Comments on: How To Make Your Own Ginger Beer

By: Siggy

Siggy — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:48:40 +0000

Well I’ve been making my own ginger beer for a few weeks now and here are my observations. Cloves round out the flavor and give it the “real” ginger ale flavor, about 1 clove per liter does it. Tried cinnamon, didn’t do much at all. Black pepper, I’m still undecided on it. Limes are better than lemons. Crushed allspice is interesting but weak flavored. Adding a few teaspoons of sediment from a recent batch instead of yeast seems to work better; Less yeasty flavor, quicker fermentation and you can still get fermentation with large amounts of ginger added. I think a sort of natural selection that favors strains that are tolerant of ginger takes place. The initial batch that I made I put a lot of ginger in (3″ of sediment in a 3 liter bottle) and had to dilute it into 2 bottles to get fermentation going, adjusting sugar and lemon juice back to original proportions. After a few batches using sediment from the previous batch instead of yeast I found I can use a lot of ginger and still have fermentation. I like it spicier than most though. It makes for an excellent Dark & Stormy with 7 year old Flor de Caña Rum from Nicaragua.

By: Chas

Chas — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:45:29 +0000

I like this recipe. I used to make Ginger Beer 5 gallons at a time for a restaurant I ran. This recipe is very close to how I made it. A cheaper way to do it without the bottles is to use Mason Jars. The only real difference when I made it was we added a little citric acid. When I make it at home, I like to add a little brown sugar sometimes. Give it a neat, warm kind of flavor.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:24:09 +0000

I’ve made a few batches of this now, so first- thank you. Couple questions if you have a minute… First, I got tons of carbonation, so much that it takes several minutes of just cracking the seal and letting some out, then letting it settle, then repeat until I can open it without losing most of it. Is there some technique to get around this? I think the amount of sediment (including added spices) makes it fizz more and I’ve tried filtering through coffee filters, but the sediment clogs them up very quickly. Is filtering a good idea and if so is there a better way?

By: Siggy

Siggy — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:41:54 +0000

Started making ginger beer here in Costa Rica a couple weeks ago when I realized I had ginger growing on my property. I found a recipe very similar to this one on a different site. My fist batch I just peeled and cut the ginger into slices and put it in a blender with the lemon and sugar and filled with water and blended till the sugar dissolved filled this along with bakers yeast into cleaned 2.5 liter pop bottles ( almost impossible to explode) and the fermentation took 2 days till it got the bottles firm. After that refrigerated and strained the ginger out, added another Tsp of sugar to keep the yeast fed and left the bottles out another day til they firmed up and refrigerated again, turned out great. My observations are the yeasty flavor reduces considerably after refrigeration and open the bottles slowly to allow excess carbonation to escape (otherwise it’ll be all over the place). Brewing a batch now with some cloves thrown in and added the sediment from the last batch instead of yeast. Hoping it’ll work better than the dormant stuff.

By: Usthen

Usthen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:06:26 +0000

gonna try out with fruit kefir yeast and spice, ll let know

By: kristin

kristin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:48:27 +0000

I made this tonight, and it is amazing! I used an iSi twist and sparkle to carbonate. The first batch was a little too lemony, so I added a few more oz of simple syrup to the second batch – perfect!

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:17:11 +0000

Finally got around to making this a couple of weeks ago. Was way, way, WAY too lemony for my taste. Carbonation was just right, and the ginger burn in my throat was absolutely magnificent.

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:45:51 +0000

Jim,
I just made a batch of ginger beer at my house this last week and i boiled my ginger as well. However all of the containers I used were either stainless steel or glass.

The reason for boiling the ginger is to pasteurize it and thus prevent wild yeast or fungus to enter the mix. If you can find some glass pop-top bottles those will work best, and make sure you use a good sterilizer. You can find that in a place that sells home brewing equipment.

By: Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Jeffrey Morgenthaler — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:53:18 +0000

Try not boiling your ginger, Jim.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:52:19 +0000

I’ve made a number of batches and its been great. However, the last three batches have tasted and smelled of plastic and I’m not sure why.

After boiling my water ginger and spices all is well, then a few hours after my yeast has been added, the batch has a plastic chemical smell to it. At first I thought it was the plastic pitcher I used hold the brew after boiling, or the plastic bottles I was using for botteling. This didn’t make sense because they were the same containers I had used to create good batches earlier. I ended up replacing both the pitcher and bottles with glass just in case, but to no avail.

My current thought is that I began putting a cinnamon stick into my brew a few batches ago and that may be reacting poorly with the yeast.

Any thoughts out there?

By: Betty Weiss

Betty Weiss — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:47:26 +0000

Funny that you mention you’re in Oregon, where you have to make your own ginger beer. I just came from Corvallis, Oregon, where I enjoyed wonderful ginger beer (made like yours with champagne yeast) at a dinner catered by Intaba’s FireWorks Restaurant.

I asked for her recipe and hope to try it soon at home. My usual bottled brew is Bundaberg Ginger Beer from Australia.

By: Ricky

Ricky — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:48:20 +0000

Killer ginger beer. It has a really nice bite to it. Lana, my ginger beer turned pink as well, but after I siphoned and cooled it, the color corrected.

By: Kipp

Kipp — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:36:13 +0000

Thanks for the recipe, I made the original and 2 variations one was sweetened with a lavender honey syrup and a crystalized ginger, lime zest, and clove syrup. The second variation was sweetened with a vanilla and cinnamon syrup and lavender honey syrup. I have had several friends and patrons say it the best dark and stormy they have ever had. Thanks again Jeffery for the great recipe.

By: Lana

Lana — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:42:15 +0000

I think figured it out! It must have turned pink because I mixed the ginger and lemon juice and left it sitting while the syrup was cooling down. Ginger naturally turns light pink when pickled, so lemon juice must have ‘pickled’ the ginger juice. Soon will see if it’s affected the taste.

