How To Make Your Own Ginger Beer
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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As far as I’m concerned, springtime is Dark and Stormy season. As the rain pummels the ground here in the Pacific Northwest, a little window of blue sky nestled between two dark clouds in the neighboring distance makes me wish I were watching the rain fall from across a dark ocean, my little Caribbean fishing boat safe and sound under that warm patch of sunlight.
I’d fill a tall glass with ice and a generous dose of Gosling’s Black Seal rum from Bermuda, then reach into a wooden crate and withdraw a chilly little bottle of homemade ginger beer. I’d sip the cloudy mixture of liquid sunshine and sweet, dark nectar while I mindlessly squeezed a fresh lime into the glass. Feet: Up.
The problem with living in Oregon when this mood strikes is the absence of little wooden shacks that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I’ve been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to that little fishing boat on the sea.
You’re going to need a little bit of equipment to make ginger beer. It’s nothing too tricky (save for one tool) and most of it will last you a lifetime. So follow along, and remember: I promise you that this will be easy.
You have two options for carbonating your ginger beer: you can ferment it in the bottle, or you can carbonate on-the-fly with an iSi soda siphon. While the soda siphon is easier to use, for the sake of authenticity you might want your ginger beer fermented in the bottle.
If you’re going to go the iSi route, pick up a soda siphon and meet me at the next step. The rest of you, follow me.
The first thing on your list if you’re going to be brewing in the bottle is any number of 16-ounce “EZ” flip-top bottles. You can find these on the internet, at a craft store, or at any homebrewing supply place. Pick up a few to start.
Next, find some wine yeast. I use Red Star Premier Cuvee champagne yeast. It’s sturdy, it hasn’t failed me yet, and it’s inexpensive. I pay about a buck for a packet that will make five gallons of this stuff.
Okay, on to making the actual ginger beer.
The only tricky piece of equipment I’m going to suggest is a Juiceman Juice Extractor. Sure, you can use a grater, but you’re going to need to fine-strain your grated ginger to avoid any chunks in the final product. For the occasional home user, a Microplaner and some cheesecloth will be fine. But when making this by the case at Bel Ami, I always turn to my juice extractor. The $60 is worth it if you want to make a lot of this stuff.
Peel and juice your ginger. I find that 1½ ounces of fresh ginger tends to work out to roughly an ounce of ginger juice.
This base recipe will make one 16-ounce bottle of ginger beer, so multiply the proportions by the number of bottles you will be using. If you’re going the siphon route, note that the canister will hold 32 ounces of ginger beer. So double the batch, duh.
1 ounce ginger juice
2 ounces fresh lemon juice, finely strained
3 ounces simple syrup
10 ounces warm water (cold if using the soda siphon)
Mix ingredients together. If using a soda siphon, pour ingredients into canister, screw on lid, charge with CO2, shake once, and refrigerate. You’re done.
If you’re using bottles, fill each bottle with 16 ounces of your mixture and add roughly 25 granules of champagne yeast. Seal the cap securely, shake well, and store for 48 hours - no more, no less - in a warm, dark place. After 48 hours have passed, refrigerate immediately to halt the process.
After your bottled ginger beer is well chilled, mix up a Dark and Stormy, sit back, and imagine you’re drifting along with me on that creaky little boat.
Cheers, friends. Have a beautiful weekend.
24 Apr 2008 at 12:12 pm 1. Marleigh
Apparently you and I both had ginger beer on the brain today.
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve bookmarked a bunch of complicated recipes, so this one gives me hope. I’ll have to give it a try over the weekend.
24 Apr 2008 at 2:52 pm 2. Dood
Wow! Awesome recipe. I was puttering around with my homebrewing equipment the other day while enjoying a rum & ginger and the thought occurred to me, “I wonder how hard it is to do my own ginger brew…”
Now I know, NOT HARD AT ALL! Thanks for the great post!
24 Apr 2008 at 4:44 pm 3. Dominik MJ
Nice post…
Not a complete match, but close enough - I just posted a tread about rum…
I am quite interested in the recipe with yeast.
Does it has to be wine yeast (as in Dubai in a Islamic country, you guess it, there is no chance for home brewing)?
And how long will it last (if you don’t finish it before it spoils)?
I have always quite a challenge with mixtures with fresh lemon or lime juice…
And how does it taste, if you compare the yeasty version with the artificial carbonated one?
24 Apr 2008 at 8:01 pm 4. Jessica Hutchinson
Jeff, I am really glad you posted this because I am definitely going to make it one of these days!
24 Apr 2008 at 10:29 pm 5. jimmy
Where did I put that darn juiceman juicer?
25 Apr 2008 at 10:08 am 6. Doug Winship
Awesome! Thank you, Jeff.
I loves me my Moscow Mules, so this will be a definite experiment once Tennis season kicks into full gear.
Hmmm. Memo to self. Juiceman Juicer is now an officially good thing to ask for for birthday…
25 Apr 2008 at 12:41 pm 7. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Dominik
I’ve made ginger beer with regular bread yeast before. It was a long time ago, but I remember it working.
As far as how long the mixture will keep, I’ve had bottles that were two weeks old and they tasted great. So I guess I’m not sure. Keep everything refrigerated!
And as for the taste when using the soda siphon versus carbonating in the bottle, I find the bottle-conditioned ginger beer to be a little drier with a better texture, but the siphon does very well in a pinch.
