Homemade ginger beer

DIY bubbly drinks!

Who doesn't like the refreshing, popping sensation of fizzy drinks? We don't drink a lot of soda in our house, but we do have a fondness... and a sometimes-addiction... to ginger ale. Homemade ginger beer is a really easy DIY version — and you can adjust that ginger-y bite to your liking if you experiment a bit. It's a non-alcoholic, effervescent delight that kids love too.

All you need is ginger, sugar, lemon, water — and time (2-3 weeks). My go-to resource with all fermentation processes is Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation, and you can find this recipe there.

How to make Homemade Ginger Beer

Start by making the "ginger bug": 2 teaspoons grated ginger and 2 teaspoons sugar mixed in 1 cup of water. Leave it in a warm spot and "feed" the mix with the same amount of ginger and sugar once a day until the mixture starts bubbling (within a week). Then you're ready to make the ginger beer: you add another 2-6 inches of grated ginger (less for milder ginger flavor, more for a real punch) and 1.5 cups of sugar to 2 quarts of water, bring to a boil for 15 minutes, and cool. Then add the ginger bug and the juice of 2 lemons and mix.

Strain and bottle in sealable bottles. I admit that this is one of my favorite parts: getting to line up nice shiny bottles and put caps on them with a bottle capper.

Keep in mind some basic precautions about bottling carbonated drinks. With carbonation, pressure does build up in the bottles, so if you are using glass bottles you’ll want to be safe and minimize the possibility of a bottle exploding. I follow the advice of Sandor Katz' The Art of Fermentation: brewing the ginger beer inside a box in the closet, keeping track of the timing, and opening a "test" bottle every few days after 2 weeks, and I've never had issues.

Want more ideas for homemade bubbly drinks? Check out this post on cooling summer drinks.