Homebrew Ginger Beer

FusionCat's Note:

I've developed this recipe over a long period of time, but it's all flexible... start with this recipe, and develop it on your own. Variations abound. NOTE: I always make this recipe in 2 Litre plastic water bottles. Some people say you shouldn't do this, but I have no idea why - always works perfectly for me.

• Total Time: 73 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 72 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 2.0 Litres

• 1 whole gingerroot
• ½ teaspoon yeast
• ¾ cup sugar
• 15 cloves
• ¼ teaspoon anise

Directions:

1. Take about a half-cup of warm water, and mix with sugar. Then sprinkle yeast on top. Let sit.
2. Boil about 2 litres of water.
3. Peel the ginger root and cut into smaller pieces.
4. When water has been brought to a boil, add the ginger root, cloves, and anise. I like to put the cloves in a small tea ball so i can remove them easily later.
5. Boil for 30 minutes. Then remove ginger root and cloves.
6. Dissolve 3/4 - 1 cup of sugar in the brew.
7. Let the brew cool until it is tepid (ie won't kill the yeast). Then add they yeast mixture to it.
8. Now pour the mixture into a 2 litre plastic bottle. Top up with water. Make sure you leave between 5-8cm of air in the top. Play with this amount -- you'll find you get more pressure if you leave the air inches.
9. Now leave in a warmish place for about 1 day. Watch it carefully the first time - wait until the pressure has built up, then refrigerate.
10. Leave in the fridge for at least 2 days. If you leave it in longer, you'll get more pressure -- I usually leave it at least 2 weeks, but it can stay in there for 2 months. Still, it will continue to gain pressure in the refrigerator.
11. When you open the bottle, be very CAREFUL! The pressure should be very high by this time. It's best to do it over the sink or outside, and do NOT aim at anyone! If you cover the cap while you open it, it will muffle the "pop". Instead, don't cover the top of the cap, but only touch the sides of the cap while you open it. In this way, it will fire like a gun.
12. If you've got good pressure, it will bubble out like champagne, so have glasses on hand ot pour right away!

Reviews

[Nikoma]

Just opened this tonight after 2 weeks in the fridge. Mine is more like a light ginger champagne then a strong ginger beer with bite. I wasn't really sure what was called for by "1 whole ginger root" since they come in many sizes. I used a 10oz whole root and I'll definately double that next time given how little kick mine had. After reading the reviews I opened mine very slowly. Took about 10 minutes of slowly releasing the preasure, but we didn't spill any!

[RubberDucky AU]

We only batched this on Wednesday (it's Friday night now) and forgot it was in the warm place til this morn, then cautiously put it in the fridge. The coke bottle was no longer coke bottle shaped!!! Chilled then opened tonight, it is extremely tangy and drew gasps with the ginger fumes as we took our first sips. Kids really like it. I preferred it with ice, to dilute it down a bit. I think the whole novelty of making their own ginger beer won the kids. Young son delighted that he could produce one very huge burp afterwards! Not sure if I will make this again, seems to be an enormous amount of loss when the lid flies off, but certainly visually a lot of fun. I don't know if it changed things but we couldn't buy anise here so I used what Zaar says is a substitute, ie fennel. Possibly that's what made it stronger.

[just ami]

Excellent!!! Every year a friend of mine host a Jamaican Independence day Party. I made this ginger beer for the base of our Dark & Stormys. The taste was superb, and the visual effect of opening the bottles was quite a show (defiantly open the outside). I made a triple batch added the juice of a lemon and also left the whole lemon in while I boiled. Next year I would like to bottle in champagne bottles for the full effect.