Ginger beer is a carbonated drink which is flavoured with ginger, lemon and sugar, it can be either alcoholic or a soft drink.
It originated in England in the 1700s, and was the nation's favourite drink for 150 years.
When sales of the drink began to decline in the 1930s, England had 3,000 breweries dedicated to ginger beer!
Originally it was an alcoholic beverage, averaging an intoxicating 11% alcohol.
In the 1800s, ginger beer became a popular export to America. The technological superiority of English potters can take a lot of the credit for this. The beer was bottled in stoneware jars finished with a revolutionary glazing process called Improved Bristol Glaze. This, along with stout corks and wire, ensured that the pressure was maintained and also guaranteed a long shelf life. These stoneware bottles have become very collectable items in recent years.
The original recipe required only ginger, sugar, and water, (though lemon was often incorporated) to which was added a gelatinous substance called "ginger beer plant".Fermentation took place over a few days turned the mixture into ginger beer.
The beverage produced industrially today is often not fermented. Such ginger beer is carbonated with pressurized carbon dioxide, does not contain alcohol, and is sold as a soft drink.
Contents at a glance...
- Stoneware Ginger Beer Bottles
- The 'Ginger Beer Plant'
- Make Your Own Ginger Beer Plant
- Brewing Reads....
- Making the Ginger Beer
- A word of caution
- Ginger Flickr
- Ginger Beer Bay
- Ginger Beer on Wikipedia
- Quick ginger beer
- Try brewing something else....
- Remember....
- Ginger Beer spiced up?
- Brew it yourself...
- African Ginger Beer Organic Cocktail on YouTube
- Ginger Ale Stein on CafePress
- Ginger Beer Blurbs
- Some of my squidoo lenses
- Make Your Own Lens
Stoneware Ginger Beer Bottles
...Is that antique stoneware bottle worth anything?
The 'Ginger Beer Plant'
No one is really sure where the first ginger beer plants came from, but the mystery of its identity was solved by a pioneering scientist in the late nineteenth century.Harry Marshall Ward studied how plants and microorganisms live together in symbiotic relationships. He became curious when a friend at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, gave him a ginger beer plant.
As the years passed he built up a whole collection of ginger beer plant specimens and painstakingly identified, separated and attempted to grow the different organisms within the mixtures.
His analyses revealed that it was a type of organism new to science. He described it as a 'composite body', consisting of many microorganisms living together.
Not all of these microbes helped in making the beer, but two organisms were present in every sample, and seemed vital to the production of ginger beer.
One was a fungus he named Saccharomyces pyriformis. The other was a bacterium, which he named Bacterium vermiforme, and is now called Brevibacterium vermiforme. Together, they produce the essential ingredients of traditional ginger beer: carbon dioxide and alcohol.
I remember my aunty making ginger beer when I was a child. She had a "ginger beer plant". It wasn't a green, leafy kind of a plant but a sticky white mass, which lived in a jam jar!
The Ginger Beer Plant would be regularly 'fed' with sugar and every so often the liquid would be tapped off, diluted and bottled. The liquid would ferment in the bottle, producing the fizz. After about a week or so it was ready to drink.
The plant was treated like a chain letter. As it grew it was halved and passed to family and friends.
The commercial, canned ginger beer of today is very different. It doesn't contain alcohol and isn't made by fermentation.
Make Your Own Ginger Beer Plant
- A jar and lid which is big enough to contain the plant.
- One pint-sized measuring jug
- Several clean and dry two-litre plastic bottles.
- Teaspoons
- A large pan
- A fine cloth for straining the plant
Ingredients
- Dried ginger
- Dried yeast
- Sugar
- Juice of four lemons
- Water
Making your Plant
The plant is a mixture of dried ginger, yeast, sugar and water. This creates a yeast culture.
In the jar, place one teaspoon of dried yeast, two teaspoons of dried ginger, four teaspoons of sugar and a pint (600ml) of cold water.
Stir and Store the jar in a warm dry place to help the process along.
Every day your plant must be nourished by feeding with two teaspoons of dried ginger and four teaspoons of sugar. Stir after feeding.
Your plant should be ready after one week.
Reviving Your Plant
Once the plant has been harvested, it is possible to revive it by separating the remainder into halves and cultivating it as before.
- Discard half of the solid from the plant or give it to someone so they may start their own.
- Place the remaining half in a clean jar with a pint of water and continue to feed as above.
Brewing Reads....
Making the Ginger Beer
Add the juice of the four lemons to the pan.
Strain the contents of the jar - the plant - through the cloth into the pan. See below for what is to be done with the solid portion of the plant.
Add 14 pints of room temperature water.
Stir and bottle in plastic bottles. Fill the bottles about seven-eighths full as you need to allow for expansion.
Squeeze the air out of the bottles to stop them exploding under pressure from their contents.
Store the bottles in a safe place at room temperature, and leave for three to four weeks to 'brew'.
***If making your own ginger beer all seems a bit too difficult you can get a Ginger Beer Making Kit
from Amazon UK.*** A word of caution
Don't stand the bottles anywhere near a heat source or where a blown bottle can empty it's contents onto something important or valuable...
It may be necessary to,carefully, let some of the pressure out of the bottles, it might stir things up a bit but they should settle back down eventually.
