Alcoholic ginger beer

[fearwig]

So you're honoring the tradition of a ginger-rum cocktail drink by carbonating alcoholic ginger beer (soda) in the bottle instead of with CO2. Even though the rum drink is not any kind of beer, and is not carbonated with alcohol in it, but rather it is liquor mixed with ginger beer (which is force carbonated).

Moreover, the dark and stormy was probably invented by a tiki bar employee in a Jimmy Buffet shirt, not Bluebeard himself.

I mean you see why I'm groaning, right? I really don't care how you do it, I'm just pursuing the point on principle, it's really a very silly thing to say.

 

[Rambunctious]

Please do some homework, and stop trolling for an argument. Ginger beer is a centuries old beverage. A traditional ginger beer plant can be used to make this beverage. No it is not brewed in the traditional sense of beer with grains boiled for hours to extract the sugars and then fermented. But it is a fermented beverage that this thread has been devoted to its discussion. Not methods of carbonation or historic value or weather it is a beer or not. Discuss those elseware.


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[passedpawn]

Please keep it civil in here. I think all facets of ginger beer are interesting, including the history of it, and they are probably germane to the discussion.

BTW, does ginger beer taste like ginger? I never had it.

 

[passedpawn]

I just remembered, I did have that JuJu and liked it a lot. Is that the typical flavor of the drink?

 

[Rambunctious]

I am not sure what juju is but yes ginger beer is quite ginger flavored. My recipe listed earlier in this thread is my take on a traditional Jamaican recipe lots of ginger and citrus flavors. Semi sweet. 5-8% A.B.V.


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[rocketsan]

Im glad to hear about this. Now Im much more willing to start brewing. But does this keep the already carbonated bubbles there? Do they not die with the boiling?

My goal is to basically improve upon the Hollows and Fentimans ginger beer. Just make it stronger. Im seriously addicted to it. I could have three bottles in a row. But thats botanicly brewed. So I rather not force carbonate it.

But say I have a 10 liter batch that has been sitting for two weeks. And lost all sweetness. How much sugar should I add to revive the sweetness, before bottling? Should I add the same ammount as I did first: 500 grams?

I highly recommend reading the pasteurization thread on the cider page before you attempt this and injure yourself or others...


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[fearwig]

Please do some homework, and stop trolling for an argument. Ginger beer is a centuries old beverage. A traditional ginger beer plant can be used to make this beverage. No it is not brewed in the traditional sense of beer with grains boiled for hours to extract the sugars and then fermented. But it is a fermented beverage that this thread has been devoted to its discussion. Not methods of carbonation or historic value or weather it is a beer or not. Discuss those elseware.


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I am concerned that it sounds like you don't know what you're going to be doing here, and that could lead to exploding bottles.

I don't think there has ever been a "traditional" beverage that was bottled under pressure (from natural carbonation) and then pasteurized. Nor were there "traditional" refrigerators. So I strongly suggest you read some of my posts before you wind up with very untraditional glass shards in your body. This is a sugar-sweet drink, which means you have to stop fermentation in the bottle once you get the desired carbonation. If you don't, your bottle overcarbonates, and then it blows up.

If you reply with "can I just put some campden tablets in it" I am going to throw my arms up so hard they might fly off.

 

[fearwig]

Please keep it civil in here. I think all facets of ginger beer are interesting, including the history of it, and they are probably germane to the discussion.

BTW, does ginger beer taste like ginger? I never had it.

Ginger beer is a very very strong, spicy (usually sweeter) ginger ale. It is common in Jamaica. It is soda, though, not beer. It is absolutely force carbonated. If someone makes it without force carbonating it (I don't know who, maybe someone does, but almost certainly not in large-scale practice), they have to pasteurize or permanently refrigerate it when they reach the desired level of carbonation, or else they will have exploding bottles of glass. That's not good, unless you don't like to breathe or live or any of those crazy things.

 

[krackin]

I find yeast fermented ginger beer to be best dried out. I prefer my plant fermented ginger beer to be somewhat sweetened. Both are very good and very different and to which no comparison can be made. I recommend that anyone interested in ginger beer try both as time allows.

 

[guitarzan_1971]

Thanks for that info! I will be trying that mix. I have also seen where it goes well with Pims Cup.

