In this post I will teach you how to make ginger beer the old fashioned way, no soda machine or brewery required. This drink is nice and refreshing on a warm day; it’s also one of the main ingredients in the popular Moscow Mule cocktail. It’s easy, really, and surprisingly fizzy. I’ve outlined the recipe and process below, including a how-to video and photo tutorial.
Ginger, with its zippy and refreshing taste, is listed among the world’s oldest spices. As far back as 500 BC, this native plant of China and India was used for medicine, food, and flavoring. For most of the Western world, ginger was used to spice up drinks. Up until the Victorian era, beer was the drink of choice in England, especially herbal and spiced low-alcohol “small” beers such as ginger beer.
I would be willing to bet that most us were introduced to the flavor of Zingiber officinale through ginger ale. I don’t know about you, but the zingy soda pop was my mom’s go-to cure for tummy aches. This non-alcoholic ginger ale made its American debut in 1866 when a Detroit, Michigan pharmacist named James Vernor installed a soda fountain in his drugstore. Vernor began playing around with ginger extracts, and in 1870 perfected his recipe, which included mellowing the syrup for four years in wooden casks. It’s not surprising that a pharmacist would chose ginger, as the rhizome was (and still is) known as a stomach soother. In fact, Vernor’s ads often touted “Mothers tell their children to ask for Vernor’s Ginger Ale because it’s wholesome and healthful.” Vernor’s Ginger Ale remains just as popular today.
Ginger ale and ginger beer are both basically the same thing. It’s easy and inexpensive to make old-fashioned ginger beer at home, and you get more of a gingery taste than you do from the store-bought stuff. A bit of fermentation is involved, which produces a very slight alcohol content (not noticeable, but important to point out for those sensitive to alcohol). Some manufacturers ferment the mixture longer and make other adjustments to increase the alcohol content, but for our purposes this ginger beer is more akin to ginger ale. If you’re concerned, make the ginger syrup as noted below, but skip the fermentation process and mix it with seltzer water instead to produce a fermentation-free beverage.
Once you master the process of creating ginger beer, you’ll be hooked. It’s fun to ferment. Enjoy!
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Video by Entice Films
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Homemade Ginger Beer
Ingredients
Ginger Syrup Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
Ginger Beer Ingredients
- 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast or brewer's yeast
- Ginger syrup (ingredients above)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 7 cups filtered water
NOTES
Instructions
- Peel a chunk of the ginger with the tip of a teaspoon—the papery skin scrapes right off—and grate it, using the fine side of your grater. Place the ginger, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to steep for an hour.
- Strain the mixture (discard the ginger solids) and allow to cool.
- You’ve now made ginger syrup (or gingerette, as the Brits call it). Stop right here if you’re looking for a short-cut to ginger ale and you don’t want to mess around with the fermentation process. Pour three or four tablespoons (more or less depending upon how gingery you like it) of your syrup over ice and add 8 ounces of seltzer water or club soda. Bottle the rest of the syrup and store it in the refrigerator.
- For the full ginger beer experience, place a funnel in the top of the bottle. Sprinkle the yeast in, followed by the syrup, lemon juice, and water.
- Put the lid on the bottle and shake the concoction until the yeast is dissolved. Stow it on a shady shelf or in your pantry out of direct sunlight for 2-3 days, or until fizz is achieved. At this point it is ready to drink, and must be stored in the refrigerator to prevent further fermentation. Don't forget about the bottle, or the pressure will build up so much that it may explode!As with any yeast-powered beverage, the fermentation process continues unless you prevent it from happening. Refrigerating will slow the process down but not stop it completely, that's why it’s best to treat ginger beer as a perishable beverage. Consume within 1-2 weeks.
- Serve over ice and savor the spicy taste of your very own homemade ginger beer!
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
L says
This recipe didn’t have enough flavor to my liking.
Cp says
The syrup is your flavor that’s why it doesn’t how much to put in its up to you. I made this and used all of it and its has a nice sweet taste to it.
Grazina says
I doubled the recipe, and we used some for drinking with soda water but I want to make a batch of fermented beer, too. How much syrup do I need for the amount of the Ginger Beer Ingredients that you put in the recipe?
Taryn Nelson says
Hi there how much ginger syrup should be used in the ginger beer?
Addie says
I second this comment: This recipe really needs the quantity of syrup added/specified! I made a double batch of syrup so I could have some extra and then got stuck because of the directions in Step 3.
Tori Avey says
Noted. Next time I make this recipe I’ll make a note to measure it.
Heather says
Hi! What do you think the total cost would be for each bottle of ginger beer? We are thinking of doing a homemade one for our Restaurant and love your recipe!
Cp says
I would check with local bars and stores to see
Amanda says
Morning. Can I use the fresh ginger paste that is sold in the produce section instead of fresh??
Jay says
I thought Yeast needed 35c (72F) to activate, but these instructions are showing powered yeast being added with room temperature water which I found confusing.
