Ginger Beer

Ginger beer anyone?

Right, continuing with the theme of  self-sustenance, I shall talk about my ginger beer journey today! So the story began back in July. While in Jakarta I got myself my favourite Bundaberg ginger beer. And I was wondering if I can actually make my own, since it's so difficult to get it (can't find it here in my hometown). I searched some recipe and I decided to follow Joshua Weissman's recipe on YouTube!

My ginger bug (do not throw away)
Oh yes cover the bottle with a cloth/tissue paper and rubber band, don't cover it tight!

So to make your ginger beer, you need to make a ginger bug first. Basically it's like the starter of your ginger beer. It is a very straightforward and easy step. 500ml of water, two tablespoons of ginger and sugar each. Add the ginger and sugar every 24 hours for the next 3 days or so. A bit of warning, as a true blue Southeast Asian I just use our agaration method. I don't follow exact measurements hah.

My ginger bug is aliiiive

After 3 days the ginger bug turns to be very bubbly and kinda frothy. It smells very yeasty too. Reminds me of beer. After the ginger bug is ready we'll start to make our "ginger tea". Which is basically 2 litres of water, ginger and sugar. Once again, I use agaration for everything. I added extra sugar as compared to the recipe as I find it not sweet enough heh. Then cool the ginger tea. This is very important! If the tea is still hot, or even warm, you might kill the yeast in the ginger bug.

My ginger tea. Remember to cool it down!

Once it's cooled down, add half a cup of ginger bug. Close the bottle cap, and leave it in room temperature, away from sunlight, for about 3 days. It is also important to open your bottle once every 24 hours, if not the bottle might explode! My ginger beer was ready in about 72 hours. 

Leave it out for 3 days, opening once every 24 hours

You know it's ready when the ginger beer is fizzy and there's a gas buildup in the bottle. AKA the bottle pops when you open it. Then cool it in the fridge, and it's ready!

Personally I think this is a great and easy recipe to follow (thanks Joshua!). However there are some variations that might affect your results. Which I will cover in the next post haha. Alright I guess that's all from me now. I hope you can give thisva try and make your own ginger beer too! See you tomorrow.