It’s been ages since I’ve had ginger beer. I liked Vernor’s when I was a teen, but I haven’t seen it since then. No place I go seems to carry it. So Monday I went to a little Turkish café for lunch, and they had Buderim Ginger ‘Authentic Australian Ginger Brew’. I bought two bottles; one each of ‘Yank Style’ and ‘Aussie Style’. I had the former Tuesday, and am drinking the latter now.
The Yank Style was good, but rather sweeter than I expected. The Aussie Style has more of a ‘bite’ to it, which I prefer. It still seems a bit sweet to me though. I wish I could find some Vernor’s for comparison. It seems to me that 20 years ago it had more of a bite than this stuff. But my memory can be faulty. I’ve just noticed the Aussie Style says ‘HOT’ on the bottle, while the other says ‘COOL’. You know how I like the Triple Ginger Snaps from Trader Joe’s. And I always like the pickled ginger that comes with sushi. Make mine, ‘hot’ please!
I’d give the Buderim Ginger Aussie Style a thumbs up. I’d get it again. It’s two bucks a bottle, but I don’t drink that much soda so that’s all right. This brand is made with real ginger (I’ve heard that most commercially available ginger ales in the U.S. don’t have much in the way of actual ginger in them) and cane sugar (unlike most U.S. soft drinks, which seem to use high fructose corn syrup).
Have you tried Buderim Ginger Brews? Which ginger ales and/or ginger beers do you like?
Erstwhile Vernors addict here. (Haven’t touched the stuff in 20 years. 
) I seem to recall its status vis à vis ginger ale/beer was somewhat dubious: it tasted like GB to GA drinkers, and like GA to GB drinkers.
Wait. Getting up at four, driving a hundred miles to the office… Days are running into each other. I actually got the drinks Friday and had one on Sunday and the other today. I’ve got to get an apartment closer to work…
I’m a big fan of Blenheim’s red-cap. ISTR that the A-Treat golden ginger ale was also good.
Johnny L.A., now that you’re in Seattle you might want to stop in Vessel sometime after work. It’s a swanky bar one door north of the Fifth Avenue Theatre. They brew their own ginger beer, and it’s pretty good.
In the states you can find ‘Jamaican’ style ginger beer which has a lot more bite than ginger ale. Two of my favorite cocktails are moscow mules (GB, vodka and lime wedge) and bourbon and gb. I really like Jones GB, but I find GA too bland.
I’m a bit of a ginger beer addict. If you can get hold of it, Fentiman’s is great stuff – not too sweet, not too fizzy and with plenty of bite. Their cola is fantastic too – a world away from Coke or Pepsi, it’s like pure extract of those chewy cola-bottle penny sweets and again not too fizzy. 
Best ginger beer I ever had was home made - Alison Holst’s (NZ cook) 24 hour Ginger Beer - no plant, no feeding, just an overnight ferment, bottling and 2 weeks waiting. Absolutely stunning.
I once found an older bottle to open (maybe 6 weeks old), 2 litre Plastic bottle. It was very firm. I cracked the lid - ssssss. I cracked the lid a bit more - sssssss. A bit more - ssss. Seemed to be ok, so I flicked the lid round and off.
It sat there for maybe a second. Then the top half of the turned into foam, shot out the nozzle, and (I kid you not) hit the ceiling. Mentos and Diet coke have nothing on yeasty over-fermented Ginger Beer. I had a huge mess to clean up (and we had guests coming). I was not happy, but the ginger beer was so good.
I’ll have to pull out the recipe again, and give it a go.
Si
And post it here of course.
A big second here for Blenheims red cap (the hot variety). It is painfully good. Not much body though. I should try mixing it with some of the more full-bodied brews for taste and texture.
I like Vernors. A few places carry it here (NW Florida), including Wal-Mart. To me it has a very good flavor, but no bite at all.
My favorite is Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. Good spicy stuff. I have a friend who insists it’s “like drinking razor blades.” An exaggeration, but it does have a kick.
It is bottled in Birmingham, AL, and I have no idea how widely they distribute it. But you can order it online from BuffaloRock.com.
My current faves:
A J Stephans
Reeds extra-ginger
Old Tyme
Regatta isn’t bad either.
Honorable mention: Vernor’s. Ginger ales are too weak, but Vernors is ok.
Otherwise, see link for earlier preferences.
I love a good ginger beer! Wish I could get A J Stephan’s more often!!!
