a later post.
I love the idea of using just four ingredients. Its so simple and is so natural too.
The ‘plant’ is a simple natural yeast culture grow in a glass jar from the ginger.
You will need the following to make the Ginger Beer.
2lbs of sugar
1 piece of fresh ginger about the size of your thumb
1 to 2 fresh lemon
1 sterilised jar the hold the ‘plant’
3 sterilised recycled 2litre ‘pop’ bottles
Milton sterilizing tablets or liquid to sterilise the jar and recycled plastic ‘pop’ bottles
Muslin cloth to strain the ‘plant’
So to start the Ginger Beer ‘plant’ you will need the following.
A piece of fresh ginger (a couple of inches in size)
2 teaspoons sugar
cooled boiled water (warm rather than cold)
1 sterilised glass jar and cover
Stage 1
Grate the fresh ginger and add to the sterilised jar
Add the sugar
Add the cooled water
Keep in a warm place but if possible out of direct sunlight.
Stage 2
Stir a teaspoon of sugar into the jar everyday for a week
It should start to fizz after a couple of days and will smell lovely, if it does not then it is a case of starting again, none of mine failed but it can happen.
Stage 3
At the end of the week the ginger should be strained through some muslin, collect the corners of the muslin and squeeze out the residue, put back into a sterilised jar and repeat the previous stage again for one more week.
Stage 4
Heat one pint of water and 1lb 8oz sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
Add five more pints of cold water
Strain the ginger as before, then add to the water and sugar mixture.
Add the juice of 1 or 2 Lemons
Grate another piece of ginger and strain through muslin and add to the water and sugar.
Taste the mixture at this point you can add more ginger if you want it a bit more fiery.
Bottle in sterilised plastic ‘pop’ bottles.
When the bottles have gone hard put in the fridge.
Its now ready to drink!
If you want to make another batch, save the half ginger in the muslin mix with another grated piece of ginger and put in a sterilised jar and add 2 teaspoons of sugar and cooled boiled water and the whole process begins again.
Really like the look of your ginger beer ercipe.
Query..re stage 3 a bit unclear ,do you strain the ginger and then put it back in the same jar or a different one.Do you keep adding the sugar for a second week
Thanks
victoria
Hi Victoria
Yes, the strained ginger in a clean jar is fed for one more week and is used to make the ginger beer, the residue ginger in the muslin can be halved. One half is to becomes the next plant by adding another piece of ginger grated and a spoon of sugar daily.
What you end up with at this stage should be
1 jar of strained ginger plant to make the batch in a week this is sugar’d daily
1 jar of half of the residue in the muslin plus added cooled boiled water, grated piece of ginger and then sugar’ daily for a week then strained and sugar’d daily for another week (this becomes the plant for the second batch)
1 half of the residue in the muslin to dispose of or give to a friend to try.
Hope this helps make it clearer for you, if you have anymore problems please come back to me.
Regards
Pam