Ginger Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codigo91/5906797/
This is a small collection of ginger beer bottles.
Making homemade ginger beer.
Day 1:1/2 oz yeast2 tsp sugar2 tsp ground ginger3/4 pint warm water
Ginger Beer Bay
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Ginger Beer on Wikipedia
Ginger beer is a type of carbonated soft drink or rarely, alcoholic beverage, flavored primarily with ginger, lemon and sugar. It originated in England in the mid 1700s, and it reached its peak of popularity in the early 1900s. The original recipe requires only ginger, sugar, and water, to which is added a gelatinous substance called "ginger beer plant" (see below). Fermentation over a few days turns the mixture into ginger beer. Lemon may be added. A simple version of this recipe can be made at home today in which the following is bottled in a 2 liter bottle: grated fresh ginger, sugar, a sm...
Quick ginger beer
If you don't want to use a ginger beer plant or wait for it to develop...
- 25g root ginger, bruised (just bash it with a rolling pin but don't crush it)
- 25g cream of tartar
- 500g sugar
- One lemon (juice it, then grate the rind off it)
- 4.5l of boiling water
- 1 sachet quick yeast
Method
- Put the ginger, sugar, cream of tartar and lemon rind in a large bowl, and pour the boiling water over them. Leave to infuse until cool.
- Add the lemon juice and stir. Rehydrate the yeast in warm water with a little sugar in it, and add to the bowl. Cover the bowl with muslin and leave in a warm place overnight (two nights if you're brave).
- Strain off the liquid and bottle. Drink after 48 hours.
Try brewing something else....
In kit form to make things easier
Remember....
Never keep homemade ginger beer for more than three days after making, and throw it out if it looks or smells odd.
Always store homemade ginger beer in plastic bottles, never glass, in case the bottles explode.
Everything that comes into contact with the brew must be scrupulously clean!
Ginger Beer spiced up?
Some things to try using your Ginger Beer
- Red wine and ginger beer fizz
- For a deliciously long and refreshing summer cocktail, whiz up this fruity wine and ginger fizz.
- Moscow Mule
- Take time out and spoil yourself, by savouring the subtle spiciness of a Smirnoff's Moscow Mule.
- Dark and Stormy - Ginger Beer and Rum based cocktail
- Jamaican rum based cocktail.
- Rhubarb and Genger Beer Jellies
- From Delia Online - How to Cheat
- Ginger Apple Brandy Cocktail Recipe | In The Spirit
- Learn how to make a delicious Ginger Apple Brandy Cocktail - Shake the first three listed ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a highball glass half filled with cubed ice. Top up with ginger beer.
Brew it yourself...
They stock all the top brands along with some exclusive starter kits. The kits produce a high quality product at a very low price. For example, beer from 16p per pint and wine from £1 per bottle.
They deliver throughout Europe and offer free delivery for UK mainland orders over £50. European delivery means the ex-pat community can enjoy a pint of real ale.
African Ginger Beer Organic Cocktail on YouTube
GREENCHEFS / AFRICAN GINGER BEER ORGANIC COCKTAIL
Today on G Living, GreenChef Vanessa Sherwood is back in the studio kitchen making Organic Flavor packed organic fresh cocktails. First up is a Organic Ginger Beer recipe, she wrote will traveling in South Africa.
Runtime: 7:45
817 views
2 Comments:
Ginger Ale Stein on CafePress
Ginger Ale Stein
When you have gone to the trouble to make your own ginger beer why not treat yourself to a new stein to drink it from.
Price: 14.99
Ginger Beer Blurbs
Ginger lover or Ginger Whinger? Have your say here...
Please consider leaving a comment here. You don't have to be a member of Squidoo to leave a comment.
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TheInfamous7
Fantastic Tips!! Good Work.. Posted August 15, 2008 |
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RyanRE
Very nice lens. I love beer, but I am not a huge fan of ginger. Still... I just might have to try this. Great work and ***** to ya! Posted August 07, 2008 |
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Gandree
Ginger beer sounds similar to the kefir I make with ginger. Using kefir grains I only have to let it sit overnight and then bottle it for 24 hours and it is ready to go. I use reuse Grolsh beer bottles to keep it in because they have the resealable tops. Posted July 16, 2008 |
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beeobrien
A great lens. This sounds yummy. Posted June 26, 2008 |
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wubster
Thanks for this, it seems really easy to do and the quick ginger beer sounds good, I might give it a go. Do you know whether you can use a sugar substitute to make it more suitable for a diabetic? Posted June 17, 2008 |
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Piksychick
I have never had homemade ginger beer, but I do like the bottled stuff. Yummy! Posted June 16, 2008 |
I have been given this site as i suffer from severe constant reflux and ginger helps it alot.
Looking forward taking it for a test brew and drink..
Thanks muchly
Posted June 16, 2008
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ms-giggles
Cheers to your lens!!! I give it, 5 Beers.... Posted May 01, 2008 |
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poddys
Yet another great lens - you definitely know how to make them interesting. Good luck with this one. Posted April 30, 2008 |
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KimGiancaterino
The quick ginger beer sounds good. I'll have to try it sometime. Welcome to Culinary Favorites from A-Z. Posted April 25, 2008 |
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