Recipe:Ginger beer manual - short workshop form
Probiotic Ginger Beer (non alcoholic) - volume 5 l
Active culture
- whey (2% (v/v)) = 100 ml
Ingredients
- dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar) (7% (w/v)) = 350 g
- fresh ginger (4% (w/v) = 200 g
Equipment
- 5 l culture container (glass or plastic, narrow, sealable mouth)
- one 4 l bowl/pot and one 2 l bowl pot
- sieve or cheesecloth/muslin
- measuring cup (100 ml scale)
- scale
- knife
- spoon
- funnel
Working manual
- weight out 350 g of sugar into a bowl or pot and add around 1 l of hot water and mix till dissolved
- add around 2 l of cold water and transfer to the fermentation vessel using funnel
- make sure that the temperature of the liquid is below 30°C before adding the active culture
- add 100 ml of the active culture = 50-100 mol of whey
- bring volume up to 4.5 l with cold water
- seal the vessel by the air lock or lid and let to ferment anaerobically at room temperature (25-30°C) out of direct sun for 3-5 days (if lid is used release the pressure every day!)
- start to taste after three days and look for bubbles confirming active fermentation
- based on experience two days before the brew is ready to be harvested and secondary fermented (3-5 days from starting the brew) (#1) ===>
- clean ginger and weigh out 200 g, cut on smaller pieces, add 100-200 ml of water and blend in the blender till smooth
- add the ginger mix to the fermentation vessel and let to ferment for another two days or so
- once tastes fermented strain the brew through sieve or cheesecloth (disposing the ginger) and
- transfer to the sealable bottles and close well, leaving around 10% of the volume of the bottle empty (to allow for carbon dioxide accumulation)
- let secondary ferment in now sealed bottles at room temperature for 1-2 days
- transfer to the fridge and let the flavour mature for week or longer (up to several months)
- drink is usually best after 2-4 weeks stored at cold
- 1 - you can use same amount of ginger but boiling/simmering it for 10 min or so and add the hot infusion directly to the brew just before bottling for secondary fermentation, it is less risky from the point of view of fuzziness, the brew tastes more spicy/pungent because of the chemical changes of gingerols etc.