 

[guitarzan_1971]

So I think my first ginger beer experiment is a wash. Fermentation is done and it is bitter, really bitter. I dont see how you could make this stuff dry. Its got a heavy alcohol content. I tried to backsweeten with stevia but it just doesnt taste good. Not sure what I did wrong or how I can fix it. Its a shame because it tasted really good about a week ago. The more it fermented the worse it got. It seems like the ginger is just too bitter sans somens9rt of sweetener.

 

[fearwig]

I made a pale ale with lots of ginger in it that was great, it's just not going to be "ginger beer" unless you make it very sweet.

If you add the ginger in the boil like a lot of people are suggesting instead of in secondary, you need a lot more of it for it to taste like anything--and when you add that much, it tends to get bitter. Try fresh pureed ginger or ginger juice in secondary. If you strain the puree or juice the ginger, you could even add it to the bottling bucket (or keg). If you hop the beer, do so lightly, maybe 10 IBU (assuming you're adding a lot of ginger).

And again, you can backsweeten with sugar if you either bottle pasteurize or bulk pasteurize and force carb (the latter will give you a much cleaner tasting ginger beer).

 

[guitarzan_1971]

Thanks! I tried it again this afternoon and it may be ok once it carbonates. A friend suggested adding some citric acid to it. Makes sense as I love dry NY reislings that are super acidic. My wife said she wanted it bone dry. Im sure it will be. Next time I will make it with much more lemon and lime. I will also use some brown sugar instead of entirely cane sugar. I think the caramel notes will mellow the bitterness. I tried backsweetenig with stevia but it didnt taste right. Im not sure sugar will help as the high abv is putting the alcohol flavor in the front. I thinknthis batch will be ok but I will mak3 changes for the next one.

 

[gingerman]

I highly recommend boiling the ginger as opposed to using raw ginger juice. I boil mine in a hop bag for about the last 6-8 minutes of the 15 minute boil. Boiling/heating the ginger significantly softens/rounds out the pungency of the ginger. An easy way to taste the difference is to have two small ramekins of ginger juice mixed with some sugar water, and microwave one of them for say 15 sec. Then taste both.

I came across a journal article that said that 6 minutes was the optimum flavor extraction and heating time for ginger in ginger beer, so that's what I'm sticking with. I've had great results with it.


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[guitarzan_1971]

Thanks so much for that. There are a ton of recipes, all pretty much the same but no specific refining to them. I like the idea of a hop bag. What other ingrediants do you use? Cinnamon had the same type of flavor profile but Im concerned it will be bitter sans sugar when fully fermented. Also do you use clove? If so how much?

 

[guitarzan_1971]

Ok guys, update time. I let ky ginger beer ferment completely. I tried it a few times and was unhappy with the flavor but four days later when I went to bottle it mellowed and seemed like it may be ok. I bottled it and put it in the basement.

Two weeks later I opened a bottle. Almost zero carbonation. Flavor was ok. I think the high alcohol content makes it less enjoyable, I opened another about a week later. Same thing. I was thinking I would just drink it myself and not let others sample it and chalk it up to a learning experience. I brought it beck up to the kitchen as I thought the basement may be be too cold and waited another week or so.

Tonight I opened another bottle. I was elated to get a satisfyig "pffffft" upon opening. I poured it into my glass and was hapoy to see plenty of fizz and a decent head. The carbonation and waiting made a big difference. It is very dry and has a decent kick alcohol wise. Overall its decent and drinkable. Still a learning experiance. Next batch will have considerably more fresh ginger amd more dried ginger. I will skip the vanilla and nutmeg and steep some cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon. More lemon and lime juice and properly zest them. I think I will steep thebzest and add the lemon an lime post boil to steep them. I will also strain it into the fermenter instead of leaving it on the fruit.

Not bad for a first try though.

 

[gingerman]

Sorry didn't see your follow up questions. Good instincts on boiling the zest, but adding the citrus juice after it's cooled. I do an even split of lemon/lime/pineapple juices. The upper bound for total citrus should be 1.5 cups total. Just one lemon zest though.

Yeah 86 the vanilla. If you do any other spices, go minuscule and add to the boil. I like cinnamon and tumeric. Maybe pinch of clove. Only other advice I'd give is to not ferment dry, but aim for 1.014-1.020. Of course then, you must keep them refrigerated after they carb up.

