How to Make Ginger Ale

Ginger Ale is so refreshing in the sweltering heat of summer!  Ginger ale was never my beverage of choice growing up, but now that we make our own, I am sold on it's tart flavor.  Since we use the actual ginger root in our recipe, every bottle is packed with health boosting properties ginger is known for including: soothing stomach upset, respiratory coughs, fevers, and more.  Knowing ginger is good for my body, I don't feel guilty sitting back and enjoying a bottle of our homemade ginger ale.

To make ginger ale, you first have to ferment the ginger root by making a Ginger Bug.  Unlike  berry and sarsaparilla soda that requires champagne yeast, ginger ale uses the natural yeast created from a ginger bug for its fizzy carbonation.

With a wooden spoon, stir the following ingredients into a pint mason jar:
-2T fresh ginger (Skin and grate - I use a micro-plane grater)
-2T unrefined cane juice sugar
-2T non-chlorinated water

Cover jar with a coffee filter secured with a rubber band.

Every day for at least five days, stir in 2T each of grated ginger, sugar, and water.  It should get bubbly and foamy. On the sixth day use what you need and refrigerate the rest adding 2T each of everything (ginger, sugar and water) once each week.  Cap jar loosely when refrigerated.

Once your ginger bug has fermented for six days, you can make ginger ale.

Ingredients:
2-4 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 cup evaporated cane juice sugar
1 cup fresh lemon or lime juice (~ 4 lemons)
1 tsp. sea salt
16 cups non-chlorinated water
1 cup homemade ginger bug

*makes 8.5 grolsch bottles

In a saucepan, add  6 cups water, minced ginger root, sugar, and salt.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to smell like ginger.

Remove from heat and add remaining water.  Cool mixture to room temperature.

Add fresh lemon or lime juice and ginger bug.  Stir.

Fill grolsch bottles.

Store bottles in cooler or cover bottles for several days until carbonated, and then transfer to fridge to drastically slow down the carbonation.  The reason we place the bottles in a cooler is to contain any liquid and glass that may explode in case the bottles carbonate too long.  When we first started making soda, we had a bottle explode all over the kitchen and freshly painted ceiling...a very sticky mess to clean up!

Besides water, there are only five ingredients in ginger ale.

Even though we use organic ginger, we grate it before dicing.

If you have a pirate on the premise, they should help juice the lemons to help fight scurvy!

When adding the lemon juice and ginger bug, make sure the water is not too hot (below 100 degrees Fahrenheit), otherwise you will kill the natural yeast in the ginger bug.

Using a fine mesh strainer helps produce a cleaner product. Then cap and vigorously shake the gallon jug for 20 seconds or so.

Use a funnel with a slight indent at the bottom so air can escape when filling the grolsch bottles. 

Almost finished...final capping of the bottles. 

To be on the safe side, we recommend storing the bottles in a cooler in case a bottle bursts. Check daily for carbonation.  Small bubbles forming on top of the beverage indicate carbonation is taking place.  If a quick rush of air escapes when you slightly loosen the wire barrel, then it's probably time to place the bottles in the refrigerator maybe slightly before then. We recommend that until you get used to how fast carbonation takes place (which is highly dependent on the ambient air temperature), that you have a test plastic soda bottle as a control bottle just so you know how fast they are carbonating.

Some sources I referenced when perfecting our recipe include: Wellness Mama and Nourished Kitchen.

Homemade Strawberry Soda

Our strawberry patch is producing really well for its 2nd year and we are busy filling bags for the freezer, making jam, strawberry wine, and soda!  I included step-by-step instructions on how to make strawberry soda so you can enjoy a homemade beverage right at home.  This recipe can be adapted for all berries.

1 1/3 cups mashed strawberries

1 1/2 cups sugar (preferably brown cane)

7 cups water

1 T lemon juice

8 cups cool water

1/8 tsp. champagne yeast

-Add the first 4 ingredients to soup pot, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

-Remove from stovetop and allow to cool slightly.

-In a gallon glass jug add 8 cups cool water and add the strawberry mixture. 

-Let it cool until the soda reaches a temperature around 90 degrees.

-Add yeast to jar and shake vigorously to incorporate throughout.

-Using a funnel, pour soda into grolsch bottles.

-Fill right below the neck of the bottle.

-Store bottles at room temperature in a cooler or somewhere that keeps the bottles contained in case a bottle blows up from too much carbonation.  We learned the hard way and stored them in a sealed cardboard box on the kitchen counter...a bottle blew up, opened the cardboard box, and splattered soda everywhere, including the ceiling that had to be repainted.  

-Everyday check the bottles for carbonation.  It's difficult to explain how to tell when the carbonation is perfect, but we push on the cap and listen for the hiss of air that escapes when pressure is applied.  You want a medium to strong hiss.  On your first batch you can refrigerate the bottles on consecutive days so you get an idea how the hiss becomes stronger the longer they are left to carbonate and how the carbonation levels affect the final product.  (We recommend wearing safety goggles for this.)  

-When the soda is at the right carbonation, store bottles in the refrigeration to halt the yeast and use within about 2 weeks.  Common question is how long do the bottles take to carbonate...that all depends on the temperature of the soda when the yeast was added and how warm the storage room is.  This batch took 24 hours but in the winter it can take about 5 days.   

-If you prefer, you can strain the berries and yeast sediment before drinking, but it's not necessary.

Sarsaparilla Soda

On hot summer days, I like to drink soda.  I purchase the more expensive brands (A&W move out of the way!) because I don't drink soda all that often, and when I do, I like to really enjoy it.  Jon decided last summer to try making our own soda.  Recently we made Sarsaparilla!
We got this recipe from Homemade Root Beer, Soda, and Pop by: Stephen Cresswell

3 to 4 quarts of water

9 T chopped dried sarsaparilla root

5 T chopped dried sassafras root bark

1/4 cup raisins, coarsely chopped

1 3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. yeast (we use champagne yeast)

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1. Heat 2 quarts of water to a simmer.  As the water heats, add the chopped roots, chopped raisins, and sugar.  Simmer uncovered for about 25 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover, and let cool for 30 minutes.

2. After the sarsaparilla mixture has cooled 30 minutes, pour it slowly into a jug with 1 quart of cool water, straining as you pour.  (I use a one gallon jar with a metal lid).  Fill the jug to the top with water until there is about a 2 inch headspace.

3.  In a small bowl, proof the yeast----add yeast to 1/4 cup lukewarm water.

4. Shake the water & sarsparilla mixture in the jug vigorously for about a minute. 

5.  Add the yeast mixture to the jug and agitate vigorously again. 

6.  To reduce the sediment that will settle to the bottom, use a coffee filter to catch the debris.  Pour the mixture into your sterilized bottles.  Cap and let sit for 48-72 hours.  After 48 hours, check the carbonation.  When the carbonation is right, refrigerate and use within 6 weeks. 

Makes 7, 12-ounce bottles. 

This was our first attempt at making sarsaparilla.  Next time we will use less sassafras root bark and add a vanilla bean for a little milder flavor.  The carbonation results were pretty impressive---probably the result of the champagne yeast.  In the past, our soda results had a strong yeasty smell and flavor because we were using brewer's yeast.  Champagne yeast doesn't produce that yeasty smell and taste, but it certainly produces the bubbles quite nicely!!