Down the hatch Drain!

Oh well, the first batch of ginger beer turned out to be a major bust, but it was certainly not a waste of time. I think a few things contributed to my overall failure; first, I used the wrong yeast, I needed brewer's yeast, not baker’s yeast. Then, my silly 2 limes=1 lemon theory (I mean come on, did I really believe that would work) both those mistakes made the batch taste more like yeasty grapefruit soda than the ginger beer with a lemon/lime twist that I was going for. I won't make either of those mistakes again, although I'm sure I’ll make other silly mistakes with the next batch. As for the fizz factor, well, that was AWESOME! I was so skeptical about the ginger beer ever becoming fizzy that I was pleasantly surprised when, upon opening one of the bottles it shot out of my hands like a bottle rocket on the fourth of July! Ok, not so dramatic, but there was still a fabulous explosion that resulted in a little ginger beer spraying over the kitchen counter and cabinets, much to my delight, then horror (it was not fun to clean up).

I also learned from this first try that recycled wine bottles are not a good idea unless I buy a bottle corker so that I can get the corks all the way into the bottles. I had pushed the corks halfway into the bottles and they just could not hold back the pressure that had built up inside and finally just blew. I arrived at our house on Friday to find 2 open wine bottles where I left them on the porch and 2 corks in a totally different area. hee! I’m so glad I thought to store the bottles on the porch, that would have sucked on ice if they had blown up inside the house. So, of the five bottles, one and two blew their tops clean off, I suspect bottle number three did not seal properly because it never built up any pressure and was flat when I opened it. I got a little wigged out by that and so, driven by a fear so strong of my getting botulism or some other serious food born illness, I just dumped bottle number three down the drain along with the remainder of bottles one and two without tasting any of them. Bottle number four let out a big *pop* noise when I opened it and the liquid came rushing out, I had to think fast and close the top right away otherwise it would have sprayed all over the kitchen, it was akin to opening a bottle of seltzer! I tasted the contents from this bottle and like I mentioned, it was more like yeasty grapefruit soda than ginger beer, the lime was way too overpowering and there was nary a taste of ginger, I could smell it, there was certainly an olfactory presence of ginger, but not of taste or flavor. I don't think the fresh ginger I added before sealing the bottles made any difference either, I think I needed to use large amounts of fresh ginger from the very beginning to achieve any benefits to overall taste. I dumped the fourth bottle, mainly because it tasted nothing like I had hoped for. The last bottle I opened was the bottle that really went BOOM! I wasn't quick enough and some of the contents sprayed around the kitchen as I mentioned earlier, but I think I managed to wipe it all up. I tasted this batch and it actually tasted a bit better than the fourth bottle, or was it just that I was getting used to the taste? Not used to it enough to keep though, so the fifth bottle joined the others down the drain. I was a bit dejected at first, but then, I decided I’d try this again soon, once I had some brewer's yeast . Cas left some very helpful info about yeast in the comments section of the last entry (thanks Cas) and with that in mind, I should be ordering a batch of yeast soon. I’m looking forward to making a second batch.

Without further delay and with special thanks to the Recipegal.com site:

Ginger Beer Plant

• 1/2 ounce Brewer's Yeast
• 1 teaspoonful granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoonful ground ginger
• 1 cup cold water
• Additional ginger
• Additional sugar
• 4 lemons
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 cups boiling water
• 12 cups cold water

Take a half ounce "Brewer's Yeast"; and one teaspoonful of granulated sugar; one teaspoonful of ground ginger; one cup of cold water Place all the ingredients into a jam jar. This forms the "Plant." Feed it for seven days, giving it one teaspoonful of ginger and one of sugar every day. To make the ginger beer, place the juice of four lemons in a large bowl with three cupfuls of sugar. Stir well. Add five cupfuls of boiling water and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Then put in twelve cupfuls of cold water and stir once more. Strain the juice of the "plant" through muslin into the bowl. The ginger beer is now ready for bottling, but do not cork it for two hours and do NOT stand the bottles on a cold floor. Use corks not screw top bottles because there is a danger of the bottles exploding. But the corks must be tight or it will not get fizzy.

Two Ginger Plants Out of One

You can divide The "plant" sediment left on the muslin into two parts. Put each part into a clean jar with a cupful of cold water. The plants are then ready to be fed again. Give one to a friend.

Source: rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes

Written by Deb on July 13, 2004 03:45 AM