Make Ginger Ale
Even though you can look at the shelves in any supermarket and find various brands of ginger ale, making your own creates an entirely different (and remarkably better) taste. You can make a 2-liter bottle of fresh ginger ale straight from the ginger as long as you have the right ingredients.
Contents
Steps
Old-Fashioned Method
- Gather your ingredients. Here's what you'll need to make ginger ale using the old-fashioned method:
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) freshly grated ginger root
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.6 g) fresh granular baker's yeast
- Cold, pure water
- Add 1 cup of sugar to a bottle through a dry funnel. Leave the funnel in place until all the steps are complete and you are ready to cap the bottle.
- Measure out 1/4 teaspoon of fresh granular active baker's yeast. Use any brand that you might buy in the health food store.
- Add the yeast through the funnel into the bottle. Shake the bottle to disperse the yeast grains into the sugar granules.
- Grate the ginger root on a fine cutting grater to produce 2 tablespoons of grated root. Use the side of the grater with the finest teeth.
- Place the grated ginger in a measuring cup.
- Juice a whole lemon. Lemon is important to keep the pH level low and ward off unwanted microorganisms. If you don't like lemon, try grapefruit juice instead.
- Add the juice of a whole lemon to the grated ginger.
- Stir the lemon juice and grated ginger to form a slurry, then add it to the bottle. It may stick in the funnel. Don't worry, the next steps will wash it into the bottle.
- Rinse the container that held the lemon juice and grated ginger with fresh clean water. Add the rinsing water to the bottle.
- Cap and shake the bottle. This helps activate the yeast and gets the carbonation process going.
- Reopen and fill the bottle to the neck with fresh, cool, clean water. Leave about an inch of head space, then securely screw the cap down to seal. The head space is necessary to leave room for gasses that will be produced during fermentation. Invert the bottle repeatedly to thoroughly dissolve sugar.
- Check the bottom of the bottle because the sugar tends to stick in little pockets there. The ginger root will not dissolve, of course.
- Place the ginger ale in a warm location for 24 to 48 hours. The warmth is necessary for the yeast to be able to ferment the brew. But don't forget about it! Too long and the alcohol concentration starts to increase and the taste changes greatly.
- Test to see if carbonation is complete by squeezing the bottle forcefully with your thumb. If it dents in as in the picture, it is not ready; the fermentation produces carbon dioxide (like in sodas and seltzers) that will inflate the bottle and make it difficult to squeeze.
- Once the bottle feels hard to a forceful squeeze, usually after only 24-48 hours, place in the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least overnight to thoroughly chill before opening. Crack the lid off the cool ginger ale just a little to release the pressure slowly. You do not want a ginger ale fountain!
On The Stove-Top
- Gather your ingredients. Here's what you'll need to make ginger ale using the stove-top method:
- 1 1/2 ounces finely grated fresh ginger
- 3/4 c (6 ounces) sugar
- 7 1/2 cups (60 ounces) filtered water
- 1/8 teaspoon (.5 g) active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Grab a large, 2-quart saucepan. Over medium-high heat, add the grated ginger, sugar, and 1/2 cup (4 oz) water together. Stir your concoction until the sugar has dissolved completely. This will take a few minutes, so be patient.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Place it to the side, cover and allow to steep for 1 hour. Resist the urge to mess with it -- right now your concoction needs uninterrupted time.
- Strain your syrup. The easiest way to do this will be to pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer set directly over the bowl. Press down on the bits to get all of the juice out of the mixture. Once you've got as much liquid out as possible, throw the bowl in an ice bath or set in the refrigerator until the concoction reaches room temperature -- 68 to 72°F (20 to 22°C).
- Get your funnel ready. Place it on top of a clean, plastic 2-liter bottle and pour in the syrup. Then, add the yeast, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups of water (56 oz). Twist the cap on the bottle until it's securely on and gently shake to mix everything together. Leave it alone and at room temperature for 48 hours.
- But no longer! If you leave it out too long, the taste will start to become too bitter as the yeast ferments.