Also, a plastic soda bottle filled and capped at the same time will give you a dead on reliable indicator of bottle pressure. I generally see fully carbed bottles after 2 days. But mine's not fermented dry, so there's plenty of yeast food left to carb up.

Good luck on batch number 2!


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[Rhodry]

I've made this a few times. I like a lot of ginger heat. You can reduce the ginger if you don't like it that bold. Try this:

5 gal batch

2 lbs fresh ginger, cut into slices
17 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1 vanilla bean, split
1 packet champagne yeast

Boil 2 lb ginger for about 30 mins. Remove from heat, stir in the sugar and spices. Cool, transfer to fermenter, pitch yeast.

After fermentation is complete, rack to a secondary, crush and add 5 campden tablets to kill any remaining yeast. You can also add another lb of fresh ginger if you really like the ginger flavor. Let it sit for about 2 weeks (1 week if not using more ginger). Boil a small amount of water and add sugar needed for desired sweetness. Add to keg, then rack the ginger beer on top. Force carbonate @ 30 PSI (serving pressure).

Good luck!

Hey man, how's it goin? I know this post is pretty old, but I'm extremely interested in checking out your recipe. I was just curious, do you know approximately how much abv% this comes out to? I'm hoping to produce something around 5.5% or so and am wondering if I need to adjust sugar to get there.

 

[plumsmooth]

I'm getting ready to start my first batch of Ginger Beer based on this recipe:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBxB9Set7n8[/ame]

I'm trying to figure out if the addition of Honey slows the Fermentation down?
That was my understanding in general and I do not know to what extent the varying Yeasts are effected by the antibacterial properties of Honey.

And also whether Raw honey unpasteurized would have a more pronounced effect.

Thanks for any help figuring this out...

 

[bembel]

As an update to my last recipe in the noble pursuit of the tasty alcoholic ginger beer, I just finished a batch that's my best yet. Building on others' subsequent comments (and more foraging through the forum), here are my changes from my orig recipe above.
- no more cream of tartar. It had no purpose.
- cayenne bumped to 1/2 tsp+ to stand up to the sweeter FG I want (1.024-1.026 at bottling). 1 tsp of cayenne would be a solid, hot ginger beer.
- added 1/2 tsp high quality vanilla just for smoothness; added the zest of 1 lemon to the boil
- 1/2 cup each of lemon and lime, 1/4 cup pineapple juice, added after splarging to 5 gallons.
- Upped sugar almost 50% to 2700g total. This brought the OG to 1.05-1.052. Added sugar after flameout. Also, used ~80% organic cane and ~20% turbinado for a much yellower brew.
- fermented for 106 hours down to 1.024. Bottled for a day, until plastic test bottles were hard, then chilled. ABV was 3.99% before bottling. Likely 4.5% by the time it went into the fridge.

After 24 hrs of refrigeration, it's damn delicious. Sweet and spicy and highly drinkable. It's less sweet than crabbie's (which I couldn't imagine drinking more than one of), with different aromatics. But yeah, this one's the winner so far. And there's probably enough left over sweetness to go higher ABV while still tasting good. But 1.05 down to 1.024 for 4-5% seems to be the best combo I've found so far.

One other thing I've picked up since beginning down this road with sugary ferments is that the fermentation doesn't stop in the fridge, even at my fridge's lowest setting. It slows down significantly, but with all that sugar and the resilient champagne yeast, there's still activity going on (as evidenced by some 3 week chilled, overcarbbed bottles). So I've been putting the "back of the fridge" beers in a bit early in anticipation that they'll mature over the next couple weeks. Those beers I intend to drink sooner, I leave out for another few extra hours to fully carb before refrigerating. The more you know, and so on.

Looking forward to trying this revision, still need to get to the end of the thread though Any reason not to shut down the fermentation with cold crash and a rack with a dose of Potassium Metabisulfite, as many wine and cider makers do?

 

[z-bob]

I thought I had mentioned this before, but now I can't find it.
Why not ferment the gingerale to dryness, carbonate it in the bottles just like you would beer (maybe to a little higher CO2 volume), and backsweeten it at serving time with a little simple syrup? The bottles will be shelf-stable that way, and you can drink it as dry or as sweet as you like.

