How to make tasty unsweetened ginger ale

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Add some zest from the lime while you got the microplane out.

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But isnā€™t ginger the sweetener? Itā€™s full of fructose.

Iā€™ve been trying off and on for ages to brew up some real ginger beer (like w alkyhol). I get some fizz at first but it always goes away, no real fermentation happens. I donā€™t use brewerā€™s or champagne yeasts. Iā€™ve read about the light ginger ā€˜aleā€™ that folks used to brew themselves (super easy) until it became even easier to buy cheap beer beer from big brewers and the culture died out. There are places in the UK that purport to have resurrected the yeast/bacteria symbiont, but Iā€™ve read mixed reviews.

Any way we can obtain some really old ginger beer and culture up something yummy for the 21st C? Anyone have any experience w this?

I cook the microplaned ginger with lemon juice, lemon zest and some sugar (a dash of maple syrup gives it complexity). Great over ice with a splash of soda water and a twist (lemon or lime =) Some folks like adding a bit of chiliā€¦ Iā€™ve tried it w a dash of nutmeg (yum) a few cardamon pods (meh) and vanilla or almond extract. Ginger, citrus, dash of sweet (havenā€™t tried stevia yet) and you are good to go!

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A 12 ounce can of Coke has 700 times as much sugar as my glass of ginger ale.

100 grams of ginger root has 1.7 grams of sugar. Iā€™m using about 3 grams of ginger. So, thatā€™s about 0.05 grams of sugar in my drink.

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Sounds awesome, lime in seltzer from my Sodastream is my normal drink. For a summertime cocktail Iā€™ll just make it half chardonnay. Iā€™ll bet ginger with the chardonnay would be pretty good too.

Always wanted to do so as wellā€¦
I recently purchased a four pack of ginger beer that has actual alcohol at a Scandinavian store in Solvang, CA. Itā€™s not bad. I think that I still have a bottle (I seem to recall that it was from Sweden, but I am not 100% sure) ā€“ Iā€™ll check when I get home.

Interesting! Iā€™m in N CA and Iā€™m a horrible no good garbage person for using sugar in my drink (just a bit!)
We have some friends who are Scandinavian, mb they know where there are real ginger beers to be had in the USofA. If you think of it, let me know the brand! thx

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I sometimes make a ginger infused simple syrup that goes in a squeeze bottle. Thatā€™s used for Green teaā€¦and for sodastream soda water in a glass with lime and ginger.

Sugar isnā€™t bad in it selfā€¦you just have to keep it under control.

Ginger beer can be brewed using Ginger beer plant, a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) similar to the ā€˜mushroomā€™ in Kombucha or the ā€˜motherā€™ in vinegar (though with different yeasts and bacteria).

If you donā€™t have local fermentation-culture specialists, it can be ordered online.

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I make ginger kombucha all the time and love it. But as far as alcohol goes it tops out at 0.5% for a number of reasons.

To make an alcoholic ginger beer you first ferment your sugars for ~7-10 days, then add your ginger/syrup/juice. That way the ginger doesnā€™t interfere with the fermentation.

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I would rather just have that glass. Can I have the glass?

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I make a ginger syrup too, but add cinnamon sticks while cooking and vanilla extract at the end. Extra tasty, especially for Dark and Stormys.

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  • Empty 2-liter plastic soda bottle
  • 2 inches of ginger, shredded
  • 4oz sugar
  • juice of 2-3 lemons
  • 1/8 tsp champagne yeast, or some other brewing yeast
  • water

Boil the ginger and sugar in 2 cups water, add lemon juice, let cool.
Pour into the bottle, add enough more water to be almost full
Add the yeast, cap.
Let it sit a few days until the bottleā€™s rigid, refrigerate. Enjoy.

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No luckā€¦ I guess that we finished it off. My wife remembered that it was from Scotland.

Tramp juice?

The internet suggests it was this:

Yes, that looks correct ā€“ Crabbieā€™s. Not as good as a nice strong ginger beer (non-alky), but not too bad as far as ā€œflavoredā€ beers go.

As @anon29631895 mentioned Scotland, I imagine itā€™s this: http://www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk/
(derp. just seen @daneel beat me to it. Thereā€™s a few different brands of this in the UK, some better than others. Crabbies is kinda OK. THIS, however, is the tits: http://www.marblebeers.com/our-beers/ginger/)

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Yeah, I did that once, but used beer yeast. I bottled it on flip-top Grolsch bottles, which, upon opening, deposited ginger beer on the ceiling at high velocity, leaving me confused and frightened holding an empty bottle standing underneath a puddleā€¦

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