In the past I was a heavy drinker. I come from a long line of "functional alcoholics". During my career as an over the road truck driver I'd not drank regularly at all. But after having retired in 2005 I'd made up for lost time. I regularly drank at least a 12 pack of beer per day by myself.
That in itself is another blog post but what I did learn in those years of heavy drinking is I needed to start supplementing some type of probiotic to replenish the stomach "bugs".
I'd known my bad habits were killing them off on a daily basis.
I'd started brewing my own Kombucha on the recommendation of other bloggers and friends. It's not only healthy it's fun to see it growing like a science experiment on my counter. But drinking it in large doses is probably not the ideal way to quench your thirst. The probiotics in Kombucha are very good for you but there is more acid in it then your body needs. I have no medical information saying one way or another I just know there were some side effects to drinking it in larger quantities. I didn't need to tax my body anymore than I was already doing with my drinking and partying.
The second probiotic I started to incorporate into my daily "hydration routine" is Ginger Ale. I'd buy it because I'd known the ginger was good for my stomach anyway. But most of the bottle varieties had high fuctose corn syrup and they also were processed with some types of preservatives to make them shelf stable in the stores.
I'd started having stomach issues as a side affect of my heavy drinking. Then in my internet research I'd found a great recipe for home made ginger ale. It was so easy and I had everything I'd needed to make it here in the house already. I'm going to share the recipe with you now. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Fair Weather Farm Girl REAL Home Made Ginger Ale
Equipment:
clean 2 liter plastic soft drink bottle with cap (not glass: explosions are dangerous.)
funnel
Grater (preferably with fine "cutting" teeth
1 cup measuring cup
1/4 tsp and 1 Tbl measuring spoons
Supplies:
cane (table) sugar [sucrose] (1 cup)
Freshly grated ginger root (1 1/2-2 tablespoons)
Juice of one lemon
fresh granular baker's yeast (1/4 teaspoon)
cold fresh pure water
Instructions:
1) Lay it out all the listed ingredients and equipment.
2) Use fresh ginger root (purchasable at most large supermarkets, or Asian food shops).
3) Add 1 cup sugar to the 2 liter bottle with a dry funnel. (Leave the funnel in place until you are ready to cap the bottle.)
NOTE: Many have asked about bottling ginger ale in glass bottles. I do not recommend it because ginger ale is a very aggressive fermenter, producing high pressure fairly rapidly. Plastic bottles can be felt to judge pressure. Glass cannot. Tardy refrigeration can lead to explosions. Exploding plastic bottles are messy. Exploding glass botles are dangerous…
4) Measure out 1/4th teaspoon fresh granular active baker's yeast. (Fleishman's etc. We buy ours in bulk from the health food store.)
5) Add yeast through funnel into the bottle, shake to disperse the yeast grains into the sugar granules.6) Grate the ginger root on a fine "cutting" grater to produce 1 1/2 Tablespoon of grated root.
7) Place grated ginger in the cup measure
8) Juice a whole lemon. (Lemon is optional, giving a little tartness to the ginger ale. Try it both ways to see which you prefer. I like them both.)
9) Add the juice of a whole lemon to the grated ginger.
10) Stir the lemon juice and grated ginger to form a slurry.
11) Add the slurry of lemon juice and grated ginger to the bottle. (It may stick in the funnel. Don't worry, the next step will wash it into the bottle.)
12) Rinse containers with fresh clean water.
13) Add the rinsings to the bottle, cap and shake to distribute.
13) Fill the bottle to the neck with fresh cool clean water, leaving about an inch of head space, securely screw cap down to seal. Invert repeatedly to thoroughly dissolve sugar. (The ginger root will not dissolve, of course.)
14) Place in a warm location for 24 to 48 hours. (Do not leave at room temperature longer than necessary to feel "hard." The excess pressure may cause an eruption when you open it, or even explode the bottle!)
15) Test to see if carbonation is complete by squeezing the bottle forcefully with your thumb. If it dents in it is not ready.
16) Once the bottle feels hard to a forceful squeeze, usually only 24-48 hours, place in the refrigerator. Before opening, refrigerate at least overnight to thoroughly chill. Crack the lid of the thoroughly chilled ginger ale just a little to release the pressure slowly. You do not want a ginger ale fountain!
NOTE: Do not leave the finished ginger ale in a warm place any longer than the time it takes for the bottle to feel hard. Leaving it at room temperature longer than two days, especially in the summer when the temperature is high, can generate enough pressure to explode the bottle! (Speaking from experience here...) Once it is thoroughly chilled, there is little danger of explosion.
17) Filter the ginger ale through a strainer if you find floating pieces of ginger objectionable. These are found in the first glass or two poured, and, since most of the ginger sinks to the bottom, the last glass or so may require filtering too. Rinse the bottle out immediately after serving the last of the batch.
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NOTE: There will be a sediment of grated ginger and yeast at the bottom of the bottle, so that the last bit of ginger ale will be carry ginger fibers. Decant carefully if you wish to avoid this sediment.
Note that the gas will develop faster in ginger ale than in home made rootbeer, presumably because there are more nutrients in it than in root beer extract.
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