Drink Recipes: Ginger Ale 02 by Recipe Cottage

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	Ginger Ale 02

		Ginger Ale 1 gallon water 1 pound white sugar (either granulated or corn will do) 1/2 oz cream of tartar 1 oz grated ginger 1 lemon your favorite ale yeast Boil water, stir in sugar, cream of tartar, ginger, and zest of lemon (yellow part of peel). Cool to pitching temperature (<75F), add juice of lemon. Transfer the whole mess to a sanitized fermentation vessel, pitch yeast, and cap with an airlock. Bottle after 48 hours, using strong bottles (champagne or 2l soda pop bottles work well). Let condition at room temperature for 2-3 days, then refrigerate. Helpful Hints: - You can use more ginger (up to 3-4 oz per gallon) to get spicier ginger ale. - The jury is still out on whether it is necessary to peel the ginger. I peel it simply because it's easier to grate that way. - Don't second guess the fermentation time, and don't be worried if the air lock is still perking after 48 hrs. If you let it go past 48 hrs, you will probably end up with somewhat flat, not-very-sweet soda. - Please don't use regular beer bottles. Champagne bottles are much stronger. 2l PET bottles work very well because you can squeeze them to see how carbonated they are, and relieve pressure if you're worried. - Make sure you store the ginger ale in the fridge. This will help minimize any unwanted further fermentation. - Make in small quantities and drink soon. The refrigerating will minimize fermentation, not stop it, so eventually you will run the risk of gushers or grenades. "Sanitized fermentation vessel" simply means a glass container, like a gallon juice jug, that has been sanitized with a dilute bleach solution. Fill the container with a mixture of two tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water. Let sit for 15 minutes, then drain. Rinsing with clean water is optional, although if you do not rinse, let air dry completely before using. An airlock, in this case, is used to allow CO2 produced during fermentation to escape while not letting air (and airborne bacteria) in. There are a couple of different varieties; you may remember the S-shaped ones from high school biology. You can pick up one of these at your local homebrew supply shop. If there isn't such a shop in your area, simply cover the top of the jug with some plastic wrap and tie loosely with string, so that it's not completely sealed. On yeast: again, you can get packages of dry ale yeast from your homebrew supply shop. The fancy varieties of liquid yeast are overkill; a 99-cent package of dry yeast (Red Star, Edme, M&F, etc.) will do just fine. Bread yeast will probably work fine, although I've never tried it. On bottling: sanitize the bottles before filling, just like the fermentation vessel. If you use any auxilliary implements, like a funnel, it wouldn't hurt to sanitize them too. You can re-use the white plastic screw caps on the 2l PET bottles; sanitize them as well.