Make your own ginger beer plant.

[craig.r]

Hello, I have just been given an early fathers day prezzie. Its a little book that has a recipe to make the ginger beer plant.

Here it is.

1/2 oz dried yeast
1/2 pint water
sugar
ground ginger
juice of 2 lemons


Put the yeast into a jar, add the water, 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ground ginger and mix well. Cover the jar with a lid or clingfilm. Each day for 7 days add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground ginger. Finally, strain the mixture, add the lemon juice to the liquid and reserve the sediment. The liquid is now ready to use. For future use, keep the sediment and divide equally between 2 jars. To each jar add 1/2 pint water, 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ginger and proceed the process all over again, as previously.

i have just copied what the book says so good luck everyone.

[eccentric_emma]

oh wow i've been looking at recipes for this online. may try it when i am guaranteed to be staying in one place!

let us know how it goes.

[CyberPaddy66]

Fingers Crossed!

[lazyspice]

My nan used to do this when I was a kid - kept it in a bucket in the larder! It was the best gingerbeer I've ever tasted - the shop bought stuff has no kick whatsoever! On hot days we used to have gingerbeer floats

[ReadingTina]

But this method is similar to the sourdough method, where the medium catches so to speak the yeasts and bacteria in its own environment. I very much doubt that this method produces the real ginger beer plant described by Ward. Basicly i do believe that you could be able and lucky to get a knobbly plant out of this method. Or did you ever see those rubber like chrystals? (i am trying both methods atm, really interesting if there is any difference in taste or fizziness)

[Milims]

I've just made then plant. After 7 days of feeding what do I do next? How much water do I use? How many bottles will I need? (may have to drink lots of wine to accommodate this ) Can I use only glass bottles? Do I just divide the "plant" amongst the bottles and add water? HELP!!!!

[lee the pea]

HA HA HA MILIMS..... IVE JUST MADE A GBP NOW ALSO AND THESE ARE ALL THE QUESTIONS I NEEDED TO ASK.
ITS EXCITING ISNT IT? NICE TO KNOW IM NOT THE ONLY MAD PERSON MAKING GB AT THIS TIME IN THE MORNING
GOOD LUCK

[TStarr]

Hi all - this recipe looks v similar to one I started with before moving to a 'real' GBP -

After feeding the GBP for a week - strain the sediment/plant off the liquid - keeping both the liquid and the solids.

The solids go back into your 'feeding' jar to start the cycle again - remembering to 'half' the residue - if it gets too large (sorry never sussed what that meant - when is it large enough - reckon if your could weigh it or estimate how much you have when makes a nice fast, bubbly brew, then try and keep it at that size - it took mine 2 brews then I kept it at that size)

The liquid should be pored into a 1 gallon or 5 litre bottle - that has been sterilised. Some form of air lock to let the gasses out is required - winemaking demijohn etc is perfect.

Boil up 3 pints of water
2 teaspoons of grated Ginger root + zest of 1 lemon - in muslin bag whilst boil up (I only added 1 teaspoon of ginger powder a day whilst feeding - bit of trial and error to get the amount of zing u like in your G Beer)
Dissolve in 1/2 kg of sugar - brown granulated gives best colour - unrefined if possible
Take off heat - add 4 pints of cold water
1/2 teaspoon of Tartar (apparently takes edge of end product, making it more easily drunk)

WHEN COOL - below 30 degrees - else will kill your yeast - add to the GB liquid - apply air lock - leave for 5 days or so.

When tastes a little sweeter than u want to drink - syphon off into bottles - I use 2 litre pepsi/coke plastic bottles - leave 2 inches or so at top - close and check every day until they become hard to squeeze - when very firm - put in fridge to slow down fermentation, and drink within week. I have let some of fizz out if not drinking it fast - it soon builds up again - but leave too long and flavour changes as alcohol builds.

Think thats all I did - tried it 6 or 7 times before moving to a real GBP - surprised myself as to how good it was - personally found a gallon every week too much to get rid of! - use bakers yeast, rather than brewers yeast, as apparently gives more fizz - remember to sterilize everything before u use it, spoons. bottles, sieves etc (baby bottle sanitizer, or spray bottles of Domestos surface cleaner seem to work) - hardest part is probably getting your sugar/ginger amounts right to your taste - remember a teaspoon is a level teaspoon - and try and make a note of wht you used so you can tweak it next time. Bound to have missed something - hope someone will correct me. Have fun.

[Milims]

I've just bottled myfirst ginger beer - 7 days and I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Milims]

Well I'm into the second week of ginger beer making - and I have 4 times the amount of plant that I started with - I can't find people who want it! I have a horrid feeling that next week I'll end up with such a big plant that i wil take over the kithen like a triffid! Tastes good tho! Tomorow is an expedition to the chinese supermarket for more ginger!

[rjt88]

I've been making my first batch over the past few weeks using the recipes and instructions above and cracked it open last night - I quite enjoyed it, but all my friends said it was far too gingery for them. Is this normal? Have I accidentally been using superginger, or do my friends simply need to butch up? Or something else?