Home Made Ginger Beer

Here is my guide to making home made ginger beer, mmmm, tasty.

Ingredients:

75 grams of ginger (Buy a lump in the shops and then grate it yourself) – about 2euro in SuperValu

400 grams of demerrera sugar – about 85c in Aldi

7-9 grams of bakers yeast – about 2 euro in SuperValu

2 litres of clean water – buy 2 litres in a shop for about 80 cent

1 lemon or lemon juice – not sure of price

1 packet of Star Anise (The stuff aniseed is made from) – not sure of price

Equipment:

Large pot (to boil ingredients)

Demi-John or large container (for the fermenting)

Weighing Scales

Large Spoon

Grater

Strainer

Air-lock (optional)

Sterilising Fluid

Bottles to hold the beer in (I use grolsch style bottles)

Photos of ingredients and equipment:

The Process:

Take the 2 litres of water and place in the pot, start heating

Grate or cut up ginger into small pieces

Squeeze the lemon for it’s juice and keep this in a cup

Take 6-7 star anise and crush them up to smaller pieces

Weigh out 400 grams of demererra sugar

 

Bang on 400 grams of sugar

 

Weigh out about 7-9 grams of yeast

 

This was 9 grams of yeast

 

Once the water is boiling, add the sugar and stir until it has desolved

Next put in the ginger, crushed anise, lemon juice

Let the mixture simmer and bubble for about 30 minutes (give it a stir every few minutes to mix things up)

You will notice a great smell and enjoyable appearance as it simmers

 

You should try to be a little less sloppy when doing this yourself (makes cleanup easier)

 

While the boiling/simmering sterilise the Demi-John, container and bottles (follow sterilising product instructions)

After about 30 minutes, take the liquid off the boil and let sit for 5-10 minutes

Now strain it out through strainer or muslin cloth into your second container

 

Be careful not to spill it or to scold yourself

 

You must leave it now until it gets a lot cooler

Keep testing the liquid with your knuckle or finger until you can comfortably keep it there

It is now at room temperature and you can sparkle on your yeast

Once the yeast has been added you can pour the mixture into you Demi-John and cap it off with the airlock (place a little water in airlock)

This is optional as covering it with a clean cloth will work as well

Now leave it in a warm safe clean area for 3 days (during this time the yeast will eat the sugar and change it to alcohol)

After 3 days siphon out the liquid into the prepared bottles (be careful and try to leave as much sediment as possible – this will be on the bottom)

Brew ready for bottling

Bottling the beer

Once you have bottled your beer, leave for about 3 weeks or longer.

After this open the beer and enjoy!!!