Brewing Hard Ginger Ale

Probiotic booze? See…we can have it all!

I’ve been a big fan of brewing my own ginger beer for some time, mostly in an effort to kick my coke addiction. (The soda, not … ya know).

I really love my fizzy drinks, but they don’t love me. I blame them for my weight gain and the way my teeth hurt sometimes. I know home made ginger beer isn’t exactly an entirely healthy alternative, but it’s definitely healthieeeer and a step in the right direction.

The normal ginger beer I make is just a non-alcoholic soda. If you’re more interested in that, you can check it out below.

If you read the Apple Ginger Beer story and are curious about how it turned out, the answer is… not bad! It’s a lot less apply than I’d expected, and it’s not as fizzy as I would have liked. But it has a strong ginger kick in the throat, which is something I live for.

I’ve actually started to enjoy drinking the ginger bug straight, rather than diluting it for secondary fermentation. Plus the bug itself is starting to carbonate, so it’s really getting delicious.

Once I’ve run out of the previous apple-ginger brew, I’m going to start drinking from the bug full-time.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, the ginger bug is the “mother” fermentation for ginger beer. I usually take a sample from the bug and use it to make the beer. However the bug is turning out to be more delicious than the beer, so why not just drink it straight? It’s absolutely loaded with probiotics after all.

What I’ve been doing it just pouring the bug into a tall glass through a strainer. Then just empty the ginger from the strainer back into the bug. Make sure to top the bug back up with water and a spoonful of sugar.

Every few days don’t forget to throw in a few extra pieces of ginger to feed the bug and keep it alive.

Going Hard

While writing my Apple Ginger Beer story, I mentioned steps you could take if you wanted it to turn alcoholic. Some of you sent me urgent messages asking for guidance on how you could ensure that it turned alcoholic, and quickly!

You delicious alcoholics you.

Well, straight away I jumped online and looked for ‘champaign yeast’, the kind I mentioned in my story.

I couldn’t find it.

Instead I found something called ‘foaming wine yeast’ and thought…good enough!

I bought three packets just to be on the safe side and dove right in.

Making the Beer

Just like with regular ginger beer, I cut up ginger pieces into all different sizes. Large pieces I scored with a knife, others I cut into medium and tiny pieces.

I added those to my trusty fermentation jar with a cup of sugar and spring water.

Off to the side I emptied a packet of yeast into some warm water in a glass and set it aside for an hour. An hour later I checked back and it was gently foaming on top.

It’s alive!!

I emptied the contents into the jar and stirred it into the mix.

Days Later…

At first, all I thought I’d made was a stinking yeast mess. I was secretly sure that I’d been sent a packet of dirt from a sneaky snake-oil salesman, and was feeling glum.

Days into the fermentation though I checked and things were going really well! The mix was beginning to smell like beer and had been active day and night.

Even a little too active.

The lid never stayed on, but far worse than that was the flies. The mix attracted an enormous amount of tiny flies, maybe fruit flies.

My live-in parter withstands a lot of nonsense in the kitchen, but this was a step too far. I was ordered to find a solution. So I’ve done just that.

Go big or go home

I emptied a second packet of the yeast into the glass from earlier and set it aside for an hour once again.

I cut up some ginger, prepared some sugar and water, and threw it all into a large fermentation jar that seals properly. This one has an automatic rubber burping value and a lid that screws down securely.

I stirred the ginger, sugar and water together before adding the previous batch and new yeast.

So now the old mix has been added to a new mix, all inside a giant glass fermenting jar. With its secure lid, it hasn’t attracted any flies so far.

It’s currently very early in the fermentation stage, and I’m hoping the new yeasty bacterias make friends with the stronger older ones.

The Plan

The plan is to now let it sit on the bench for 2 to 3 weeks to fully ferment. I’ll know when it’s done because it’ll stop bubbling and reduce to a slow simmer.

Once that’s happened, I’ll drain the ginger and let the ale continue to ferment on its own for another 3 to 4 weeks.

After that I’ll bottle it and put it into the fridge for yet another 4 weeks.

Once it’s done I should have a delicious alcoholic ginger ale. I’m not going to bother with secondary fermentation, I actually really prefer my booze to go down smoothly.

So stay tuned! I’ll be sure to update you as the adventure continues…

In the meantime, fancy another of my fermentation quests?