Recipe Collection: Ginger Beer

Written by Anna Drozdova

This Caribbean-style soft drink uses a ‘ginger bug’ to start fermentation. I took my receipt from ‘Wild Fermentation’ by Sandor Katz, who took it from Sally Fallon’s ‘Nourishing Traditions.’ I have to say that I have and love both of these books.

This ginger beer is a soft drink, fermented just enough to create carbonation but not enough to contain alcohol. I love ginger beer. In fact, I love anything gingery. I make fantastic ginger biscuits with sprouted flour, ginger-apple drinks, and ginger buns. If that is not enough, I always use ginger, among other ingredients, to season my meat. I would probably eat it if it were not so spicy.

Ginger Beer

This recipe will make approximately 1 gallon (4 liters) of ginger beer.

Ingredients: 

• 3 inches (8 cm) of fresh ginger root
• 1 ½ cups (400 ml) rapadura or any other type of sweetener you normally use
• 50 ml (around 7 times 2 teaspoons or less) white sugar (don’t get scared this is just to start the bug)
• 2 lemons
• Filtered water

Directions:

Step 1: Start the bug by adding 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of grated ginger (unpeeled) and 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of white sugar to 1 cup (250 ml) of filtered water.

Step 2: Stir the mixture well and cover it with cheesecloth to allow air circulation while keeping the flies out. Put it somewhere warm. I usually keep it on my kitchen counter, not far from the stove.

Step 3: Add 2 tsp each of ginger and white sugar daily and stir until you can see bubbles on the surface.

The bubbles start to appear anywhere from 2 days up to a week. In summer, mine started on the second day. It might take around 3 – 5 days now that it is getting chillier. Sally recommends in her book to throw away the whole thing after 7 days if it does not start to bubble. Actually, this is what I had to do with my first batch as in the attempt to avoid the much dreaded white sugar, I used brown sugar and also peeled the ginger. I guess we all learn from our mistakes.

Whenever you have the bubbles, you can make your ginger beer. However, if you are not yet ready, e.g., do not have ginger or lemons or rapadura that you ordered online a week ago and which have still not arrived (as it was in my case), then just keep feeding the bug by adding the same amounts of sugar and ginger every day or every other day.

Step 4: When you are ready to make the ginger beer, boil 2 quarts (2 liters) of filtered water with all rapadura and 2 – 6 inches (5 – 15 cm) grated ginger root for 15 minutes.

The amount of ginger root depends on how strong you want it to be. I would recommend starting with the smallest amount if you are not sure.  When it has cooled, strain the ginger, add juice from 2 lemons, and the strained ginger bug.  If you want to make the next butch straight away, reserve a few tablespoons of the active bug as a starter and replenish it with additional water, ginger root, and sugar. Adding the starter speeds up the process. Add enough water to make 1 gallon (4 liters). Mix everything well and bottle up. I use Ikea bottles with stoppers. They are just over 1 liter, pretty cheap, and fit perfectly into my fridge door.  Leave bottles to ferment for about 2 weeks in a warm place.

Step 5: Before drinking the ginger beer, put it into the fridge to cool down.

Despite Sandor Katz’s book saying, “When you open ginger beer, be prepared with a glass, since carbonation can be strong…”  I never noticed that with my ginger beer. There is carbonation, but certainly not enough to rush the liquid out of the bottle. But then again, this might depend on the length you leave it to ferment and the water quality.

My 1.9-year-old son loves this drink. It is sweet and sour and is very refreshing and thirst-quenching.

If you like ginger beer, have you ever considered making it yourself?