Ginger Beer (Using Ginger Beer Plant)

Although we normally think of ginger beer or ale as a soft drink, it was originally an alcoholic beverage consumed as both a refreshment and tonic. Ginger is an extremely healthful herb. It causes the heart to beat more strongly and slowly and can help reduce migraines. It helps remove cholesterol, it’s antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antibiotic and helps alleviate nausea.

This recipe uses ginger beer plant (GBP), which has nothing biologically to do with ginger beer and is not a plant. Real GBP is a gelatinous goo that’s a Bachanelian love child of yeast and a lacto bateria which was commonly used from the 18th to the early 20th centuries to make ginger beer, meaning we humans had a symbiotic relationship with it as well. Unfortunately, we’ve been lax in our responsibility to this boozy ménage à trois for nearly a century and one of the few remaining places where we can score real GBP is from a UK lab: http://gingerbeerplant.net/GetCultures.html. The site for this lab includes instructions for the care and feeding of GBP, but after a batch or two of the prescribed white sugar soda, you may want to feed your beast something more meaty, like malt.

This recipe makes an amazing and complex ale: Smooth malt up front, followed by a crisp blast of ginger and a mild acidic finish reminiscent of a Belgian lambic.

1 gallon water

6 ounces ginger root, peeled and diced

1 pound malt syrup, unhopped

1 lemon, juiced

1 packet ginger beer plant

7 teaspoons corn sugar

• 1. Put the diced ginger in a nylon straining bag, and simmer it in a quart of water for half an hour.

  2. Remove the bag from the water, turn the heat off, and slowly stir in the malt syrup.

  3. When the syrup has dissolved, add the lemon juice to the hot liquid.

  4. Pour the liquid into the primary fermenter, add three quarts of water, and let it cool to room temperature.

  5. Put the ginger beet plant in a nylon hop bag, tie it closed, drop it in the fermenter, snap the fermenter lid on, and attach an airlock.

  6. After a week the beer will finish fermenting. Remove the bag of ginger beer plant, rinse it off and store in in a sealed container in your refrigerator.

  7. Add 7 teaspoons of corn sugar to the beer, and bottle in Champagne-style bottles, beer bottles, or soda bottles.

  8. Wait a minimum of two weeks before sticking in the refrigerator to allow enough time for the beer to be conditioned.

Serving Suggestion: Ginger ale, served cold in a pint glass, makes a refreshing summer drink and pairs well with Asian food.