Ginger Beer Recipe

To make Ginger beer you need to make the culture or "bug" that grows the beer first.

To make the bug

Ingredients

1 tsp of Organic powered Ginger or 1 tbsp or fresh minced organic Ginger

1 tsp of Raw Organic Sugar

1/2 of a tsp of Organic Dried Yeast

1 cup of warm water (body warmth is enough)

Method

Mix the water, sugar and yeast together in a jar stirring well to combine. Add the ginger and place a cloth over the top secured with a rubber band or twine to keep insects and dirt out, then place the starter bug somewhere you can keep an eye on it.

It takes 7 days for the bug to grow; you need to feed the bug each day with a tsp of sugar and 1/2 a tsp of yeast. It will fizz and give off bubbles, this shows that it is working.

After the 7 days you can begin to make the Ginger Beer

Ingredients

The juice with the ginger beer bug

4 cups of Raw Organic Sugar

3 Liters of Fresh Pure Water (Not tap water)

1/2 a cup of Pure Organic Lemon Juice

1 Large Food Safe Container

Method

Dissolve the 4 cups of raw sugar in a saucepan with about 4 cups of water heating it just enough for the sugar to dissolve, then remove it from the heat, and add the rest of the cold water, and allow it to cool then add the lemon juice.

Strain the culture or bug liquid through several thicknesses of cheesecloth tied over the top of a food safe container, allowing all the liquid to drain through leaving the sediment in the cheesecloth. Then add the bug liquid into the sugar lemon mixture, stirring to combine.

The place the ginger beer into clean and sterilized screw top bottles We find the easiest method is to wash the bottles, then rinse them and the half fill them with clean water with a 1/2 tsp of baking soda (bicarbonate soda) added to each bottle, place the lid on and shake the bottle to remove any soap residues etc, then rinse them in pure fresh water.

They then should be placed submerged with their caps off, in a pot of water and boiled for at least 10 minutes.

Fill the bottles with a funnel and ladle that are also sterilized, leaving about 4or 5cm (1/3in) of gap between surface of the liquid and the bottle top for expansion.

Put the shrew tops on just slightly firm not tight.

Leave the bottles in a cool place (not warm) to mature for 3 to 5 days.

You can check the progress after 2 days by loosening off 1 cap and seeing if the pressure is building up too much, give it a taste test and see if its right for you, if there is a lot of pressure from the escaping gasses, loosening all the tops to relieve the pressure then tightening them again.

After 3 to 5 days the beer can be transferred to the refrigerator, but first relieve the pressure by undoing the tops, and then tighten the tops again.