Old-fashioned, home-made South African ginger beer
Sydafrikansk hjemmelavet ingefærøl med citron og frisk ingefær
Ingredienser
Using the fine teeth of a cheesegrater, grate the lemon rind directly into a large, very clean plastic bucket (or a plastic bowl capable of holding 5 litres of water; see Note 1, below). Be sure not to grate in any any bits of white pith, which will make the beer bitter. Now grate in the fresh ginger, using the coarse teeth of the grater. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, the whole dried ginger (optional), the raisins, and the sugar.
Pour 1 litre of hot water into the bucket and stir well for about 3 minutes, or until the sugar has completely dissolved. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Now pour another 4 litres of warm water into the bucket, keeping a finger in the bucket to monitor the temperature of the water. The mixture should be warm - a few degrees above blood temperature - but not so warm that your finger thinks it’s having a nice hot bath.
Sprinkle the dried yeast over the top of the water and leave for five minutes, or until it’s dissolved. Now give the bucket of liquid a good stir with a wooden spoon or similar implement.
Cover the bucket with cling film and put it in a warmish place (not in direct sunlight). Leave for about 4-5 hours, stirring once or twice. During this time, you’ll see the raisins begin to spin in the water and the mixture will burble softly. When the raisins float to the top, the ginger beer is ready to bottle.
Scoop out the floating ginger pieces and lemon rind with a sieve and discard. Now strain the ginger beer, through a sieve, into a large jug with a pouring spout (you may have to do this in batches, if your jug is small). Put a towel or some newspaper on the counter while you do this, because there will be spillage.
Decant the strained ginger beer into clean, rinsed plastic bottles (see Note 4, below), filling each bottle to about 7 centimetres from the top. Put a single raisin (taken from the raisins you added earlier) in each bottle, screw on the lids tightly, and set the bottles on a counter-top, at room temperature. They shouldn’t be in a warm place, or in direct sunlight.
Leave overnight (or for at least 8 hours). During this time, the mixture will develop a lovely fizz. (See Note 5, below).
Now open each bottle very carefully: unscrew the lid gingerly (excuse the pun), in small increments, so that the gas escapes in little puffs. The liquid inside should fizz satisfyingly. When you’ve released the excess gas, screw on the lids tightly again, and put the bottles in the fridge. (The cold will all but stop the fermentation process).
Leave to chill completely. Serve with a slice of lemon and plenty of ice. Or try it with a stiff glug of gin.
Makes about 5 litres. Keeps well in the fridge for up to a week.
Erfaringer:
- 750 ml sukker gør den meget sød.
- Brug dobbelt så meget ingefær for at få noget smag i.
- Brug tidligere sodavandsflasker for at de kan holde til trykket.
- Prøv med mindre gær, da det smager lidt igennem.