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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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
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!
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Best and easiest. The grandchildren love it. Cheap to make
This is actually the more modern way of making ginger beer. For truly authentic old fashioned Ginger beer, you must have access to a sample of the Ginger Beer plant, a composite organism consisting of a fungus, the yeast Saccharomyces florentinus (formerly S. pyriformis), and the bacterium Lactobacillus hilgardii (formerly Brevibacterium vermiforme). The lactic acid is what gives fermented ginger beer its signature tanginess.
Sharon, I absolutely love this recipe and have made it several times. I have doubled and tripled the ginger and use half cup of brown and half cup of white sugar. I also make it in a beer growler which is a thick glass. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Are you able to place the yeast ginger beer concoction into a used whiskey barrel? Will I need to release the gas from the sealed (corked) barrel? recipe looks great, thanks for the article!
Great question George. Maybe another reader will have some insight. I’ve never made this in a whiskey barrel but the concept is very cool!
I have tried several different recipes for ginger beer to try to replicate what my grandma used to make when we were children, this one was going to be my last attempt. I’m glad to say that this is the one!!!!! I will be making many more bottles in the future
I can’t wait to make this.. First time I had non alcoholic Ginger Beer was last Jan in Montego Bay Jamaica.. I have been craving it since! Can find it pre-made at Whole Foods Stores but very expensive.. Thank you for sharing.. Will rate it when I make it.. Lynn
Is it safe to drink with all of those active yeast?
wow I tried this recipe out using normal bakers yeast and let it ferment for up to a week…it turned out great..it tasted like a bubbly..my husband and I loved it….thanx for the recipe…
Hi,
I was thinking of dividing the 2 liters into 4 50cl bottles. Can you advise on which part of the process this should be done?
Do you think the trick of leaving the cap a bit undone, hearing the continuous fizz would prevent the bottle from exploding, giving the right amount of bubbles anyway?
Thank you
Thank you so much. I’ve been making this recipe for two years now, playing with the amount of ginger, the addition of dried ginger, a bit of molasses, a little more lemon juice etc. It is now a classic at my place, my friends are looking out for the next batch. Great in cocktails too.
I even made à bitter with the same recipe and it turned out amazing but didn’t keep as well as the original recipe.
Did I say THANK YOU ???
So happy to hear that Danielle!
I forget how sweet the British like their food & tea !! I’ve been all over Asia, Europe, & America. The only time I ever got too energetic & restless from dessert was in a fine dining restaurant in England (& it was only half a chocolate pudding at that).
So I took the advice of one of the above comments, not to reduce sugar, otherwise it would be tasteless .. It’s only true if you’re British, probably. I followed the recipe to the tee, & it was way, way too sweet. More like a sugary drink with a whiff of ginger. I’d prefer to use only 2/3 of original amount, & increase the ginger by half. Otherwise, thanks for the recipe Tori ! It’s nice & simple, easy to follow.
I’ll have to make this again as I (probably) misread the recipe as I was making it. It wasn’t sweet at all, and didn’t have enough ginger flavor–at least, not compared to the commercially prepared ginger beer I had while in the UK.
I also let mine ferment for 4.5 days, so it got pretty alcoholic. Will try again next time!
My son was given a lot of honey so he is making mead. He has a balloon over the top of the bottle with a pin prick in it to release e cess gas. (sorry my ecks isn’t working) Do you think this will work with the ginger beer?
MY favorite libation right now is lemon mashed in a pint class,ice, and ginger beer. It is so good!
I am looking forward to trying this recipe ( WITH EXTRA GINGER )
Sounds yummy
So you should add more than the 7 cups to fill the bottle? I was also confused by the “place a funnel in the top of the bottle and pour in the filtered water. Sprinkle the yeast in, followed by the syrup, lemon juice, and water” because it mentions water twice.
Only add 7 cups. Do not fill the bottle. Hope that clarifies.
Daniela, I think you’re good to go. That might have been a little typo in the recipe. I’ve never added any other water other than the 7 cups filtered water. Hope that helps!
No typo– it just won’t fill the bottle completely. 🙂
I have just prepared this now so waiting for it to get ready, but I have a question. I used a 1.5l bottle (it was the only thing i had on hand) but the liquids from the recipe don’t fill it up all the way. At this point I get a little puzzled: place a funnel in the top of the bottle and pour in the filtered water. Sprinkle the yeast in, followed by the syrup, lemon juice, and water.
Where does that last ‘water’ come from? Is it mentioned in the recipe? Is it different from the 7 cups of water? Am I being stupid?? Do I just pour water in until it fills up? Sorry for all the questions! Thanks!!
Daniela, it is only the 7 cups of water mentioned in the ingredients. It will not fill the bottle all the way.
I love this recipe! I have used it as a base for making more exotic ginger beers, too. Like cinnamon ginger beer. I was curious if anyone knew if there is a way to make it more fizzy?
Doesn’t the water have to be warm? I tried this and it didn’t ferment…
All yeast imparts some flavor and character to whatever you ferment. I’ve been brewing beer for over 30 years and select specialty yeasts based on just that. My favorite is Trappist Ale Yeast!