Ginger Beer Recipe for homemade ginger beer with major burn. ginger beer, homemade, strong, Stewarts Gan Uesli Starling 2016, Gan Uesli Starling Major Burn Ginger Beer

by Ĝan Ŭesli Starling

Ever since Dr. Pepper bought out Stewart’s and cut the only flavor I liked, I’ve been lamenting the loss. For years I have suffered. Not any longer! My wife found some recipes on-line for making your own. One was quite good but lacked the burn. I’ve tinkered with that one since and now have a variant of my own which satisfies my lament for that long lost Stewart’s burn.

In fact, I’m convinced, this modified recipe tops that somewhat. The end result looks nothing like, since Stewart’s was made with pure ginger extract whereas mine derives instead from raw ginger. This product then, rather than clear, will come out semi-opaque. That is because of ginger silt held in suspension. Only the very largest particle sizes will settle out to the bottom. In a glass, mine resembles 1% milk, almost butter yellow in color.

A good, hearty ginger burn is well guaranteed. Expect it to surpass even Stewart’s. After many a trial and error, this is how I now make mine. Follow these steps at your own discretion. Know them for an amateur process. And do take care. Especially when it comes to the burping. Reader assumes all risk for the potential mess in their kitchen. Likewise for any searing off of taste buds.

 Fb  Facebook Group: Bring Back Stewart’s Ginger Beer

Equipment
  1. Three beer-brewing jugs (sometimes called carboys). The kind with heavy, lock-clamp stoppers. Each of a size nearly equal to a 2-liter bottle.
  2. A 2-quart plastic jug for mixing. One like what you’d make lemonade in.
  3. Two sauce pans, one covered, both of about 2-quart size.
  4. A hand grater. Like for cheese, vegetables, etc.
  5. A large, hemispherical, tight-meshed screen strainer.
  6. A fair length of cheese cloth.
  7. A lemon juicer.
  8. An electric tea kettle.
  9. A funnel
Jug/Carboy
1 of 3 Funnel, Strainer, Jug
1-of-2 Pans & Juicer Graters
(either/or)
Ingredients
  1. Whole ginger root, enough to 3/4 fill one of the 2-quart sauce pans after grating and mushing down.
    • Buy plenty whenever he grocery store has good stock.
    • It keeps pretty well, about like potatoes.
    • Sometimes I grate all I buy, then freeze the extra.
  2. Three lemons.
  3. One lime.
  4. Two and one half cups of pure cane sugar. Organic is best.
  5. One gallon filtered spring water.
    • There will be some left over.
  6. Brewer’s yeast. Not baking yeast!
    • Get this from a brewing supply shop. They will have many kinds.
    • I use Red Star brand, Pasteur Blanc active dry wine yeast.
  7. One or two tablespoons of honey (optional).

I make ginger beer always in batches of two jugs each time. Having a third jug means that when the first jug of two is drunk up, I have two jugs to start a new batch. This I do when the second gets down to half. This way I need never run out. As much as I like it, the cost savings have been enormous.

Steps Getting started Grated Ginger
Nearly 2 Quarts
  1. Clean the ginger mostly as is. Don’t go overboard. Just carve off obvious bad spots and then brush well under cold, running water.
    • I don’t bother skinning them as some other recipes call for.
    • Feel free to do that, though, if you want.
    • I used to just clean them about the same as for a baking potato, leaving the skins on.
    • But now what I do is like so...
      1. Break them apart into moderate size lobe groups.
      2. Cut each lobe group in half, lengthwise in the same plane has how they lay flat.
      3. Now is when I cut out the bad spots.
  2. Now grate the ginger. Not super fine. About the consistency of hash brown potatoes. No need to go finer.
  3. I used to do it with the skins on, but now instead I do it like so...
    1. Work the cut, yellow face to the medium-coarse grate until it is too thin to hold.
    2. Switch to the medium-fine grate until it is only just skin.
    • Whichever of your two medium sauce pans has a lid, collect into that one.
    • Fill to somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 full, mushed down firmly.
  4. Now pour filtered spring water into the tea kettle and get that going.
    • This just speeds up the process, is all.
    • Each of 8 to 9 rounds will go a lot faster.
  5. While the water comes to a boil, set the sauce pan of ginger onto the stove at about 1/4 to 1/3 heat.
    • Whatever would be a low simmer. Nothing too very high.
  6. Soon as the tea kettle has boiled, pour its scalding hot water into the simmering sauce pan.
    • Only just enouigh for the mushed-down ginger to be wet up to its top.
    • That won’t take much. Leave the rest of the kettle to wait while still hot.
  7. Cover the ginger-filled pan with its lid and let simmer for eight or ten minutes.
 While it simmers
  1. Measure out 1/2 cup of sugar into the empty sauce pan. Set that on nearby cool burner to wait.
    • Don’t turn it on. I only set it there so as to be close by the other.
    • It’s a convenience, that’s all.
  2. Also while waiting, juice your three lemons and single lime. Then pour the juice onto the sugar. Just leave it sit.
 Round One
  1. After the ginger has simmered in water a while, pour out that water into the other sauce pan.
    • Hold the lid while tipping out water so that the ginger does not spill out.
    • Avoid as well as you can, any of ginger being sloshed out.
  2. Put the ginger back on to simmer, adding hot water again from the kettle.
    • Refill the kettle again if need be.
  3. Stir the second sauce pan enough so that the sugar dissolves into he hot ginger water.
    • The lemon and lime juices will mix in as well.
    • Leave it to cool for a few minutes.
    • Near-boiling temps might warp the plastic colleciton jug.
  4. Arrange the screen strainer on top of the 2-quart lemonade jug.
    • Lay in plural layers of cheese cloth.
    • Six one-ply layers is about right.
  5. Strain the semi-cooled ginger water mix into the plastic jug.
    • Go slow the very first time. Lemon pulp will want to clog up the cheese cloth.
    • Much less of an issue after just that first time..
  6. Add another 1/2 cup sugar into the second sauce pan.
    • Skip this step after round 5.
    • Your sugar will run out by then.
  7. Return the second sauce pan back near the simmering first sauce pan.
    • You are now ready for round two.
    • Simmering time is about 5 to 10 minutes per round.
 Round and round Cooking
1st Round Straining
7th of 9 Rounds Draining
Final Round

