Experiment 16: Ginger Ale~

Once upon a time, I was brewing beer.




I wasn't all that great at it, but it was a kit set up, and I was only able to do it a few times. It was fun! I stopped since having the kiddo, my time for such novelties can be limited.

Really does not stop me from wanting to keep doing it however. I speak to my cousin frequently, who brews often, read the links he shares, and look at my little plastic fermenter a little wistfully time to time. It's novel little keg shape taunting me. Inviting me.

Whatever.

Cause when a code brown calls, all your hobbies stop as you try to catch all of the poop!

I still read forums, and blogs about brewing, and even on facebook, the odd gem pops up.

This past week; yes, on the facebook, I came across a post regarding the creation of home made ginger ale.

The recipe I used (and actually adapted and adjusted a little (more on that in a few)): Hooooobbbbb!

Ginger is a nifty thing, a root, with an outrageous spicy flavor all it's own. Ginger ale, often drunk from a can, stupidly sweet and bubbly.

Make it at home? sounds cheap.. looks cheap.. FERMENTING? ok. Count me in bitches.

LOOK AT THEM.

So.. Ginger, and the grater I have. I asked the husband (yes, he's our special guest this time!) to grate it; since the recipe called for /grated/ ginger.

Let me just say, ginger is a very dense, fiber-y root. (it is a root, after all.) And shockingly juicy.

It made a HUGE mess.

It was mixed with lemon juice; which made it turn colours at first, before settling on 'gingerly, milky shitty death'.

Added this in the bottles with the yeast and sugar, and water.

Now.. it specified distilled or spring water. Well, whatever, I don't buy that stuff, I use the tap.

IT WORKS FINE PEOPLE. IT'S JUST TAP WATER.

Next time, I will adjust the amount of ginger and the like, this came out almost too sweet, with not enough of that ginger-y bite I was expecting.

Get with the pictures Ness, fuck.

This only goes to prove that my kitchen is a cluttered mess, and I often experiment while drinking.

Hide yo panties, ladies, the husband actually got into the hijinks with this one!

I cannot stress this enough. I put these away sanitized. And I still re cleaned them. Water as hot as goddamn possible, and oxyclean; followed by hot as possible rinse. 

Possibly the grossest part.

The aftermath.

So.. The second bottle, when I opened it last night, went balls and foamed EVERYWHERE. Half the bottle was lost to the counter. But both bottles displayed nice bubbling, and an okay flavor.

Now the adjustments, (As I sit here eating what is possibly an absurdly California breakfast of avocado, cottage cheese, olive oil and pepper, with said ginger ale!) were done since my bottles are 1 liter; where as the recipe called for a two liter bottle.

I basically halved everything, and winged the amounts of lemon/ginger. Dont fuck up your yeast and sugar though. Too much or too little, and you're gonna have a shitty time.

Things wont ferment,. they might EXPLODE.

Explosions are why I kept my bottles in a cooler when I carbonated them. It's not happened yet.. but LETS NOT PLAY THAT GAME.

FOLLOW THOSE MEASUREMENTS.

Final thoughts:

I will do this again, hopefully before we move. Hopefully I can adapt this a little later on to make it closer to beer, since the husband expressed a desire for such.

Keep experimenting, hoochies.