How to make good old-fashioned ginger beer of your own using natural fermentation - such a fun and easy process and it is THE most refreshing and delicious drink from summer! The traditional step-by-step method is also written out here in the description, and read below for extra notes on sugar/alcohol/etc!
Ginger beer recipe and method: Day 0 is establishing the bug, Days 1 - 6 is feeding it, and Day 7 is bottling and restarting the bug.
Day 0: add 2 cups of water, a few raisins and 2 teaspoons of sugar to a clean glass jar, and stir. Cover, and sit somewhere at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
Day 1: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
Day 2: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar
Day 3: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
Day 4: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar
Day 5: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
Day 6: feed it 2 teaspoons of sugar
Day 7 [one time only, the first time you reach Day 7]: drain off and discard the liquid, discard half the sediment, and add another 2 cups of water, another 2 teaspoons of sugar, stir in the retained sediment and then tomorrow you go back to Day 1.
Day 7 [normal, from every Day 7 except the very first]: dissolve 2 cups of sugar with 2 cups of boiling water in a large clean pot. Once dissolved, add 12 cups of cool water and then stir in the strained juice of 2 lemons. Strain your fermented ginger bug liquid into the mix, capturing and setting aside the sediment. Give the liquid all another good stir.
Wash your bottles well in hot soapy water, and rinse thoroughly. Bottle, adding a couple of raisins to each bottle if you wish. Fill the bottles a bit short of full, seal, and place somewhere safe at room temperature out of direct sunlight. These will be ready to be refrigerated and enjoyed in another week’s time. You do not continue to feed the bottled beer over this final week, but you may wish to monitor the pressure building up, and relieve some of it throughout the week, particularly as you become accustomed to the strength of your individual bug.
Still on Day 7, restart your bug: combining half the sediment with another two cups of water and another 2 teaspoons of sugar, cover and tomorrow the cycle begins again at Day 1.
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A few extra notes:
🌏 NZ baking measurement conversions: edmondscooking.co.nz/how-tos/...
🌿 Ginger - as mentioned in the video, you could use freshly grated-ginger instead, but you will likely find a different method better suited to that.
🧂 Sugar - feeding it with plain white sugar is good, and your bug is just eating it, but those two cups of sugar added on bottling day could be a fancier type (rapadura, coconut sugar): just keep an eye on the effect it has on the strength of your bottled brew!
🥄 Stirring - some people don’t worry about stirring when feeding the bug, and if you do stir, try to avoid getting too much powder onto the walls of the jar.
🍻 Alcohol - this would be considered a 'non-alcoholic' beverage here in New Zealand, with just minimal traces being produced as part of the natural fermentation, a traditional part of our culture that has been enjoyed for generations! You could try making an alcoholic version by using the right yeasts, adding more sugar, and likely changing the brewing process [find a different method to follow!] - but you wouldn't want to go confusing the two! If your local culture or religion is strict about even negligible levels of alcohol, you might like to do more research on the topic before making your own, eg: happybellyfish.com/2020/09/02... and could always use a hydrometer/alcoholometer if concerned.
🎯 Recipe - I’ve made different ginger beers over the years, and this has quickly become my favourite method. I like how few ingredients there are, that it does not rely on artificial carbonation, or special “ginger beer” yeasts or anything like that. The method is modified from a recipe shared by “The Country Trading Co.”, a family-owned supply store here in New Zealand that sell all sorts of useful products for people who want to live a simple and self-reliant life (and with whom - as of today - we have an affiliate link for!) They sell many wonderful fermenting supplies, and not just here in New Zealand - they also have a USA store, and look to be able to ship to Australia and the UK too! If you use this link to check them out: countrytradingco.com/pages/ho... and end up liking anything enough to buy it, we get a sales commission on anything you may purchase at no extra cost to you, so win/win if this video has inspired you to get into fermenting at all! 💖
29 апр 2021
