I just drank my first glass of homemade ginger ale, and it won't be the last. It was bubbly, sweet, and delicious! Credit goes to David Fankhauser's website for the instructions. Yes, it really is that easy. No, it doesn't taste yeasty or beer-like. I actually doubled the ginger, because I love ginger, and I thought it was just right.
I only drink all-natural beverages -- water, coffee, tea, and wine, but yes, I have an urge for something different every now and then. In summer, I often make lemon balm-spearmint iced tea, which is a favorite. Now I have even more options. I will be trying the cream soda from Fankhauser's site (on the root beer page), and I have a few ideas of my own for other bubbly beverages. Of course, I'll share them with you as I get them figured out.
9 comments:
My lady made ginger ale when she was a teenager and it fermented into about 100 proof! Her parents made her throw it out...hee hee
LOL! Maybe fermented a bit too long, eh? We only let it ferment for 24 hours, and it's 65 F in our house, so it didn't get anywhere near alcohol stage. Fankhauser says it will be about .4% (less than 1%), so you'd have to drink a gallon and a half to equal one glass of beer.
Thank you for posting that! I was a soda addict for years and occasionally, I miss them. But I refuse to drink any thing with high fructose corn syrup.
I heart cream soda. So I might just try it tomorrow.
Thanks for the link Deborah!
I've been trying to kick my addiction to caffeine sodas. Big Red is my drink of choice and while I've cutback I need an alternative. Mostly I drink water, juices, teas and coffee with an occassional glass of wine. I like variety. =)
Fun! I made some last summer, I'll probably do it again. I followed the recipe on this page for blueberry soda for my first batch, then did plain ginger for the second. http://www.learningherbs.com/soda_recipe.html
Obviously t takes longer to cultivate the yeast in the first place, but it's pretty cool to see it appear from nowhere and change your ginger solution.
I've made ginger ale one other way -- I made a ginger simple syrup and kept it in the fridge. I would add some to seltzer and have instant ginger ale. Very tasty & you can make so many flavors (basil lime soda! hibiscus soda!...)
I've read every post on your blog for at least the last year. I love it more and more every day. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
Now I'm off to see what I need to make my own ginger ale. :o)
Wow! What a great link! Did you use the optional lemon? If so, was the lemon taste noticable (I LOVE lemon)? And what are your thoughts of using honey instead of sugar? If one was to use honey instead, how much would you use?
I did use the lemon, but I didn't really taste it. If you want it to taste like lemon though (like Sprite?) I'd say just use more lemon juice. If you wanted to use honey, that would be fine. The sugar is just food for the yeast, and honey works just as well as sugar. I'd start with the same amount, and then you could play around with it in subsequent batches.
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