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Buckley, MI 49620
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Ginger beer was the popular homemade drink back in the days before pre-made syrups and soda jerks.
How To Make Homemade Ginger Brew
Ginger brew in Grolsch style bottle. The design of this bottle allows for excessive pressure to release before the bottle explodes.
Make home made soda just like grandma used to make. Before commercial soda drinks like coco-cola, people made their own soda at home. Ginger brew is fun and easy to make right at home! Restart an old tradition and bring the family together to make ginger soda without the artificial colors, dyes, or flavorings.
With this yeast culture you can make a great tasting carbonated drink in about a week’s time. It’s make up seems to be a cross between water kefir and kombucha tea, as it has crystal grains and also grows a translucent layer over the top of the liquid solution. The recipe is simple to make with easy to find ingredients of ground fresh or dried ginger, cane sugar, and lemons.
Ginger Brew makes a very nice vegan replacement to commercial soda drinks that contain HFS. You can very the sugar to taste and amount of fizz desired.
Items Needed:
- Glass jar, food grade w/ plastic top
- Organic sugar or cane juice
- Organic ginger root, fresh grated or dried
- Fresh organic lemons, do not use bottled lemon juice or your brew will be flat and could kill the cultures.
- For Stage II, you'll need amber beer bottles and caps or some food grade plastic bottles.
STAGE I
The recipe for making your own homemade ginger brew is simple and easy. To start, add contents of package to 500ml good quality water (no chlorinated water). Then add 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp dried or fresh grated organic ginger to this solution. Stir mixture and cover with lid, slightly cracked open. Keep in a warm place for 24 hours.
The recipe continues by feeding the ginger brew starter with 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp ginger each day for the next 7 days. This time is needed to build up the yeast and allow a concentrate of ginger flavor. During this time you should see the starter bubble and fizz. You may have to add some extra water. After 7 days, strain off the liquid into a clean container set aside for Stage II. Keep the solid matter...this is your ginger starter for the next round!
To start the next batch just add the ginger starter into a clean jar and start the process of Stage I again. If you wish to take a break between rounds, just feed the starter a little sugar every few days.
STAGE II
Now that you have made the ginger flavor concentrate, it's time to bottle up the brew. Dissolve 300 to 500g sugar into 500 ml of hot water. To this add 75 ml of fresh lemon juice.
Note: Do not use bottled lemon juice or liquid lemon as this will ruin the batch and kill the living yeast. Dilute this mixture with 2 liters of cold water. You now have around 3000ml of concentrate. Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, add 500 ml of the ginger concentrate liquid from Stage I.
Mix everything well.
Using a funnel, pour the liquid into your bottles and cap tightly. Store your bottled brew in a cardboard box or cooler for 3 to 5 days, until beverage is carbonated and ready to drink. The warmer the temperature the faster the finish time of the bottle beverage will be. You’ll have to pull a bottle and sample it to see if the carbonation is to your liking. The sugar can be varied to taste. We find 300g of sugar works the best! This recipe makes about a 12 pack of brew. If you wish to make a bigger batch, simply make more of the initial ginger concentrate. Once the bottled beverage has carbonated, place bottles in the refrigerator to stop/slow down the yeast production.
Take 2 tbsp of the old sediment from the bottom (the ginger beer yeast cultures are within this sediment and any layers forming on top) and start the process over again with 500ml of water in a clean jar. You can split the ginger brew cultures and have more containers making concentrate if you like, too. Two ginger cultures can make 24 12oz bottles in around 1 1/2 weeks. Date your bottles and consume within 2 weeks to a month. You can just maintain the ginger beer yeast each day, if you like, and not bottle every week.
1. We find that 300 ml of sugar works the best to produce a good finished product, yet, does not allow the bottle to overflow when opened. Of course you can use more sugar if you like
2. For safety, keep your bottled brew in a cardboard box or ice chest during secondary fermentation in case of an exploding bottles.
3. Best to invest in amber beer bottles or Grolsch type bottles. This allows for better safety, control, and there is no danger
from reusing old plastic containers. The beer or Grolsch style bottle can be cleaned and reused again and again.
4. It will take about 3 to 5 days for the bottled ginger brew to produce carbonation and ready to refrigerate. This will depend a lot on the temperate of the area. After 2 or 3 days, pull a bottle and open it to see how much fizz is being produced and allow more sitting time if needed. Note: Chill tester bottle before opening. Date and refrigerate once carbonation
is to your liking.
Difficulty Level 2
Caring for this culture is easy and only requires a bit of sugar and ginger each day for 7 days. After which the start is mixed into a recipe and bottled. The ginger brew is held at room temperature for another 3 to 5 days and then refrigerated. Comes with active live cultures.
Level 2 difficulty because of the bottling aspect only.
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Organic Cultures
General Delivery
Buckley, MI 49620
United States
ph: 1+ 231.631.1012