25 Apr 2008 at 12:44 pm 8. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Another thought:
If you’d like to play with the recipe, here are some ingredients to try adding to your ginger beer:
25 Apr 2008 at 5:00 pm 9. Sean
There is the option of carbonating by the use of a CO2 tank and the patented Carbonator cap (no affiliation, your mileage may vary) for plastic soda bottles. It allows the non-alcoholic folks (also known as designated drivers) to drink a homemade beverage with the boozers too. There are many variations for smaller batches.
Peace,
Sean
26 Apr 2008 at 10:47 am 10. Maggie
I can’t wait to try this!
26 Apr 2008 at 11:49 am 11. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Maggie, we’ll be expecting a full report from you soon!
26 Apr 2008 at 7:03 pm 12. jimmy
Jeff, you are a genius. I am having the best Dark & Stormy(tm) ever. I muddled a few sprigs of thyme into my simple syrup before adding it to the recipe. Fantastic. Thanks.
27 Apr 2008 at 9:28 am 13. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Jimmy
I’m thrilled that you actually tried it! The addition of thyme is a brilliant move on your part. I’ll have to take a cue from you for my next batch…
Jeff
27 Apr 2008 at 7:58 pm 14. K
This is perhaps a silly question, but where’s a good warm and dark place to store the bottles? With Northern California weather, anywhere dark I can think of around the apartment is also cool by default. How warm ought the bottles be kept?
27 Apr 2008 at 8:18 pm 15. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
K
The cupboard under the sink should be just fine.
J
28 Apr 2008 at 8:05 am 16. garry
I have always thought about making my own Ginger Beer and now I have came across a great and well-described recipe. I’m going to give this a go at the weekend.
28 Apr 2008 at 3:19 pm 17. arawak
Ginger beer is not ginger beer without tartar.
You should check it out.
29 Apr 2008 at 12:48 am 18. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Huh! I will definitely try that in my next batch. Thanks for the heads-up!
29 Apr 2008 at 4:20 am 19. Craig
If you are into the history of Ginger beer and lacto-fermentation version using ginger beer plant, check out this presentation by Raj B Apte from
Matadero Creek Brewery.
29 Apr 2008 at 9:03 am 20. arawak
In the west indies we also used kola essence and sometimes when this was unavailable hibiscus or vanilla also has great effect, kola though is almost impossible to find in the U.S.
30 Apr 2008 at 1:54 pm 21. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Craig, thanks for that link, I’ve solidified my determination to add cream of tartar to my next batch after reading some of that history.
Again, great information. Thank you!
01 May 2008 at 10:13 am 22. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Everyone
I forgot to mention that ginger loses its flavor over time, so two weeks is probably the max you’re going to get out of a bottle before it starts to just taste like old carbonated lemonade.
More of an excuse to keep the stock updated, right?
01 May 2008 at 11:47 am 23. Brooke
Hi… Jeffrey. I love your website and was motivated this past weekend to make your ginger beer. I followed your directions, with the exception of doubling the batch and using 32 oz bottles and I forgot to strain my lemon juice. When I mixed a drink last night my beer wasn’t carbonated at all. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
01 May 2008 at 11:54 am 24. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Brooke
From my past failures, here’s everything that I can think of that you might have done wrong. Believe me, I’ve made every mistake on this list at some point:
1. Your mixture was either too hot, or too cold and you killed your yeast. Actually, I don’t even know if too much cold would kill it, since I keep my yeast in a fridge. So maybe the mix was too hot.
2. You didn’t use enough yeast. For a 32-ounce bottle, I’m going to say, right off the top of my head… 1/8 tsp should be about right?
3. You didn’t get a good seal on the bottle. You’ve got to make sure whatever cap you’re using is on there good and tight, because you need that carbonation to stay in the bottle until it’s time to open.
4. You didn’t store it in a warm enough, dark enough place. I heard light kills yeast, so I always cover my bottles with a black apron, I don’t know how important that is. But what I always make sure to do is keep the bottles on a warm shelf indoors for 48 hours during the fermentation process.
That’s all I can think of right now, Brook. I hope it helps.
01 May 2008 at 1:36 pm 25. Brooke
Thanks so much for the reply. I am going to try again this weekend… utilizing your helpful tips, of course. And I will let you know how it is.
01 May 2008 at 4:01 pm 26. Jac
That’s “leaky” little boat…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ELTEnNOTub4
05 May 2008 at 9:23 am 27. Tiare
This recipe looks good to me. I haven`t tried it with a soda siphon before..would like to try!
Thanks for explaning why the shelf/fridge life of Ginger is only 2 weeks.
Cheers!
08 May 2008 at 4:19 am 28. Julie
when i was a little girl we always had ginger beer to drink. But my grand mother always used left over ginger beer to make the next brew. Does anybody know why she did this ? i am going to try this recipe at the weekend and seee if it taste’s as good.
08 May 2008 at 5:44 am 29. Craig
Julie,
Traditionally “Ginger beer” wasn’t just brewer’s yeast and sugar. It was from something called “Ginger beer plant” that was a bacteria/yeast mother. A big glob of goo that was fed and maintained like yogurt, sour dough starter or vinegar. If you are curious, check out this link: http://www2.parc.com/emdl/members/apte/GingerBeer.pdf Review page #11
Ginger beer traditionally was a living thing, a transformation of a solution by organisms. It appears that it was not only tasty but good for the gut containing beneficial bacteria.