Equipment
and materials
Equipment
·
Sharp
knife and chopping board
·
Lemon
zester or grater
·
Lemon
squeezer
·
Rolling
pin
·
Large
spoon
·
Kettle
for boiling water
·
Thermometer
·
Large
bowl or jug
·
Clean
tea towel to cover bowl
·
Sieve
and funnel for straining
liquid into
bottles
·
Plastic
(PET) bottle and cap.
Do not use
glass bottles!
Materials
·
1
liters water
·
150
g root ginger (~130g when
peeled)
·
Medium-sized
lemon (preferably
unwaxed)
·
140
g sugar (brown or white)
·
4
g cream of tartar (tartaric acid)
·
4
g dried ale or bread yeast, or 8 g
fresh
·
Sterilising
solution suitable for
food use
·
Strong
plastic bag in which to
bruise
ginger
·
Optional:
Other spices such as
chilli,
nutmeg, liquorice, vanilla,
cardamom,
cloves, juniper, fennel,
coriander,
star anise
Method
1. Peel the
ginger and cut it into slices
3–5 mm
thick. Bruise the slices well
by placing
them in a strong, clean
plastic bag
and crushing them with
a rolling
pin.
2. Place
the ginger in a large bowl or
jug. Scrape
the lemon zest over it,
then add
the juice from the lemon.
3. Place
the remaining ingredients
except for
the yeast in the bowl,
then
carefully pour on boiling
water.
Stir.
4. Cover
the bowl with a clean cloth
and leave
the liquid to cool to
25–30 °C
(this can take 60–90 min).
5. While
the liquid is cooling, sterilise
the PET
bottles using the sterilising
solution.
Ensure that the bottles are
thoroughly
rinsed with clean water
after
sterilising.*
6. Add the
yeast to the warm liquid
in the bowl
and stir until it has
dispersed.
7. Cover
the bowl with a clean cloth
and leave
it in a warm place for 24 h.
8. Skim off
the yeast, leaving the sediment
in the
bowl. Strain into the
sterilised
plastic bottles, leaving a
3–5 cm
air gap at the top.
9.
IMPORTANT! Allow the beer to
ferment at
room temperature
(~21 °C)
for no more than 48 h,
then place
the bottles in a fridge.
Drink
within six days.
* There is
no need to use boiled
water to
rinse the bottles after sterilisation.
The
sterilising step is to
get rid of
major contaminants left
in reused
bottles. The tap water
used for
rinsing should not introduce
contaminants,
and should it
do so, they
will be quickly outcompeted
by the
relatively large
inoculum of
yeast. The low pH of
the liquid
(from the lemons) will
also
prevent bacteria (although not
yeast) from
growing.
Safety
and other concerns
Glass
bottles must NEVER be used,
as the gas
produced will cause them
to explode.
This drink should always
be made in
plastic bottles, and it
should
always be refrigerated and
consumed
within six days. The short
fermentation
period and refrigeration
ensure that
the alcohol content of the
drink
remains low.
Please
remember that some religious
groups
object even to the consumption
of products
that contain little
or no
alcohol but have been produced
by brewing.
The students may,
however, be
happy to take part in the
practical
without drinking the resulting
ginger
beer. Teachers should be
sensitive
to such concerns.
Preparation
and timing
It takes
approximately 90 minutes
to prepare
the drink, including a cooling
period of
60 minutes. The initial
fermentation
takes 24 hours, followed
by up to 48
hours fermentation in bottles.
The bottles
can be sterilised in
advance if
desired.
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