homemade ginger ale recipe
Feb. 20th, 2009 07:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
found here - http://eatmakeread.com/category/best-of-2008/ (many other good recipes there too!)
Homemade Ginger Ale
from Imbibe
2 cups unpeeled, washed, fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
6 cups water
8 cups club soda or sparkling water, chilled
1
Process ginger chunks in food processor or blender until finely chopped. Place in a large stock pot.
2
Add sugar and water and stir. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer of medium-low heat and cook for about an hour until a rich syrup is created.
3
Strain the syrup twice through cheese cloth or sieve into a large jar or pitcher. Set aside to cool.
4
Fill a glass with ice. Add 1/3 cup of ginger syrup and top it off with club soda or sparkling water. Add a squeeze of lime if you’d like. So good!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 02:07 pm (UTC)1. I don't put the ginger in a food processor. I cut it by hand into small chunks for two reasons.
I can air dry them put them in a jar and eat them as ginger candy, so no waste and really, ginger candy...so yum. My coworkers especially love this.
or
I can pull them out, mush them up a bit and use them in something else (like honey ginger chicken!), or remake more syrup from them. I find I can get about two-three batches from one good piece of ginger root cut up.
2. I use flavoured seltzer water. It is especially nice with the tangerine, the raspberry or the vanilla flavours. I think it tasts funny with the cherry one though, but that's me ;)
2.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 02:09 pm (UTC)I can't wait to experiment with this recipe. :-)
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 04:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 02:11 pm (UTC)This website has not only the recipe but pictures for every step...
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIES
clean 2 liter plastic soft drink bottle with cap (not glass: explosions are dangerous.)
funnel
Grater (preferably with fine "cutting" teeth
1 cup measuring cup
1/4 tsp and 1 Tbl measuring spoons cane (table) sugar [sucrose] (1 cup)
Freshly grated ginger root (1 1/2-2 tablespoons)
Juice of one lemon (optional)
fresh granular baker's yeast (1/4 teaspoon)
cold fresh pure water
HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS HOME MADE GINGER ALE
1) Lay it out all the listed ingredients and equipment.
2) Use fresh ginger root (purchasable at most large supermarkets, or Asian food shops).
3) Add 1 cup sugar to the 2 liter bottle with a dry funnel. (Leave the funnel in place until you are ready to cap the bottle.)
NOTE: Many have asked about bottling ginger ale in glass bottles. I do not recommend it because ginger ale is a very aggressive fermenter, producing high pressure fairly rapidly. Plastic bottles can be felt to judge pressure. Glass cannot. Tardy refrigeration can lead to explosions. Exploding plastic bottles are messy. Exploding glass botles are dangerous...
4) Measure out 1/4th teaspoon fresh granular active baker's yeast. (Fleishman's etc. We buy ours in bulk from the health food store.)
5) Add yeast through funnel into the bottle, shake to disperse the yeast grains into the sugar granules.
6) Grate the ginger root on a fine "cutting" grater to produce 1 1/2 Tablespoon of grated root. (Look at the large picture of the grater. This style of fine "cutting" teeth works MUCH better than the style with the sharp pointy piece of metal which crumble food. The design is also less likely to shred your knuckles. I have had to look far and wide to find a fine "cutting" grater. Mine says "Stainless Steel Denmark" on its handle...)
7) Place grated ginger in the cup measure
8) Juice a whole lemon. (Lemon is optional, giving a little tartness to the ginger ale. Try it both ways to see which you prefer. I like them both.)
9) Add the juice of a whole lemon to the grated ginger.
10) Stir the lemon juice and grated ginger to form a slurry.
11) Add the slurry of lemon juice and grated ginger to the bottle. (It may stick in the funnel. Don't worry, the next step will wash it into the bottle.
12) Rinse containers with fresh clean water. Add the rinsings to the bottle, cap and shake to distribute.
13) Fill the bottle to the neck with fresh cool clean water, leaving about an inch of head space, securely screw cap down to seal. Invert repeatedly to thoroughly dissolve sugar. (The ginger root will not dissolve, of course.)
14) Place in a warm location for 24 to 48 hours. (Do not leave at room temperature longer than necessary to feel "hard." The excess pressure may cause an eruption when you open it, or even explode the bottle!)
15) Test to see if carbonation is complete by squeezing the bottle forcefully with your thumb. If it dents in as in the picture, it is not ready.
16) Once the bottle feels hard to a forceful squeeze, usually only 24-48 hours, place in the refrigerator. Before opening, refrigerate at least overnight to thoroughly chill. Crack the lid of the thoroughly chilled ginger ale just a little to release the pressure slowly. You do not want a ginger ale fountain!
NOTE: Do not leave the finished ginger ale in a warm place any longer than the time it takes for the bottle to feel hard. Leaving it at room temperature longer than two days, especially in the summer when the temperature is high, can generate enough pressure to explode the bottle! (Speaking from experience here...) Once it is thoroughly chilled, there is little danger of explosion.
17) Filter the ginger ale through a strainer if you find floating pieces of ginger objectionable. These are found in the first glass or two poured, and, since most of the ginger sinks to the bottom, the last glass or so may require filtering too. Rinse the bottle out immediately after serving the last of the batch.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 02:15 pm (UTC)(that doesn't seem alcoholic...is it?)
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 03:12 pm (UTC)A WORD ABOUT THE ALCOHOL IN HOME MADE ROOT BEER (OR GINGER ALE ): I have received numerous inquiries about whether there might be alcohol in this home made soft drink. The answer is yes, but... We have tested in our lab the alcoholic content which results from the fermentation of this root beer and found it to be between 0.35 and 0.5 %. Comparing this to the 6% in many beers, it would require a person to drink about a gallon and a half of this root beer to be equivalent to one 12 ounce beer. I would call this amount of alcohol negligible, but for persons with metabolic problems who cannot metabolize alcohol properly, or religious prohibition against any alcohol, consumption should be limited or avoided. However, there are many high school biology labs who have made this beverage without any problems. If you are one of these, I am interested to hear about your conclusions.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 03:16 pm (UTC)ginger beer?
:-)
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 03:22 pm (UTC)Oh, and if you want to make ginger beer, wine yeast is better than baker's yeast as it has a sweet content.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 03:57 pm (UTC)I would also recommend getting Fructose instead of using sugar. Sucros doesn't really ferment well. It can leave a slightly bitter taste. You can pick up Fructose powder at Trader Joes or Wegmans as well as any Healthway/Natural Foods/Organic markets. If you get it from a Brewing supply shop, its also called "Bottling Sugar"
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 04:01 pm (UTC)awesome advice! I might just try this...
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 04:14 pm (UTC)I am thinking about making a batch of my "Purple Stuff" as soon as I can get my hands on some good quality local Honey. Think Manischewitz made with Honey. YUMMY stuff. If you want, you could come over and help/watch?
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 05:07 pm (UTC)I will let you know when I get everything together. I do a version of "Barat's Concord Pyment" that is on this page: http://members.cox.net/spursley/page3.htm
Yes....15 pounds of honey and 90 oz of Concord Grape Concentrate....Think Welches Frozen Concentrate... for 5 gallons of Mead. OK...TECHNICALLY a Pyment...Honey and Grape Juice....but who's counting.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 03:50 pm (UTC)I would also recommend using an ale yeast from a home brewing suply shop, as it will have a less "Yeasty" flavor.
I do home brewing of wine and Meade (Honey instead of grapes), and using the correct yeast makes a WORLD of difference in the final product.