Project Ginger Beer
Today I embarked on the mission of brewing ginger beer!
This escapade came about mostly by chance. I say chance but actually I am fully aware of the power modern-day recommender systems much like YouTube uses. I was kindly introduced by YouTube to the following recipe for brewing ginger beer.
I will update this project post with the latest developments in my ginger brewing process. There will be no publication bias, if it fails I will still show my failure. If the resulting mixture kills me, then I will ensure someone updates it with a warning about not following my process.
The Ginger Bug
The first step is creating the “ginger bug”: a mixture of ginger, sugar and water designed to stimulate the growth of the yeast that naturally occurs on root ginger.
My ginger bug
This process is quite similar to the one I use to create a sourdough yeast for pizza. That one is simply a mixture of flour and water, apparently the carbohydrates in flour are sufficient food for the yeast that also lives inside the flour.
Bottling Time
After creating the ginger bug apparently it was time to bottle after about 2-3 days. I got a bit sidetracked (I also didn’t buy lemons in time…) and so bottling came approximately 5 days after starting the bug. Hopefully it’s something that gets better with age.
The next step was to boil up a large amount of water, ginger and sugar in a pot for 10 minutes, and then let it cool. After it cooled I added some (maybe half) of the ginger bug into the mixture and the juice of a lemon.
When I was making the large mixture I actually blended ginger, so I was left with a ginger paste which wouldn’t remove the ginger if I used a sieve. Thanks to my creative thinking I used a Vietnamse coffee filter which was perfect! I placed it in some large bottles and poured the mixture through. It removed lots of the fine ginger but left enough sediment through to make the mixture look authentic somehow.
Creative bottling
This morning concluded the first overnight session of the bottled ginger. It should be fermenting away and producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. The real test was to “burp” the beer. I quickly opened the bottles and to my satisfaction a loud pop ensued! This is a great sign that fermentation is underway. I will leave this process going maybe for around 4-6 days, burping daily, then will move them to the fridge.
Fermenting away nicely
The Final Product
After some high-pressure situations I finally got to drink the end product. The carbonation was extreme, if you don’t burp the bottle daily I think it’s fair to say you have a grenade sitting in your kitchen. The taste was great, it was very sweet due to all the sugar but you could tell there was an alcoholic aspect. It doesn’t feel very strong (maybe 2-3% from extensive alcohol-drinking experience) but that isn’t a problem, I brewed 8 litres after all.
The end product!
All-in-all I can highly recommend brewing ginger beer from home. It’s very easy and rewarding.