Ginger Beer
Sharp, spicy, and refreshing. Real ginger beer — not the syrupy stuff from the store. This has a bite.
Time: 2-3 days (plus ginger bug time if starting from scratch) · Yield: About 1 quart
Ingredients
- ●4 cups filtered water
- ●1/4 cup sugar (white or raw cane)
- ●3 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely grated
- ●Juice of 1 lemon
- ●1/4 cup active ginger bug liquid
- ●Pinch of salt
Method
- In a saucepan, combine 1 cup of the water with the sugar and grated ginger. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves — don't boil. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Strain the ginger syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean quart jar. Add the remaining 3 cups of water, lemon juice, salt, and ginger bug liquid. Stir well.
- Pour into swing-top bottles (or plastic bottles — see note below), leaving 1-2 inches of headspace.
- Seal tightly and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- Check carbonation daily by carefully opening a bottle over the sink. When it's fizzy, transfer all bottles to the fridge to slow fermentation.
Note: **Carbonation safety:** Fermentation produces CO2, and sealed bottles build pressure. Use bottles designed for carbonated beverages (swing-top glass bottles or recycled commercial soda bottles). Check daily. A plastic bottle trick: fill one plastic bottle alongside your glass bottles and squeeze it — when the plastic bottle is rock-hard, everything is carbonated. For a stronger ginger flavor, increase the fresh ginger to 1/4 cup. The sugar is food for the bacteria — most of it gets consumed during fermentation. The final drink is far less sweet than what you started with.
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