Johnny, Fred Meyers carries Vernors. They also carry Reed’s and something called, IIRC, ‘Outrageous Brew’ which is pretty strong. Strong enough at least that my wife won’t drink it. The Vernors should be with the regular soft drinks, the Reed’s and that other are usually in the health food section for some obscure reason.
The OP probably isn’t going to want to hear this, but Buderim Ginger isn’t top dog around these parts anymore (I live 30 miles from Buderim) as Bundaberg Ginger Beer has made big inroads - and it’s mighty tasty, too!
mm
That’s all right. I’m nowhere near those parts! But compared to the mass-market ginger beers, it’s pretty darned good.
Thanks for the tip. I usually go to Cost Slutter because it’s close, but there’s a Fred Meyer in B’ham. I’ll look for Reed’s.
Make sure you try their extra ginger ginger brew! They make a lot of varieties, but that one is most gingery!
You know, last night I was sitting around enjoying a glass of the Vernor’s waiting for Lost to start. As it tickled my nose and made me sneeze like usual, I began thinking about how much I like good ginger ale/beer. I decided that I would finally get around to looking up that thread from last year and making my own. Well, look what thread is sitting right next to the Lost thread this morning! Nice timing you guys!
I will be stopping by the store for supplies after work. Qadgop, Silenus, or Shirley, have you kids tried making your own and gotten good results? Any hints or advice. The basic recipe I will be using is at…
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm
But I think I will use some clove and cardamon (just a little). I will substitute wine yeast. I will use lime instead of lemon. I will double the amount of ginger. And I will try Muscovado or Turbinado sugar and maybe some honey or molassas.
My roomate says he made ginger beer once. Once. See, he forgot to heat the bottles to stop the fermentation and one of the bottles exploded (i.e., structural failure of the glass bottle) in the room at his girlfriend’s grandmother’s house where he was making it. He says he’s been a little leery about making it since then.
Not having tried making it myself, I guess the advice would be to follow the lead of Mr. Pasteur!
Well, I tried it out last night! It will take a couple of days before I can drink it, though. I will report back here dutifully when I do.
I pretty much followed the instructions in the link above to a tee. But I used 2 to 3 times more ginger, I used turbinado sugar, I used all purpose “wine yeast” found at my local home brewery supply store, and I used the juice of half a lime instead of lemon.
In the link, the scientist who wrote the website states in no uncertain terms that you should never use a glass bottle for making ginger ale. He also says that you should leave it out at room temperature for only 24 to 48 hours while fermatation occurs. It is during this time that the pressure builds and you are susceptible to explosion. He claims that as soon as you are satisfied with the fermentation / pressure in the bottle, you stick it in the fridge and the fermentation process will stop, I assume because the yeast will no longer have enough heat to be active.
I just chugged the rest of my Vernor’s 2 litre, washed it out, and made my batch in there. I could see bubbles within 30 seconds of adding the water, and this morning the bottle was much firmer than it was last night. It is sitting on my kitchen stove right now, but I might move it to the unfinished basement when I get home from work tonight… just in case :eek:
Well, I got home from work Friday to find a rock hard 2 litre of homemade ginger ale. Apparently it was ready in under 24 hours. I immediately popped it in the fridge while handling it like sweaty dynamite.
After about 2 and a half hours of chilling, I took it out and decided I would try to open it. I VERY carefully cracked the top until it started wildly hissing at me. I left it in that state for about 8 or 9 minutes until it stopped. I opened it up all the way and poured myself a glass over ice. I had to use a strainer to keep all the junk out of the glass.
It was very good. It was spicy with a bite that tingled the back of my throat. It was full flavored, which I will attribute to the turbinado. The lime juice seemed to cut through and tie the flavors together with a tang. It obvously had a ton of carbonation in it, but yet it was still slightly flat tasting… but I didn’t mind.
It was easy to do and was very refreshing to drink while I was working outside Saturday. I bought enough ginger to make about 5 more batches so I will be trying again very soon. Too bad I only have one 2 litre bottle to work with.
I just had the same experience. It was ready to put in the fridge in 16 hours instead of 24. I may have put it in a little too early anyway. It’s chunky due to my lack of strainer and poor decanting skills. It’s also a little flat since I seemed to have beat uch of the tingle out of it in my fumbling. But it tastes great and I will definitely give it another go with better water and more patience. And a strainer.
I want to give it more “kick” though. What would be a good ingredient for that?