Repeat steps C5 through C7 as many times as needed to fill the 2-quart bottle about 2/3 full. Top off and re-heat the kettle as needed. The latter pourings of boiled ginger water will go from faint yellow, through mostly clear, then to a little bit dark. Refined ginger extract is clear, I believe. The butter yellow color here is from ginger silt. Toward the end when it turns dark is about the time to quit. Might be that dark tint comes from the skin I’m too lazy to scrape off. Unskinned, I figure it’s as safe as well-boiled potatoes by now. Pasteurized, to my way of thinking.

 Nearing the end
  1. Into one of your two lock-stopper jugs, add 1/2 tsp of brewer’s yeast. Mark this as jug #1.
    • Be aware, that honey naturally interferes with yeast.
    • I will add an extra 1/8th tsp for each tbs of honey added.
    • Or you can just leave it to ferment an extra day for each tbs of honey put in.
  2. Into the other add only half as much yeast. Mark this as jug #2. Yes, there’s a reason why they are different.
  3. Stir up the 2 quart lemonade so that all the silt gets mixed up. It will look quite a bit like yellow milk.
  4. Funnel equal amounts into each of the two stopper jugs.
  5. Observe the level to guess how much further you have to go.

Repeat steps C5 through E5 until both lock-stopper jugs are full to finger’s width short of the neck.

 Done cooking
  1. Turn off the simmer and let the ginger pot cool.
  2. Scrape out a portion of the boiled-down ginger remaining into the cheese-cloth lined strainer.
  3. Hoist the cheese cloth full of ginger just like hoisting fish caught in a net. Squeeze and wring out every last drip. Empty the cheese cloth when done.

Repeat steps F2 & F3 by cheese-cloth loads until you’ve wrung out all of the ginger.

 Cap up to ferment
  1. Set the strainer and cheese cloth aside.
  2. Evenly divide that final bit of ginger squeezings between your two jugs. It should top of the last finger up to neck’s bottom.
  3. Lock down the stoppers and agitate. Shake them up good. Distribute that yeast all around.
  4. Leave the jugs to ferment in a cool place. Do not burp them meanwhile. Let the fizz build. Jug #1 will go faster than jug #2 which has less yeast.
  5. After a few days put jug #1 into the fridge.
    • How long exactly depends on temperature and how active the yeast.
    • Three days is good for me, as then it’s still sweet.
    • Five days or longer and it starts to get pretty dry (too alcoholic).
    • Leave in fridge until thoroughly cold, so it will hold CO2.
    • I no longer test for fizziness warm. Too much chance for a really huge mess.
 Burping is last

A few words of caution... Prepare for it to be very fizzy. Do not simply unlock the stopper. You’ll get a ginger foam volcano if you do that. Do this next to the sink just in case. By the photo at top, you’ll see how my own three jugs are all brown glass. So I turn on a light behind them when I do this. So, then...

  1. Wait until very cold, as CO2 dissolves best into cold water.
  2. Very slowly, and ever so carefully, I lever up that lock-stopper handle.
    • Meanwhile I keep a careful eye on the foam situation inside.
    • I don’t let it completely unlock. All I do is crack the seal.
    • I keep a firm hand on it all the while.
    • I stay ever-ready to lock it back down in an instant.
  3. Let out just some of the gas but none of the foam. When foam gets even close to the top, lock it backdown.
  4. Wait five minutes minimum.

Repeat steps H2 through H4 until it looks safe to pour.
Final Notes Major Burn
Opaque with Ginger
  1. Before unlocking the stopper to pour out a glass, tip the jug to distribute the silt. The silt is pure ginger. You’re going to like it, but not all in just the very last glass. Not unless you want that last glass to be your last glass of anything ever. It would blister your sinuses all the way trough to your brain. In fact, you’ll be wanting to swirl your glass some from time to time even as you enjoy to drink it.

Lastly: If you judge it too sweet, just put the stoppered jug back in the fridge. The yeast will keep working, just more slowly because of the cold. The yeast will keep working even as you drink up the jug one glass at a time. It will stay fizzy, not going flat. Slowly, however, it will get dryer...less sweet and a bit alcoholic.

When you have drunk jug #1 down to half way, put jug #2 into the fridge. In that one you had less yeast to begin with, but now will have sat in the warm some days longer. When jug #1 is fully empty, jug #2 will be plenty cold. And because you had the foresight to buy a 3rd jug, now you can make a new batch of two even before the second’s drunk up.

Repeat ad infinitum... Enjoy!