Homemade Ginger Beer

Nothing refreshes like this old-fashioned, homegrown South African favourite. I have reduced the sugar from 400 g to 300 g in line with modern tastes.

Makes 3 litres

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YOU WILL NEED

1 ½ cups (300 g ) sugar
12 cups (3 litres) lukewarm water
10 g active dried yeast
1 T (15 ml) ground ginger
4 T (50 g) fresh ginger, grated
2 T (30 ml) Lennox Jamaican Ginger (bought from the chemist).

Method

Stir the sugar into the lukewarm water (not hot or you will kill the yeast!). Add the yeast, ground ginger, fresh ginger and Jamaican Ginger. Mix well. Pour into bottles, leaving a bit of head space, and seal with corks or clingfilm – NB see Ina’s Tip. Leave to ferment and mature at room temperature for two days. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before use.

Ina's Tip

Do not seal the bottles with screw on caps, use corks, or wrap bottle tops with cling film, because during fermentation the bottles may burst if tightly closed.