HOMEMADE GINGER BEER
To get the full aromatic flush and fizzy burn of fresh ginger, you have to make your own ginger beer. It is amazingly simple. There's no sterilization needed, and this method is forgiving - you can actually play about with the levels and ingredients. Moreover, the resulting ginger beer blows anything else you've ever had straight out of contention. Take a pinch of packaged yeast and something acidic for the yeast to thrive in (like lemon or lime juice or cream of tartar) along with some sugar syrup and grated ginger, lob it all in a plastic bottle of distilled or spring water, shake it up and stash it somewhere dark and warm for two days. After two days you stop the fermentation by chilling it in the fridge. That's it. The result is a cloudy, dry mixer with pinprick carbonation and a straight-up goose of fresh ginger. That is thrilling come dark 'n' stormy hour, not just for its authenticity and superior flavor but also because you can now brag about your homemade ginger beer.
Provided by Toby Cecchini
Categories non-alcoholic drinks
Number Of Ingredients 6
Steps:
- Take a 1.5-liter plastic bottle of spring water and empty it into a clean pitcher. Use some of it to make simple syrup by stirring 1/2 pound sugar into 1 cup hot water until fully dissolved.
- In a large measuring cup, mix all ingredients and stir well. Funnel back into the plastic bottle and cap tightly. Store in a warm, dark place for 24 to 48 hours. (I put mine inside a box, to contain it if it should blow.) The top of the bottle will expand and become tight. Check it and very slowly release the pressure if it's looking groaningly tight. Some people ferment it with no top, or with the top on loosely, to allow gas to escape. I suppose if you wanted to get fancy you could spend $1.50 on a fermentation lock and stop worrying about it. If the temperature is quite warm, above 80F, a single day may be sufficient. The longer you let it ferment, the drier the final mix will be.
- After 48 hours, refrigerate it to stop the fermentation. Once chilled, you can strain out the pulp and dead yeast, which will have made a sediment on the bottom. Makes 1 liter and will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 134, UnsaturatedFat 0 grams, Carbohydrate 36 grams, Fat 0 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 0 grams, SaturatedFat 0 grams, Sodium 33 milligrams, Sugar 32 grams
EASY PEASY GINGER BEER
Steps:
- Grate the ginger on a coarse grater; you can leave the skin on if you like. Put the ginger with its pulpy juice in to a bowl and sprinkle in your muscovado sugar.
- Remove the rind from 2 of your lemons with a vegetable peeler, add to the bowl, and slightly bash and squash with something heavy like a rolling pin or a pestle. Just do this for 10 seconds, to mix up the flavours.
- Squeeze the juice from all 3 lemons and add most of it to the bowl. Pour in the fizzy water.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes and then taste. You may feel that the lemons are slightly too sour, therefore add a little more sugar; if it's slightly too sweet, add a little more lemon juice.
- Pass the ginger beer through a coarse sieve in to a large jug and add lots of ice and some sprigs of mint.
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