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  • It's been a few months since I last wrote; thought I'd let you know how my ginger beer turned out.

    First of all,  when I bottled it, I put it in plastic mineral water bottles (2 litres). This way I avoided the problem of the bottles exploding (the plastic is quite elastic really, and although it does become much harder after a while, I didn't have any disasters due to bottle breakage or leakage). For the third batch, I used smaller bottles (1.5 litres), as when the beer was in the bigger bottles it tended to go flat before I could drink it all.

    I ended up making 4 batches. By the time I'd bottled the last one, however, the plant seemed much, much weaker; I was actually going to throw out the last few bottles since the beer didn't seem to be working at all, but I kept it for several weeks, and after about a month it was drinkable.

    I am still confused regarding the jar that should be used to keep the plant in. I originally followed Kate's suggestion and used (what I thought was) an airtight screw-top jar. One night, when I got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen, I could hear a hissing noise and thought I'd left the gas on (!!). It turned out to be the ginger beer plant; the lid of the jar wasn't as airtight as I'd supposed. After that I transferred the plant to a jar with a rubber seal under the lid, really airtight.  Whenever I opened the jar to feed the plant, there was a lot of activity, but when the lid was on the plant seemed very sedate.

    I've just started another plant for Christmas, and after four days it doesn't seem to be doing much (it's in the airtight jar). Therefore I'd like to know if I should leave the lid slightly open, or even take the lid off completely and cover the jar with calico as Chris does. Is air necessary for the fermentation process?

    Michael

    • Hi Michael,

      great to hear your success! I'm envious - we're in the middle of moving so not the time to start brewing but you've inspired me to get a bug going asap...

      My understanding is the bug needs to 'breathe' to ferment, hence the calico or as Kate says a loose-fitting lid. Then when you mix up & bottle it in something airtight, rather than being able to escape, the gas produced either stays in the brew or is forced into the brew, not sure which. Not a very scientific explanation, but that's how it seems it works to me. I've noticed when I've kept a bug sealed (when doing something like transporting it) it gets tired. Your bug will be a lot more lively once it's able to breathe I'm sure.

      I've tried plastic bottles in the past & I reckon it takes a bit longer for them to be ready, due to the expansion factor before the bubbles are stuck in there. Again, not v. scientific! I prefer glass as I like to use organic ingredients and avoid plastic as much as possible, but have had some wicked explosions in the past. In the heat of summer bottled G.B. can get explosive pretty quickly. Next time I've decided to store my brew in lidded plastic bins to contain any potential explosions.

      Keep us posted on how your Christmas batch goes!

      Chris

    • Hi Michael,

      Calico, muslin or just a plain screw-top left on a bit looser is fine - not sure why I said it had to be airtight, as if your bug is weak then it could probably do with some natural yeasts from the air.  Mine is going really well, but only on it's second batch for the summer, so early days yet.

      Cheers, Kate

  • Hi,

    Not sure if you're interested...but just in case you or anyone else is...my Mum always made ginger beer in the summer when I was young, and so last year I "inherited" the bottle-capper, and then proceeded to make my own ginger beer for my family as well.  I was given a recipe by someone else, but it didn't taste as good as I remembered, so Mum hunted out the one she used to use and I used that - it is the best!  For anyone interested...here it is :)

     

    Ginger Beer Plant

    8 sultanas

    juice of 2 lemons

    1 teaspoon lemon pulp/flesh

    4 teaspoons sugar

    2 teaspoons ground ginger

    2 cups water

    Place all of above into a screw-top jar (I use a large preserving jar) and leave on the kitchen bench for 2-3 days until the mixture begins to ferment.  Then each day for one week, feed the plant 2 teaspoons ground ginger and 4 teaspoons sugar (just sprinkle it in - don't stir).  At the end of the week the plant is ready to make into ginger beer.

    To make the ginger beer:

    4 cups hot water

    4 cups sugar

    4 lemons - juiced

    28 cups cold water

    In a large clean bucket or pot (I use a preserving pan) stir the hot water and sugar together until dissolved, add the lemon juice and the measured cold water, stir.  Stir the plant in the jar then strain it into the bowl, stir it through and then bottle (usually makes about 9-10 large beer bottles).  When straining the plant I line a sieve over a jug with a piece of muslin cloth, tip the plant in and then gently squeeze the liquid out which I then add to the preserving pan.  Keep the "solids" in the muslin cloth, divide in half (feed the other half to the chooks!) and put in the screw-top jar with 2 cups of water and feed it as before.

    The ginger beer varies as to how long before it is ready to drink, but we generally found that it was drinkable 4 days after bottling, and likely to explode after 10-14 days! 

    Hint....always open the bottles outside on the lawn, with a jug handy!

     

    Enjoy :)

    Kate

     

    • So glad you posted this recipe, Kate, as I'm sure it's the same one my nana used to make when I was growing up in Tasmania (I remember using her recipe and getting a plant going myself years ago; she used to put a sultana in each bottle as well!) I'd lost the recipe, and had been searching for it on the internet for quite a while.

      Just one question: when you halve the "solids" to keep the plant going, do you add extra sultanas (or at least maintain 8 sultanas in the jar)?

       

    • Hi Michael (& everyone else),

      No, I definitely don't add any more sultanas, works absolutely fine with just sugar added for food.  You will find that after a few weeks the sultanas cease to be recognisable anyway - the "plant" just looks like something you'd find at the bottom of a pond (but obviously smells much better!).  What I did find last summer is that sometimes the bug would get too strong (i.e. would make the bottles fizz too quickly) and if this happened I just halved the bug, fed it for a couple of days, halved it again and then went on as before. 

      Enjoy :)

      Kate

       

    • Thanks everyone for your replies. I haven't added any more sultanas, but most of them seem to have ended up in the half of the original plant that I recycled!

      As Kate suggested, however, I have been keeping the plant in an air-tight (screw-top) jar. There's certainly a lot of 'movement' when I take the lid off to feed it.

      My first batch should just about be ready to taste (I ended up putting it in plastic mineral water bottles to avoid bottle breakage). Will let you know how it turns out!

      Cheers!

    • I've been using this recipe now for a few weeks. I think the point of the sultanas is to introduce wild yeast to the mix (wild yeast are likely living on the skin of the grapes). Also, because the jar is uncovered, you're likely to catch micro organisms that are in your kitchen (so the bug will evolve over time).

       

      Therefore, once you've got an active bug in the plant, there's really no need to be introducing anything new, except food (sugar) for the bug. Adding sultanas won't hurt but it's not necessary - I haven't and my bug is still alive and fermenting.

    • I agree, no need for reserving or adding sultanas when you divide the plant. Also I keep the jar covered with calico & it still works fine once it's going
    • Thanks Kate, that's the same as the recipe I have - we really like it. The Greggs recipe seems to be pretty much the same thing too. We adjusted the sugar & ginger to taste.

      You've reminded me about the issue of having somewhere safe to store the bottles - we had the same problem with occasional explosions. Once a bottle stored under the house flew over the fence into the neighbour's drive - it can get pretty dangerous! Something like an old (decommissioned) freezer where any possible explosion would be safely contained would be ideal I reckon. After a while we got to know which bottles were strongest. Maybe screw top bottles would work & you could release a bit of excess gas after a week or so?

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