Homemade Ginger Ale

In a previous post, we explained how you can make root beer at home, either with a Seltzer Maker (easy) or by buying basic ingredients and concocting it from scratch (harder, but perhaps more fun). Here we want to show you how you can make ginger ale at home, that staple for sore throats and coughs.

Of course, Seltzer Makers remain the easiest way to do this. Just buy a machine and purchase the ginger ale syrup concentrate and you're there. But again, for those who wish to be more elemental about this, here are some steps for getting at a refreshing, home-cooked bottle of delicious ginger ale.

1. Add 1 cup of sugar to a 2 liter bottle.
2. Throw in 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. Any reputable brand yeast will do.
3. Grate about 1 1/2 table spoon of raw ginger. You can do a little more or less to taste.
4. Mix the grated ginger with a tiny bit of water just to be able to pour mixture into the bottle.
5. Fill bottle with water leaving a little room at the top.
6. Let bottle sit at room temperature for about three days until bottle is hard with accumulated gases.
7. Chill and serve.

Be careful to remove the bottle cap slowly when first opening. The pressure from the gases can be quite strong and may blow off the cap forefully if unscrewed too quickly.

There's nothing more to it than that. We think this is fun to try at home, once or twice. After that, go back to the Seltzer Maker machine. That may be a little less creative, but absolutely more practical!

Cheers.