Homemade ginger ale

Step 5 Biological carbonation

Fill your 2L bottle to an inch or two below the top with fresh water. Screw the cap on tightly, and shake until everything is dispersed. Be certain to flush the sugar from the nooks at the bottom of the bottle. The picture below shows everything in the bottle before it's been shaken.

Once you're finished, place the bottle in a warm-ish place (I set mine on top of the fridge, towards the back) and let it steep. Check on it every few hours by squeezing the bottle. When you can no longer push in on the bottle (i.e., it's become pressurized), take the bottle and put it in the fridge. This will slow down the fermentation and keep things from exploding. It never takes more than a day or so for me, but depending on how you vary the ingredients, things make take a little longer.

Note: I am quite serious about the exploding bit. If you leave the bottle just sitting in a warm place for a few days, it will likely explode and send sugary water all over the room. So keep an eye on it!

Comments

[goicoechea]

Hi, I did the recipe two days ago - 48 hours. Nothing seems to be happening. I'm wondering if I put too little yeast in. Did you mean 1/4 teaspoon? It says tsp...but it seems like very little. Should it be tablespoon? Is there different kinds of yeast? I used Red Star Active Dry Yeast. I put three lemons in - could the acidity kill the yeast. It is 70 F inside. What did I do wrong?

[Jodex]

Yes, it really is 1/4 teaspoon. It is not much, but otherwise it would taste yeasty. Are you sure that your water was warm enough when you added the yeast? It should be a bit warmer than your hand.

[goicoechea]

Huh! You know I think perhaps you forgot to mention that. It just says fresh water.

But that makes sense, the yeast we have here in Sweden has to be in about 40C to activate.

Thanks!

[maxpower49]

is this alcoholic

[CrazeexGood]

all soda technically has alcohol, non alcoholic beer has a higher content than this though. Actually bread has alcohol in it too.

[Noodle93]

Technically yes because it contains yeast which reacts with the sugar to create alcohol and C02, but in reality, the alcohol content is very very very low. Made this last weekend, absolutely brilliant! I'm doing another today in a plastic fermenter with a airlock and going to see what it's like.

[maxpower49]

so you could drink a couple glasses and feel perfectly fine

[mediaphage]

You could drink six bottles of it and feel fine, honestly.

[danlab]

I think that if you drank six bottles of this you wouldn't feel fine, but it wouldn't be because of the alcohol, it would be from drinking ridiculous amounts of amazing ginger ale.

[Noodle93]

Mine's sitting in the fermenter atm. But we used juiced ginger instead of the grated, because last time, it took a week to get the ginger shreds out of the grater! Should be done soon. Well, I have no idea really. We'll see :D

[rattyrain]

try using kind of large holes; it's ok if it isn't fully ground up (i.e., some strings) because you can strain it.

[mg0930mg]

How was it?

[Noodle93]

Um tasted tainted. But I think it was because it was a new keg. But I think the ginger has seeped in so it should taste like plastic. However, I'm more than sure that all of the sugar was used up (it stopped fermenting). Still adding sugar tasted ok, but a hint of something not so great. I'll try again eventually when i have time. But feel free to try it yourself.

[justme2]

This sounds really easy and I love Ginger Ale. Will give it a try, but wondering about the sediment in the bottom as seen in pic 4 & 5. Do you strain this into another container before using?

[poonanii]

Typically when making alcohol the sediment will be filtered out and to make it nice and clear use a clairifying agent.