 

[bembel]

I highly recommend boiling the ginger as opposed to using raw ginger juice. I boil mine in a hop bag for about the last 6-8 minutes of the 15 minute boil. Boiling/heating the ginger significantly softens/rounds out the pungency of the ginger. An easy way to taste the difference is to have two small ramekins of ginger juice mixed with some sugar water, and microwave one of them for say 15 sec. Then taste both.

I came across a journal article that said that 6 minutes was the optimum flavor extraction and heating time for ginger in ginger beer, so that's what I'm sticking with. I've had great results with it.


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Can you post your final best recipe by any chance? Im getting confused here ( happens a lot on brew days )

You mention above a 15 min boil, but now you found to add the ginger in a hop bag for final 6 minutes. What is the 15 min boil then if the ginger goes in for the final 6, is this an additional amount added to the original?

And what are your best to date ginger/sugar/citrus amounts?

Many thanks for all the info and efforts!

 

[BarleyDarling]

I thought of doing this a few months ago. Calling it a "twisted ginger ale". My method was to brew a regular ginger beer and add moonshine after. The idea came from my friend who makes a vanilla bourbon porter, which is just a vanilla porter with a liter of makers mark poured in when he kegs it.

I like the recipes you guys have here too. When I get better at brewing I fully intend on making one of these.

 

[bembel]

'Thai me up, Thai me down' Ginger Beer (with apologies to Almodovar)

2 gallon batch
(to split one gallon carboys after the primary is down to 1015-1020 and I nuke it with K-meta after cold crashing, one will get the half of the strained ginger/lemongrass pulp added back in a muslin bag as a 'dry hop', other stays the same)

Theory behind madness: Add volatile aromatics as late as possible as you would when cooking.
Per Gingerman’s research. 6 minutes is best time for ginger essence extraction
Per my experience, cooked lemongrass tastes better than raw

1 gallon H2O to a boil
5 cups (2.5 LBS weighed) Raw Sugar

till dissolved, then added

12 oz finely processed fresh ginger
1 stalk finely processed fresh lemon grass ( avoid the green)

boiled gently for 6 minutes, removed from heat, added micro-planed zest from

1 meyer lemon
1 lemon
2 limes

poured into kettle,

1 gallon cold tap water

added

4oz lime juice,
4oz lemon juice
4oz meyer lemon juice (needed extra meyer to hit 4 oz)

Strained into 2 gallon bucket

SG was 1.060, tastes wicked pissah now, like Crabbies but without the fake flavors (but very, very sweet, we know this will go away)

Added

1 t nutrient and aerated

sprinkled

2.5g Red Star Pasteur Champers yeast at about 90F

Set it in 63 degree temp, hope to crash it at 1015-1010

TO be continued

 

[bembel]

'Thai me up, Thai me down' Ginger Beer (with apologies to Almodovar)

2 gallon batch
(to split one gallon carboys after the primary is down to 1015-1020 and I nuke it with K-meta after cold crashing, one will get the half of the strained ginger/lemongrass pulp added back in a muslin bag as a 'dry hop', other stays the same)

Theory behind madness: Add volatile aromatics as late as possible as you would when cooking.
Per Gingerman’s research. 6 minutes is best time for ginger essence extraction
Per my experience, cooked lemongrass tastes better than raw

1 gallon H2O to a boil
5 cups (2.5 LBS weighed) Raw Sugar

till dissolved, then added

12 oz finely processed fresh ginger
1 stalk finely processed fresh lemon grass ( avoid the green)

boiled gently for 6 minutes, removed from heat, added micro-planed zest from

1 meyer lemon
1 lemon
2 limes

poured into kettle,

1 gallon cold tap water

added

4oz lime juice,
4oz lemon juice
4oz meyer lemon juice (needed extra meyer to hit 4 oz)

Strained into 2 gallon bucket

SG was 1.060, tastes wicked pissah now, like Crabbies but without the fake flavors (but very, very sweet, we know this will go away)

Added

1 t nutrient and aerated

sprinkled

2.5g Red Star Pasteur Champers yeast at about 90F

Set it in 63 degree temp, hope to crash it at 1015-1010

TO be continued

crashed it at 1.020 and forced carbed, this is some of the tasting stuff I ever brewed, SMWMBO could not stop attacking the keg and passed out at the dinner table

 

[Rambunctious]

Sounds like a tasty recipe. Now put it over ice in a pt. glass and drizzel in 1.5 oz Cruzan Black Strap rum for the perfect dark and stormy.