I made a batch yesterday, 24 hours later I see about 4mm of sediment in the bottom, and about 3mm at the top. Does this mean its working?
I actually put the yeast in the lemon juice because I wanted it to be even quantities in four 500ml bottles. Hopefully the raw lemon juice wont kill the yeast, it doesnt seem to kill it according to google search.
KC says
35C is *95F*– BIG difference. That said, it doesn’t need hot water to activate it. Lukewarm water is fine.
Elizabeth says
I did exactly that, and it made the awesome recipe into an AMAZING recipe. Thank you much to sharing it
Elisa Carrus says
Instead of grated ginger I used 20 tbs (yes 20) ginger juice.
It’s been fermenting for 4 days now and tastend it. It is soooo good! Thank you for sharing your recipe
Si says
Have made this recipe a few times now. It’s superb. I had to come and comment for that reason. Really easy and an excellent result. I won’t buy Ginger beer premade anymore as this is cheaper and better.
Michael says
Here’s a basement budget home brewers trick. Clean out and sterilize a plastic gallon milk jug. When its dry pop a very small hole in the center of the cap.Fill with your brew and yeast. Replace the cap and screw on tight. Now take a deflated small ballon and pop a tiny pin hole on the top. Put the ballons end over the cap and fasten it down with some rubber bands.
You can now let it ferment without worrying about it exploding. You can reuse the whole system until the plastic jug is shot. Just make sure to sanitize before you add stuff to ferment.
Jonathan Joseph says
I used cane sugar, and the syrup started to crystallize a lot, what did I do wrong?
Sarah says
You cooked the simple syrup too long. No biggie, add some water.
Mike says
Wow, made this last week in lockdown London. Simple and 100% successful. Enjoyed a glass adding white rum and mint, simply awesome! More on the way for this weekend and the daughters 30th bbq.The perkiest home brew ever!
Kenton says
Tried many ginger beer recipes and this has been by far the best and easiest
Sam says
For those asking about sugar etc just add sugar to taste, the yeast will use up some of it so you might end up with not very sweet ale so just add more, also if you didn’t add enough you may actually end up starving the yeast. Also if you find a sulphur smell add more sugar, it means your yeast is starving and producing the sulphur in reaction and adding more sugar will get rid of the smell after a day or so.
Gabriel says
Fantastic and easy.
Ramy Agadi says
Can someone tell me the brand and size of the glass bottle used in the video?
opalthegem says
i believe i bought some cheap ones from ikea, good luck on your search!
J says
Check a local Aldi, if you have one. French pink & regular lemonade for $2-$3. CitySteading Brews on YouTube.
John Redden says
You can get them from half to 2 litre I believe at IKEA and most brew shops.
Ramy Agadi says
Came across this recipe. Step 1 says to cook the ginger/water/sugar until the sugar dissolves. Doesn’t sugar dissolve almost immediately (think sugar in tea)? How long in minutes should this take with medium heat? Am I supposed to cook it until it turns into a syrup (mine is still watery after 10 minutes of cooking)?
Tori Avey says
It should not be thick, you only stir until the sugar is no longer crystalized.
Suraj More says
Thanks for the recipe, however I modified it a bit, I used bakers yeast, sugar, 2 tbsp honey, lemon juice and pounded ginger, didn’t heat it. It fizzed in 2 hours, i did let it sit for 4 days and it was super awesome, apart from the yeasty fragrance, it had notes of lemon, some flowery smell and light gingery taste, reached about 2% abv. Sediment was on the bottom and ginger floated, carbonized well similar to a soda a little less though. Served chilled!
Lauren LC says
This was really easy to make! It has a very beer-y taste – less sweet than I’m used to. Not sure if it’s me being silly but it tastes alcoholic – is it meant to? I was assuming the alcohol level would be very low. Maybe it’s because I used quick yeast rather than active/brewer’s yeast? If I make it again I might add 1/2 teaspoon of dried ginger for a more gingery flavour like someone else said, and would it be possible to add more sugar? I let it brew in a plastic bottle in a cupboard for 2 days until fizzy. I unscrewed the lid a few times a day to let the gas out periodically. Overall I’m really happy with the result, and I’ve also made a separate batch of ginger syrup which is delicious with water/soda water. I put the strained ginger from the syrup in two mugs of hot water like a sweet ginger tea. delicious.
Kait says
My ginger beer isn’t turning bubbly? What did I do wrong? 🙁
Sam says
You likely killed your yeast somehow or it was DOA. You can check if your yeast is good first by adding it to a cup of warm (not hot) water with a spoon of sugar and leaving it, you’ll know it is live if you start getting bubbles on the top after say 30 mins, nothing then it is dead.
Sophie says
I’ve been reading through the comments and it says it’s not that gingery, so I decided to add about a half teaspoon of dried ginger powder for an extra kick and it turned out great!
Jocelyn Moulden says
did you add the ginger powder before fermenting or after?