Make 8pts of Ginger Beer for less than 75p

chloe99_2

Do you remember having a ginger beer plant as a child?? !!! Great fun for children to make but also nice and old fashioned, very cheap and wholesome as you know exactly what's in it (which isn't a lot).

This recipe tastes like the canned stuff but without the fizz, ginger beer is especially good sipped throughout the day for people with poor digestion, sensitive stomach and morning sickness. So here goes:

Get a container with a loose fitting lid which can stand in your lounge (or other room at about 70 F) and which will hold a little over 1 pint. Add

1 sachet (6g) of ready yeast
2 tspn sugar
2 tspn powdered ginger (very cheap in plastic packets from Asian grocers)
1 pint of water at 70F / 21C - this feels tepid

Stir it up

Once a day for the next 7 days add 1 tspn sugar and 1 tspn ginger.

After 7 days get an 8 pint container (an enormous saucepan or some kind of giant mixing bowl will do) and add 2 pints of very hot water and dissolve into it 1.5 lb of sugar.

Add juice of 2 lemons (CAN ANYONE TELL US HOW MANY TABLESPOONS THIS IS FROM THE BOTTLE BECAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER?) and the strained liquid from your ginger beer plant. (Tip, if you don't shake/disturb it, you may just be able to pour the liquid off - otherwise use a muslin cloth if you've got one).

Add a further 5 pints of cold water and stir up well. Bottle up and leave to mature for a week (the flavour isn't the same if you drink it straight away). I store it in big empty drink bottles and keep one glass bottle in the fridge that I decant the stored ginger beer into.

THEN - start all over again by adding 1 pint 70F water to your sludge. And then adding 1 tspn ginger/1tsp sugar to it over the next 7 days. (No need for any more yeast)

At the end of every SECOND batch you can divide the sludge and give half to a friend - how money saving is that!!

Hope you enjoy it.

Lillibet_2

Wow! How long does it keep once bottled, any idea??
I'm having visions of a food & drink theme in next years Christmas presents!! ;D

chloe99_2

I've only just made my first batch so I don't know how long it keeps yet - maybe someone could do an experiement. I think it probably tastes even better after a bit more time. Don't know how we're going to drink it all though if I keep going at this rate

16011996

this sounds yum, gotta give it a go.

catznine

Thanks for this! I remember my Mum making lovely ginger beer many years ago, only she put hers into glass bottles (all that was available then) and that on occasions the gas used to build up and some of the bottles used to explode!! ;D This could be remedied by checking and loosening the caps or corks.

16011996

got the ingerdients, going to try it this weekend.

franky

how have you got on 160
was it easy to set up ?

16011996

all set up for second time, as youngest fell head first in to first lot (don't ask, long story.) looks ok upto now, will give you updates if you like.

chloe99_2

go on....I've got to ask ... tell us the "head first" story.. pleeaasse

16011996

little one, told endlessy to leave bucket alone, kept catching him peeking in, caught him again as he was sniffing it, shouted behind him and he went in head first with shock. lmao, funniest thing i seen in ages, but he not to happy, and now doesn't like ginger beer or mummy much anymore.

Lillibet_2

Searched everywhere on Fri & Sat fo ra lidded bucket to make it in, can't find one anywhere so haven't started mine yet :-/