 

[rugger1869]

'Thai me up, Thai me down' Ginger Beer (with apologies to Almodovar)

2 gallon batch
(to split one gallon carboys after the primary is down to 1015-1020 and I nuke it with K-meta after cold crashing, one will get the half of the strained ginger/lemongrass pulp added back in a muslin bag as a 'dry hop', other stays the same)

Theory behind madness: Add volatile aromatics as late as possible as you would when cooking.
Per Gingerman’s research. 6 minutes is best time for ginger essence extraction
Per my experience, cooked lemongrass tastes better than raw

1 gallon H2O to a boil
5 cups (2.5 LBS weighed) Raw Sugar

till dissolved, then added

12 oz finely processed fresh ginger
1 stalk finely processed fresh lemon grass ( avoid the green)

boiled gently for 6 minutes, removed from heat, added micro-planed zest from

1 meyer lemon
1 lemon
2 limes

poured into kettle,

1 gallon cold tap water

added

4oz lime juice,
4oz lemon juice
4oz meyer lemon juice (needed extra meyer to hit 4 oz)

Strained into 2 gallon bucket

SG was 1.060, tastes wicked pissah now, like Crabbies but without the fake flavors (but very, very sweet, we know this will go away)

Added

1 t nutrient and aerated

sprinkled

2.5g Red Star Pasteur Champers yeast at about 90F

Set it in 63 degree temp, hope to crash it at 1015-1010

TO be continued

Can someone break this down barney-style for me? I understand a lot of this recipe, but I am not following the beginning? Would you not just juice the Ginger and add it to the wort?

 

[bembel]

Can someone break this down barney-style for me? I understand a lot of this recipe, but I am not following the beginning? Would you not just juice the Ginger and add it to the wort?

If you dont have a juicer that will handle ginger, this is a great way to extract the maximum flavor without diminishing the heat.

How do you normally juice ginger, if there is an easy way, then yes, add it right to the sugar-water mixture.

Rule of thumb, the more heat applied to any food, the more the flavors break down and dissipate, so the 6 minute boil is an attempt to extract as much flavor as possible from shredded / chopped ginger without cooking off the flavor and heat.

Im just kegging a 5 gallon batch today that turned out beyond amazing, my guests go through this so fast I have had to start making 5 at a time, and I dont worry about bottle bombs when its kegged. I cold crash it at 1.020 and have not needed to use any sorbate to stop further sugar conversion, the combo of the keg, the cold and the pressure pretty much keeps the SG around 1.020

One last thing, I save the strained chopped ginger/lemon grass and put them in dry hop bags inside a ziploc in the freezer, and if I want to add more flavor after fermentation, I toss the bag into the keg. I have also had great success doing the exact same thing to a few batches of beer that did not meet my expectations, so I lightly flavored the finished beer with the leftover ginger mix.

This latest 5 gallon batch was made with Wyeast 3056, which added a lovely clove and banana aroma to the mix!

 

[JimShortz]

Alcoholic Ginger Beer – The Master Recipe... Okay... maybe not the master recipe, but it is damned good!

The method and recipe described here came about after a great deal of experiment with various sugars, quantities of ginger and many other odd ideas. It is for sure not the only way to make delicious ginger beer, but please try it “as is” before beginning your own experimenting – it certainly makes a great drink.

See my Ginger Beer video (showing the whole process, as described below) on YouTube by searching for Kevin Pugh Ginger Beer

Sorry if some of this is "teaching grandma to suck eggs", but it was written aimed at complete brewing beginners who wanted to simply make some good strong ginger beer with minimal equipment and knowledge...

