Fun and Frugal Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale

by Gone-Walkabout

This is a favorite with my kids.  The yeast ferments and produces carbon dioxide which gives it carbonation.  It was a cross between a science project and a healthier version of soda.  You will want to note that it is not brown colored like the ones you buy in the store.  This is the base recipe:

1 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons grated Ginger  (You have to buy the Ginger Root & Grate it)
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
1/4 tsp yeast
cold water
1 clean 2 liter bottle with cap (Plastic, not glass)
Funnel
Add sugar and yeast into clean plastic bottle using funnel.  Grate the ginger as finely as possible, put into measuring cup.  Add the lemon juice and mix with a spoon.  Pour lemon ginger into bottle.    Use a couple cups of  clean water to rinse the measuring cup and pour into bottle.  This should rinse the funnel as well.  Swirl bottle around a bit to mix the ingredients.  Fill to about an inch from the neck with cool water.  Cap and invert several times to dissolve sugar.  The ginger will not dissolve .

Place bottle in a warm area for 24 to 48 hours.  DO NOT leave longer than this as the fermentation process builds pressure inside the bottle and can cause the bottle to explode  which is not dangerous (this is why you don’t use glass) but really messy.   Check on the bottle after 24 hours.  If you can press or dent the sides with your fingers, it’s not ready.  When it’s “done”, the bottle will be hard.  Refrigerate when it’s done and that will stop the fermentation process.

I like it right out of the bottle.  My kids prefer it strained to remove the ginger pieces.

Variations:  You can leave off the lemon juice and it is not as tangy.  We have also tried it with lime juice and liked that one too.

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Tags: frugal living, Recipes