Ginger Ale Recipe

When I was a child, we used to peel and cut ginger into matchstick shaped strips, add salt and some lemon juice. After a few days, it would turn into a beautiful pink condiment. Making ginger ale is almost the same.
There is a faster recipe with baker’s yeast as well. However, I prefer the probiotic version where we harvest the microbes from the ginger and turmeric roots. I will break the recipe into two parts, making the ginger bug (the culture) and then using the bug to make the bubbly drink.

Ginger Ale Recipe

A simple recipe to make the probiotic ginger beer. Help restore your digestion and lose weight through this low sugar recipe (all added sugar will get fermented out)

4 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

fermentation time 2 days d

Total Time 2 days d 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 4 pints

Calories 100 kcal

Equipment

• bottle with airtight jar
• Grater
• peeler
• spoon

Ingredients

  

• 60 gm Ginger peeled and grated
• 250 gm Sugar White sugar, honey or jaggery
• 1 liter water sterlized
• 1 piece lemon
• Fresh turmeric and spices to taste

Instructions

 

Making Ginger Bug

• It takes about a week to harvest a culture of wild micro-organisms. Clean and peel a few ginger roots. Grate it finely
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar to it. Add half a cup of water and squeeze a lime in it. (acidic medium keeps the mold at bay)
• Cover and feed with a teaspoon of grated ginger and a teaspoon of sugar every 3rd day.
• By the end of the next 7-10 days, we can see bubbles on the side of the vessel, and the liquid becomes cloudy. If it smells sweet and yeasty, we are ready to make our drink.

Making Ginger Ale Beverage

• Take 225gms of sugar, and dissolve it in 2 liters of 60 degree C water
• Cool it to less than 30 degree C and add 50-80gms of ginger bug to it.
• Place the mixture in an airtight bottle (swing-top bottles or old soda bottles are the best) for 2-4 days for natural carbonation. It would turn milky white with natural fizz. I serve it cold with a dash of mint on a hot summer day.
  

Notes

You can add some turmeric fresh root to get some probiotic fermented turmeric in your diet as well.

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Video

GINGER BEER Alcohol in 5 mins l Ginger Ale l Simple home made beer and wine ARISHTAM INDIA

Keyword ginger ale, homemade soda, probiotic ginger

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Ginger Ale Beer in India

Different groups have customized the recipe as per their likings. Some add malt extract instead of sugar to make ginger beer. Others use wine yeast to make an alcoholic version. However, drinking them fresh and using the wild ginger bug is what I prefer. Adding some grated fresh turmeric root (few grams per liter) infuses fermented turmeric into the beverage as well.
There is a very similar African beverage called Sweet Potato Fly, which is also made in a similar way. Here instead of ginger and sugar, we use a boiled sweet potato to make a carbonated beverage using wild ferments.

Heath Questions on Probiotic Ginger Ale

Please consult a doctor if you are suffering from a serious medical condition. The advise below are only pointers to help boost your general health using nature-therapy and alternative medicine. It should not be used to bypass the wisdom of your licensed medical practitioner.

Does ginger ale help with gas pain?

There are three main reasons for Gastric pain

• Type A is caused by your immune system destroying stomach cells. And it can increase your risk of vitamin deficiencies, anemia, and cancer.
• Type B, the most common type, is caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria and can cause stomach ulcers, intestinal ulcers, and cancer.
• Type C is caused by chemical irritants like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), alcohol, or bile. And it can also cause stomach lining erosion and bleeding.

Natural probiotic ginger ale helps restore the good microbes in your intestines. This restoring of gut fauna through good bacteria from Ginger helps combat infection in intestines. It also helps repair your alimentary canal lining. Since probiotic ginger ale does not have any alcohol. It also helps combat lifestyle gastric indigestion due to liquor, processed food and high sugar soda drinks.

How do you treat an inflamed esophagus?

Most common reason for inflamed esophagus is the acid reflux or heart burn. The indigestion causes acid from from the stomach back into esophagus (the tube that connects our stomach with the mouth). This stomach acid weakens the lining of esophagus and results in acid reflux, heart burn and inflammation.

Ginger is natural anti-inflammatory which helps with inflamed esophagus. The probiotic ginger ale has natural acid and enzymes that aid in digestion. As a result a glass of ginger ale with food helps those suffering from acid reflux problems.

Can you drink ginger ale when pregnant?

Pregnancy causes a lot of changes in the body.

1. The stomach produces too much acid which causes nausea, vomitting and acid reflux.
2. Food Cravings: There is a sudden urge to eat more often and snacking. This overloads the intestines and causes gas problems.
3. Pregnant women should not consume alcohol and artificially sweetened soda beverages. This limits the options of drinks that they can safely consumes.
4. The heightened sense of taste and smell means that many of the packed food that the pregnant lady liked, no longer taste as good.

We had in earlier sections covered how stomach acid refluxes and intestines are benefited by regular consumption of ginger ale. Since homemade ginger ale has no alcohol and synthetic sweeteners, flavors and essence. It is one of the safest soda to have in a public gathering and dinner table with friends.

The cravings and heightened senses causes an erratic food consumption behavior during the second trimester. Probiotic food are easier to digest and full of enzymes are known to benefit in improving the digestion and metabolism of this new diet.

Is ginger ale good for Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Most home remedies ask us to consume ginger during irritable bowel syndrome. The latest reports indicate that 53% of the patients saw an improvement in their bowels after consuming ginger ale. However, the report concludes that this might be a result of a placebo effect. That being said, the report also indicates that as compared to stronger medicines, Ginger Ale has little or no side effects. So it is one of the harmless way to get a mental peace for someone suffering from spastic colon, irritable colon, mucous colitis, or spastic colitis.

Is Ginger Ale Good for Kidneys, and Hangover?

Calcium oxalate are one of the most common form of kidney stone. Studies have linked packaged drinks to cause these stones. Home made ginger ales does not contain the artificial chemicals used in some of the bottled soda. Hence it is beneficial for the kidney stones.

Alcohol is another beverage that overloads the kidney and liver. Home made ginger ale can be drunk at parties and social gatherings as an alcohol free substitute. Although, 2 Liters of Water is best for a healthy kidney function, but home made ginger ale and Seltzer are not bad either.

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