Equipment:
2 x Empty 6L plastic water bottles
1 x bubbler (airlock) and bung (or a balloon, or a surgical glove, even a condom!)
4 x Empty 1.5L plastic pop/soda bottles (or 5 x 1.25L)
1 x Very large funnel (to fit 6L water bottle's mouth)
1 x Small funnel (to fit pop/soda bottles)
1 x mesh laundry bag, or something similar, to use for coarse filtering

Consumables:
1 lemon (frozen to make zesting easier)
300g of whole root ginger (unpeeled, but washed)
700g of plain white sugar (plus a couple of cups extra for bottling time)
1 tspn of wine yeast (most should work fine. I use Youngs' all purpose)
1 tspn of yeast nutrient (optional, but I add it to ensure good rapid fermentation)
1 tspn of cream of tartar (adds a little “mouthfeel”, but is entirely optional)

Method

Stage 1:

This is all about getting everything nicely combined and starting the ferment. It looks a big list, but is really not very much work at all – I find it easy, and I am lazy...

1. Put 3 or 4 litres of water in a pan and begin heating it (less if you only have a small pan – it doesn't really matter)
2. With a fine grater zest the lemon, then add this zest to the heating water
3. Put the ugly looking lemon remains in the microwave on defrost, set for 5 minutes
4. Bash the ginger with a mallet, then roughly chop it and add it to the heating water
5. Get the defrosted ugly lemon, chop it in half then add the juice and pulp to the water
6. Add in 700g of white sugar and stir to dissolve
7. Bring water to boil, stirring a little to prevent the sugar burning. Simmer for 5 minutes, then put a lid on and leave to cool slowly

Wait for a few hours to let it stew and cool (this can be overnight if you did everything above in the evening – it only takes 10 minutes the next morning to complete the few steps below...)

8. Using the huge funnel, pour the stewed mixture, including all ginger and lemon pulp (this is important, or you will have a nasty “thin” ginger beer) into your 6L water bottle, then fill to nearly the top with more water
9. Check that the liquid is sufficiently cool (it can't be in any way hot), then add 1tsp each of wine yeast, nutrient (optional), and cream of tartar (also optional)
10. Put the lid on the bottle and give it a good shake
11. Replace the lid with your bung and bubbler (or a balloon, or a surgical glove, even a condom – in any case they need a pin hole putting in them to let the gas escape)
12. Set aside in a warm place to ferment for 4 to 7 days or so, depending on air temperature
13. Leave until the bubbler no longer gurgles, or your balloon/glove/condom becomes flaccid!

Stage 2:

Bottling time – this takes only about 10 minutes... 15 if you are sloth like...

1. Using your giant funnel lined with a laundry bag, or other coarse filtering material (just trying to filter chunks not sediment) slowly and gently pour your fermented brew into your second clean 6L plastic bottle. You should be able to get nearly all of the liquid and not too much sediment (don't worry about getting some sediment, it will settle out in the pop bottles later)
2. Wash (no need to sterilise) your 4 x 1.5L pop bottles (or equivalent volume)
3. Whilst your small funnel is dry use it to assist you in adding 1/3 cup of sugar into each bottle
4. Now pour the brew equally into each of the 6 bottles. It should come to somewhere around where the bottle starts to narrow.
5. Put lids on the bottles and shake each one 2 or 3 times until all of the sugar is fully dissolved
6. Put the bottles back in the same warm place that you fermented the brew. Leave it there for between 24 and 48 hours depending on air temperature
7. As soon as the bottles are hard when you try to squeeze them it is time to move them to the fridge. This will stop the yeast working any more and prevent messy explosions!
8. Let it get cool, then drink it... I prefer to leave it for some yeast to settle out over the next day or two, but it doesn't make much difference really. Drink over ice, and with a dash of soda if you prefer it more fizzy or “lighter” (it is strong!). Aim to drink it within two or three weeks for the best taste – best drunk young in my opinion, but you can keep it for 5 or 6 weeks if need be.
9. ENJOY....

 

[Fuzzymittenbrewing]

Alcoholic Ginger Beer – The Master Recipe... Okay... maybe not the master recipe, but it is damned good!

The method and recipe described here came about after a great deal of experiment with various sugars, quantities of ginger and many other odd ideas. It is for sure not the only way to make delicious ginger beer, but please try it “as is” before beginning your own experimenting – it certainly makes a great drink.

