Home-brew Ginger Ale ｜ 自釀農村味薑酒

You don’t need any fancy equipment to make this delicious beverage.  All you need is a pasta container.

I started to make my own alcoholic drinks a few years ago.  I realized that to make your own wine is a big step to being more self-sufficient.  Also, it’s really awesome when you share your homebrew wine with your family and friends.

For this recipe, I used bread yeast and a pasta container as my brewing kit.

Perhaps it may sound a little absurd for many professional wine makers; however, my wine comes out crisp and gingery, and does not taste like bread or syrup after all.  I would say, it is a carbonated dry ginger ale.  The downside of this method is that the ginger ale is cloudy instead of clear.  However, you can always filter the beverage through a very fine cloth or paper towel.  I’ve never done it before.  I don’t mind the colour or the little residue on the bottom.

Home-brew Ginger Ale

Ingredients:

30 grams Ginger with skin, add more if you like stronger taste

 4 cups Water, filtered; or use spring water

1/2 Lemon of Juice

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Bakers Yeast

Equipment:

A pasta container, with lid, cleaned

How to make:

1. In a pot, add the water, sugar, and baking powder. Grate the ginger into the water. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Then, turn off the heat and add the lemon juice. Stir well.

2. Allow the liquid to cool down to about 23C. If you don’t have a thermometer, try to taste it with your finger. It should be slightly more than luke warm.

3. Stir in the yeast and make sure it is totally dissolved.

4. Bottle the liquid up to just more than half of the container.

*This is very important to prevent the liquid from overflowing during the fermentation process*

5. Put the lid on. DO NOT SCREW IT TIGHT!!!  You just want to put the lid on without twisting it.  It must be loose enough for the gas to escape during the fermentation.  Otherwise, the bottle will explode.  Store the bottle in a dark place and check the liquid a few times a day to monitor the process.

The ginger ale will be ready in two days. I like mine dry with higher alcohol content, so I leave it in the bottle for three days before drinking it.

To bottle the drink, just simply keep the contianer in the fridge and screw the lid tight.  However, REMEMBER TO RELEASE THE GAS EVERYDAY UNTIL YOU FINISH IT.

I hope you enjoy the drink. Cheers!