Ginger Beer Makes 10 Pints Recipes

Steps:

• Grate the ginger on a coarse grater; you can leave the skin on if you like. Put the ginger with its pulpy juice in to a bowl and sprinkle in your muscovado sugar.
• Remove the rind from 2 of your lemons with a vegetable peeler, add to the bowl, and slightly bash and squash with something heavy like a rolling pin or a pestle. Just do this for 10 seconds, to mix up the flavours.
• Squeeze the juice from all 3 lemons and add most of it to the bowl. Pour in the fizzy water.
• Allow to sit for 10 minutes and then taste. You may feel that the lemons are slightly too sour, therefore add a little more sugar; if it's slightly too sweet, add a little more lemon juice.
• Pass the ginger beer through a coarse sieve in to a large jug and add lots of ice and some sprigs of mint.

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring 10 pints of water to a boil.
• Add the ginger and sugar then let cool to lukewarm.
• Add the raisins and sprinkle in the yeast.
• Cover and leave in the refrigerator for 2 days.
• Strain the liquid and pour into the sterilized bottles.
• Screw on the bottle tops and refrigerate for another 2 days before drinking.

Steps:

• Put the ginger in a saucepan set over a low heat with the lemon peel, sugars and 500ml water and stir until the sugars have dissolved. Increase the heat to medium, then simmer for 15-20 mins, or until reduced and syrupy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
• Strain the syrup into a jug through a sieve lined with muslin. At this stage, you can transfer the syrup to a small sterilised bottle or jar and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
• Pour the ginger syrup into a large serving jug. Tip in the lemon juice, fill with ice and top up with the soda water. Serve garnished with a few mint sprigs.

Steps:

• Take a 1.5-liter plastic bottle of spring water and empty it into a clean pitcher. Use some of it to make simple syrup by stirring 1/2 pound sugar into 1 cup hot water until fully dissolved.
• In a large measuring cup, mix all ingredients and stir well. Funnel back into the plastic bottle and cap tightly. Store in a warm, dark place for 24 to 48 hours. (I put mine inside a box, to contain it if it should blow.) The top of the bottle will expand and become tight. Check it and very slowly release the pressure if it's looking groaningly tight. Some people ferment it with no top, or with the top on loosely, to allow gas to escape. I suppose if you wanted to get fancy you could spend $1.50 on a fermentation lock and stop worrying about it. If the temperature is quite warm, above 80F, a single day may be sufficient. The longer you let it ferment, the drier the final mix will be.
• After 48 hours, refrigerate it to stop the fermentation. Once chilled, you can strain out the pulp and dead yeast, which will have made a sediment on the bottom. Makes 1 liter and will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.