See my Ginger Beer video (showing the whole process, as described below) on YouTube by searching for Kevin Pugh Ginger Beer

Sorry if some of this is "teaching grandma to suck eggs", but it was written aimed at complete brewing beginners who wanted to simply make some good strong ginger beer with minimal equipment and knowledge...

Equipment:
2 x Empty 6L plastic water bottles
1 x bubbler (airlock) and bung (or a balloon, or a surgical glove, even a condom!)
4 x Empty 1.5L plastic pop/soda bottles (or 5 x 1.25L)
1 x Very large funnel (to fit 6L water bottle's mouth)
1 x Small funnel (to fit pop/soda bottles)
1 x mesh laundry bag, or something similar, to use for coarse filtering

Consumables:
1 lemon (frozen to make zesting easier)
300g of whole root ginger (unpeeled, but washed)
700g of plain white sugar (plus a couple of cups extra for bottling time)
1 tspn of wine yeast (most should work fine. I use Youngs' all purpose)
1 tspn of yeast nutrient (optional, but I add it to ensure good rapid fermentation)
1 tspn of cream of tartar (adds a little “mouthfeel”, but is entirely optional)

Method

Stage 1:

This is all about getting everything nicely combined and starting the ferment. It looks a big list, but is really not very much work at all – I find it easy, and I am lazy...

1. Put 3 or 4 litres of water in a pan and begin heating it (less if you only have a small pan – it doesn't really matter)
2. With a fine grater zest the lemon, then add this zest to the heating water
3. Put the ugly looking lemon remains in the microwave on defrost, set for 5 minutes
4. Bash the ginger with a mallet, then roughly chop it and add it to the heating water
5. Get the defrosted ugly lemon, chop it in half then add the juice and pulp to the water
6. Add in 700g of white sugar and stir to dissolve
7. Bring water to boil, stirring a little to prevent the sugar burning. Simmer for 5 minutes, then put a lid on and leave to cool slowly

Wait for a few hours to let it stew and cool (this can be overnight if you did everything above in the evening – it only takes 10 minutes the next morning to complete the few steps below...)

8. Using the huge funnel, pour the stewed mixture, including all ginger and lemon pulp (this is important, or you will have a nasty “thin” ginger beer) into your 6L water bottle, then fill to nearly the top with more water
9. Check that the liquid is sufficiently cool (it can't be in any way hot), then add 1tsp each of wine yeast, nutrient (optional), and cream of tartar (also optional)
10. Put the lid on the bottle and give it a good shake
11. Replace the lid with your bung and bubbler (or a balloon, or a surgical glove, even a condom – in any case they need a pin hole putting in them to let the gas escape)
12. Set aside in a warm place to ferment for 4 to 7 days or so, depending on air temperature
13. Leave until the bubbler no longer gurgles, or your balloon/glove/condom becomes flaccid!

Stage 2:

Bottling time – this takes only about 10 minutes... 15 if you are sloth like...

1. Using your giant funnel lined with a laundry bag, or other coarse filtering material (just trying to filter chunks not sediment) slowly and gently pour your fermented brew into your second clean 6L plastic bottle. You should be able to get nearly all of the liquid and not too much sediment (don't worry about getting some sediment, it will settle out in the pop bottles later)
2. Wash (no need to sterilise) your 4 x 1.5L pop bottles (or equivalent volume)
3. Whilst your small funnel is dry use it to assist you in adding 1/3 cup of sugar into each bottle
4. Now pour the brew equally into each of the 6 bottles. It should come to somewhere around where the bottle starts to narrow.
5. Put lids on the bottles and shake each one 2 or 3 times until all of the sugar is fully dissolved
6. Put the bottles back in the same warm place that you fermented the brew. Leave it there for between 24 and 48 hours depending on air temperature
7. As soon as the bottles are hard when you try to squeeze them it is time to move them to the fridge. This will stop the yeast working any more and prevent messy explosions!
8. Let it get cool, then drink it... I prefer to leave it for some yeast to settle out over the next day or two, but it doesn't make much difference really. Drink over ice, and with a dash of soda if you prefer it more fizzy or “lighter” (it is strong!). Aim to drink it within two or three weeks for the best taste – best drunk young in my opinion, but you can keep it for 5 or 6 weeks if need be.
9. ENJOY....

Any gravity numbers?