By: Lana

Lana — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:29:12 +0000

I have followed the recipe precisely, and when all ingredients except for yeast were mixed together, it turned pink. I thought it was because my juice was in a red bowl, but I see Kristy had the experience. I wonder why that is. Here’s what it looks like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70248205@N00/5972571143/in/photostream

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:23:40 +0000

I’ve wondered the same as Chris — can you just use soda water for the carbonation instead of using still water? Soda Siphons don’t seem ideal and, as most everyone here can attest, the yeast is always hit-or-miss.

Pete — How did the Soda Stream work out? The company warns against using anything but plain water (adding your flavorings afterward) and using anything but water voids the warranty. I was still thinking of trying it :-) so I’m wondering what your experience was.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:10:37 +0000

I have a question about brewing with the intent of children. My kids love Cock and Bull™ Ginger beer. We would love to create one similiar as they are hard to find in our area. My main question is how do you create without the worry about alcohol? Is that the soda siphon thing? How dies this recipe compare to Cock and Bull™?

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:48:21 +0000

I just wanted to say this article has been incredibly helpful. I’ve never been happy with the store-bought brands so decided to do something about it. I’ve tried it with the Soda Stream and the fermented method and prefer the latter. Over the last 6 batches or so I’ve made a few tweaks that I think make it as close to perfection as possible:

- Spice up your simple syrup. I use a 1:1 ration of demerara sugar to water, about a tablespoon of dried allspice berries, half a cinnamon stick broken in half, 4-5 star anise pods, a dozen or so cloves, and about a 1/4 cup of black peppercorns. Simmer for 30 minutes, let cool slightly and strain. Makes a much more complex ginger beer in the end.

- I find the recipe as-is to be too acidic. Just personal preference, but I cut the amount of citrus in half now.

- I like mixing fresh lemon and lime juice (works out to be about 1 ounce each of lemon and lime juice per liter of ginger beer).

I’m still trying to master the amount of yeast per bottle. My first couple of tries came out way too frothy– the bottles were explosive. Right now I’m using about 1/16 ts of Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast. If anyone has any tips on other brands or techniques to get it “just right” please post!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:24:41 +0000

Question:

Have you tried making ginger beer with carbonated water instead of still water?

By: Dominic

Dominic — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:18:36 +0000

I agree with Mr. Morgenthaler that you should just make ginger beer and then pour rum into it. that being said, if you are dead set on producing a “hard” version of ginger beer, the best way to do this would be to make and ferment a sugar mash, then replace the 10 oz warm water with your mash. You should not have to add yeast to carbonate, as there should be enough yeast cells left in the mash to get the job done.

By: Bob Q

Bob Q — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:28:27 +0000

I’m going to do a taste test with this next to the one I’ve always used, which substitutes your simple Syrup for some plain old sugar and has some small bits of pear in it. That one has always been good, but it’s never really had that intense ginger taste I’m looking for. Thanks for the ideas.

By: Ty

Ty — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:13:18 +0000

I had the pleasure of visiting Clyde Common and meeting Jeffrey on my last visit to Portland. He even presented a sample of his own brew to me straight up — fantastic all around, and the drinks were a treat. The Autumn Leaves was a favorite.

I’ve been brewing my own g-beer for several months now, and wanted to share some tips/experiences.

1) Use the big 2 liter growlers avail from brew store. I get a quad batch in each bottle and more consistent carbonation.

2) Use a Bottle Buddy bottle warmer wrapped around the shoulder of the 2 liter growler. It keeps the bottle toasty and the yeast working hard. Bad luck with 1 liter growlers as it seems to get them too hot.

3) Maltose Yeast Starter — Get some light maltose from your local brew store and mix in a teaspoon of it to 1/4c of 95 degree water (let sit for 15 mins) to kick start the yeast before adding to your bottle. My brother (the microbiology/culinary student) came up with the idea.

Using the above method I’ve had some batches finish with velvety, champagne-like carbonation in as little as 24 hours.

For juicing my ginger, I picked up a used Champion juicer on Craigslist for $40 — 2 lbs of ginger juiced in <5 mins — need I say more?

Lastly I did a batch a couple weeks ago substituting half the lemon juice with fresh blood orange juice. Wonderful berry-citrus notes in that bottle; best with a Moscow Mule.

Thanks again to Jeffrey for posting this great recipe. Moscow Mule and Dark & Stormy season is upon us in Colorado.

By: Milea

Milea — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:20:43 +0000

Hi! This is my first time home brewing, and I was just wondering about this batch I just made that didn’t get fizzy… at all? My bottles were larger than 16 oz. and I had to do some tricky calculating, which could have something to do with it I suppose. But I’m just wondering in general what would cause a batch of this stuff to not get fizzy? Did it still work, or did something go very wrong?

Also, even if after 48 hours my brew is not fizzy and very separated, should I still refrigerate it?

Thanks! Awesome recipe btw, will be trying it again soon :)

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 21:02:56 +0000

First of all Great Recipe. I just made my first batch (using the siphon method) and it is delicious.
I made one modification since I do not have a juicer, I simply blended all the ingredients (whole, peeled ginger) in the blender and strained. It worded and seemed way easier the microplaning or grating it.

Thanks for the recipe.

By: kd

kd — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:26:21 +0000

Reporting back from 208…

I’m still alive and luckily juicing the whole lemon did not make it bitter. It smelled like strong lemonade when I opened the bottle, but tasted like the best ginger beer I’ve had in a long time. I shed a tear as I sipped from the last bottle. I am looking for more ginger heat from my beer though & wondered if that would come from increasing the amount of ginger or seeking out a specific type of ginger?