Bit by the Ginger Bug
Once you get the hang of making ginger beer, you can experiment with flavor variations.
Easy
Use this as a cocktail mixer in your next Moscow Mule.
Ingredients
- ¼ pound fresh ginger, washed, peeled and chopped
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 2 liters water
- Yeast, either active dry or brewer’s, such as champagne
Instructions
Boil water and add ginger and sugar, then stir. Let boil for 10 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool sufficiently (I often let it cool overnight just to be safe). Once cooled, pour into a plastic screw-top bottle, leaving a third of the bottle empty for flavoring. Fruit juices like lemon, grapefruit or pineapple work well. Once you have your flavoring in, add a smidge of yeast (bread yeast works, but brewer’s yeast is the best. My favorite is champagne yeast). If using champagne yeast, add 1/32 teaspoon (it’s powerful stuff!). Shake and then place in a warm location. The ginger beer is ready when the bottle is firm, in two to three days. Place the bottle in the refrigerator.
When you are ready to open the ginger beer, do it outside, as the fermentation may cause it to blast and bubble out in a very messy way.
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