Today I started ginger beer plant - round two... the first round being several years back. The recipe I used has long since fallen off the internet, so I am posting it here.
Plant Phase
Ingredients:
- 1 packet dried brewing yeast (Champagne Yeast)
- 1 cup warm water (90-110F)
- 1 tsp raw sugar (turbinado) (+1 tsp per day for 6 additional days)
- 1 tsp ground ginger powder (+1 tsp per day for 6 additional days)
Dissolve the yeast in the water, and add one teaspoon of sugar. Add one teaspoon of ginger if making 20 12oz bottles. Add two teaspoons of ginger if making 40 12oz bottles. Leave covered, and every day for six more days add one teaspoon of sugar and either 1tsp ginger for 20 bottles, or 2tsp of ginger for 40 bottles. The sugar stays the same. After 7 days, the plant is ready for use.
Bottling Phase
Beer
- 1 Ginger Beer plant (Above)
- 6 Quarts of Water
- 2 Lemons
- 5 Cups Sugar
Dissolve the sugar in the water over heat. Add the liquid from the plant and the juice of the lemons, and mix together. Bottle the beer. According to the original recipe, the beer is "ready to drink in 5 days, but is better after 2-3+ weeks." The author had drank it after as little as 3 days, but more usually drank it after a week or two.
Previous Author's Notes
Gassiness
Ginger beer is notorious for causing explosions. The author had never had a bottle explode, but indicated that the beer can be under quite high pressure when bottled, and said it pays to watch where you are pointing when opening the bottle. Keeping the bottle in the refrigerator will reduce the pressure in it.
Recycling Your Plant
Once you have drained the liquid from your plant to make beer, you can continue the plant by adding another 250ml of warm water, then feeding it with sugar and ginger once per day as before. The yeast from the original plant will continue to live, and after another week you will have another plant ready. You can also divide the sediment of a drained plant into two, and make two plants.
Alcohol Content
I have read that ginger beer made this way typically has 1-2% alcohol. The author never measured theirs. I have not measured the alcohol content in mine. If you are concerned, please make sure to measure the content before consuming any of the brew.