- Open 'er up. Pop open the top and check for the right amount of carbonation. If there seems to be enough, throw that baby in the fridge. If not, wait a little longer.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, opening the bottle at least once a day to let out excess carbonation. Otherwise pressure will build up and you risk it exploding.
Non-Alcoholic Version
- Gather your ingredients. Here's what you'll need to make non-alcoholic ginger ale:
- 1 cup (200 g) peeled, finely chopped ginger
- 2 cups (450 ml) water
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 1 cup (225 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (115 ml) club soda (per glass)
- A few drops of lime juice
- Lime wedges (for garnish)
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the ginger, which should be peeled and finely chopped. Reduce heat to medium low and let the ginger sit in the simmering water for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Any longer than that and it might be too gingery.
- Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the ginger pieces. The water should be completely infused with the ginger taste, so you don't need them.
- In a separate saucepan, make the simple syrup. Dissolve 1 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup of boiling water. When it's not grainy anymore, it's ready. Set aside.
- Mix 1/2 cup of ginger water with 1/3 cup of the simple syrup and 1/2 cup of club soda. This is the amount needed for each glass. Add a few drops of fresh lime juice and a lime wedge to each drink. Serve chilled and enjoy!
Tips
- You may, of course, adjust the quantities of sugar and/or extract to taste. Note that the lemon called for in step seven is optional but recommended to discourage unwanted bacteria. If you want a spicier drink, you can increase the amount of grated ginger.
- For an interesting variation, simmer a piece of well-bruised root ginger in water for an hour as an alternative method of extracting the flavor. This will give the water a golden/brownish tint. Start with about 20 g of ginger root per 2 litres of water and increase/decrease to taste.
- Fermentation has been used by mankind for thousands of years for raising bread, fermenting wine and brewing beer. Carbon dioxide causes bread to rise and gives effervescent drinks their bubbles. This action of yeast on sugar is used to carbonate beverages, as in the addition of bubbles to champagne.
- Make sure the fermenting vessels are cleaned before use. There are a wide variety of powdered sanitizers that can be used.
- You can substitute artificial sweeteners for most of the sugar as long as you still use 2-3 tablespoons (28-42 grams) of real sugar; this is all that is actually required for the yeast to carbonate the beverage.
- Filter the ginger ale through a strainer if you find floating pieces of ginger objectionable. (If you don’t, these will pour out into the first glass or two and, since most of the ginger sinks to the bottom, again in the last glass or so. Rinse the bottle out immediately after serving the last of the batch.
- To personalize your ginger ale, design your own label and attach it to the bottle as you place it with pride in the center of your dinner table.
Warnings
- When purchasing your yeast, do not buy "brewer's yeast," as this is typically inactive yeast left over from the brewing process. It is dead yeast, and will not work. For best results, buy yeast from a beer and wine maker's supply store.
- Do not leave the finished ginger ale in a warm place any longer than the time it takes for the bottle to feel hard. Leaving it at room temperature longer than two days, especially in the summer when the temperature is high, can generate enough pressure to explode the bottle! Once it is thoroughly chilled, there is little danger of explosion.
- The first two recipes will produce alcohol in the finished product. The quantity of alcohol in the finished product over a 2- to 3-day fermentation period is going to be minuscule; however, if left out for several days (see further warnings), it will continue to ferment until all of the sugar is gone, and the alcohol content will be considerably higher. It will taste nothing like ginger ale. Note also that local laws pertaining to the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages may apply. (For example, some "dry" areas maintain zero tolerance for alcohol in beverages.)
Things You'll Need
Old-Fashioned Method
- Clean 2-liter plastic soft drink bottle with cap
- Funnel
- Grater (preferably with fine "cutting" teeth)
- Measuring cup
- Measuring utensils
On the Stove-Top
- Clean 2-liter plastic soft drink bottle with cap
- Funnel
- Grater (preferably with fine "cutting" teeth)
- Measuring cup
- Measuring utensils
- Strainer
- Saucepan
Non-Alcoholic Version
- Measuring cup
- Spoon
- Saucepan
- Strainer
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