Ginger beer

Last Saturday the neighborhood all went to the outdoor movies at the Wegman's shopping center to watch the old-school version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  We set our chairs up right outside of PF Chang's.  Which made me think of the delicious house-made ginger beer that they serve.  I have been jonesing for some ever since.  I have tried making my own ginger beer before, but it did not work.  I did not get some sort of weird concoction, I just got nothing.

However, now that I make all my own kombucha, and have successfully for months, I am feeling a little more confident with home fermentation.  Plus, last time I tried to make ginger beer it was winter and I am hoping that the balmy warm weather (which is otherwise quite icky) will help my ginger beer.

My drink counter - Coffee mug, Ginger Beer Starter, and a new batch of decaf iced-tea

The method I am using could not be easier.  I grabbed a clean mason jar and poured 1 1/2 cups (ish) of filtered room temperature water.  Then I added a spoonful of ground ginger and organic sugar.  I give a good swirl to try to aerate the concoction and then I leave it alone on my counter.  I will add it another spoonful of ginger and sugar every day for seven days.

After a week of fermenting, I will strain out the ginger gooey goodness and add some sugar, water, and lemon juice to the liquid and then bottle it up to ferment a bit more.  I am hoping this non-alcoholic goodness will turn out like the yummy stuff at PF Chang's or perhaps even better.