Ginger Beer Plant source

That is quite alright dinnerstick because I am quite sure there are other who are interested. Well, in fact, I know there are others who are interested, because I have already been contacted by them. You stated that you did not think we would ever know the difference between water kefir and ginger beer plant, and I wanted to put that thought process to bed. I am a firm believer if you are going to provide education and information about a topic, then you should KNOW your topic.

I do enjoy your recipes. Thank you for sharing them.

mjhszig said:

Hey, not trying to ding ya, but Ive read a couple places that retro-culture is NOT selling genuine gbp, its actually water kefir grains....

which still makes a delicious fizzy drink....

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It's not that he's selling water kefir grains.... apparently he has combined the GBP with water kefir grains and created a whole new culture. This is NOT "retro" and certainly not GBP. The folks on the Yahoo groups site for ginger beer are familiar with this guy, and they abhor any messing about with the GBP.

Figured I would attempt to grow my own Gbp ,

Took some fresh ginger root, peeled it and diced it up real fine...

Used a small ball jar and put the diced ginger in it

Boiled up some tap water , we have alot of chlorine in the water here on long island... Let it sit to cool to room temp and added it to the ball jar... Filled it up bout three quarters of the way

Added a two or three teaspoons of suger...stirred it together...

Put the lid on it and shook it up to get oxygen into the mix

Every day for two weeks I would chop up another tablespoon or so of fresh ginger and add the suger and cover and shake ...

Used a piece of cotton sheeting and a rubberband to keep it covered and breathing .only used the lid to shake it up after each adding of ginger and sugar

It began to ferment on its own... Never smelling rotten or any signs of mold ... Developed a nice citrusy ginger scent...

After about three weeks fermentation seemed to slow.... Did some research and found that when the ferment reaches aprox 9% alcohol it will stop because thats it's high end threshold . Figured that it is now time to try to make some ginger ale with it..

The following was just an experiment to see what would happen

Took a 1 gal clear glass container and filled it up bout half way w water...

Used funnel with fine mesh wine filter screen and poured the Gbp mix fron my ball jar into it, then put the chopped ginger that did not go thru the filter back in the ball jar to continue the Gbp propagation ... Added cooled boiled water to the ball jar, a bit of sugar shook it and added cloth top to keep it going...

Back to the gallon I added:

Added bout half a cup of clover honey

1/2 cup lemon juice

Zest from 1 small orange, cause I had no
Lemon at that time

Few drops of vanilla extract

Bout. A thumbs worth of coarsely diced fresh peeled ginger root

Put all that into the container , put a lid on it and shook it up to mix the honey in well and oxygenate the mix.

Took off lid and added air lock and cork..

Checked next day and it was fermenting away...

Waited 3 days

Was still fermenting away

Used a few grolsh flip top bottles and a funnel w the same fine mesh screen and poured the mixture in... Made sure to shake it to get the sediment evenly distributed thru the liquid.before I filled the bottles

Let that set for three more days

On 4 th day popes a bottle and poured it on ice in a large glass

Was not bad... Carbonated nicely...

Just repeated that process using a ginger ale recipe I found online using a cup of honey to just short of a gallon of water, bottled it today and can't wait to try it.... With a few adjustments I am sure I will have a recipie I am happy with...

15 dollars for a teaspoon of Gbp is a bit steep... I think you can make it yourself... Worked well for me...

Try it ...

How is GBP different?

aguajamaica said:

How is GBP different?

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If you are asking me, I couldn't tell ya if there is a difference , I went on line and searched how to grow your own gbp, followed the instructions or recipe or however ya want to look at it, and it works just fine, still adjusting my recipes for flavor, but as far as a carbonated ginger ale soda it's on the money.... Will also be using it to ferment a mead in the near future... Try it out , you have nothing to loose .....