I recently had the fortune to lay my hands on a particular soft drink which is no longer available, Old Tyme Ginger Beer. My online sources for it had dried up, but a boutique grocery had about 18 12 oz. bottles in the back, which I snagged.
Only to discover they were flat!! :mad:
Now I can’t just dump the stuff; I won’t be able to replace this rather unique flavor. I’ve got plenty of Ginger People brand Ginger beer, along with Reeds, Stewarts, Sioux City, etc etc.
But Old Tyme was my first Ginger Beer, and I still think it was the best! Even flat, the ginger flavor is so strong that it’s an enjoyable repast.
But if there’s a way to put the fizz back in, on an individual serving basis, I hope some doper will enlighten me!
I have a bottle in my hand right now called “Old Tyme Jamaican Style Ginger Beer” with a picture of a one-eyed pirate on the label. If that’s the same drink, it’s still being made. It’s distributed by I-D Foods in Laval, Quebec, and carried by at least two supermarket chains here in Canada. The company doesn’t seem to have a Web page, but Google gave me some contact info:
Nah. I had one years ago that I used to make up carbonated juices with. It worked fine for that. You don’t want to let juices and stuff sit in the bottle for long as citric acid etc. can eat into the aluminum of your pressure cylinder. That’s a long term problem, but you can also get glass or plastic lined seltzer bottles which should minimize the problem. Check ebay and other sites as well. The prices on the link I gave seem a bit high.
If you get a bottle, be sure to try carbonated milk - It’s just WRONG!
Old Tyme Jamaican Ginger Beer is for sale in many Ontario supermarkets. It has a very strong ginger flavour. If you e-mail me I might be able to arrange a shipment, but it makes sense that there is a Canadian distributor given the fact most grocery stores have it. Toronto in particular has a large Jamaican community with a great variety of ginger beer brands.
Yeah, I’ve seen that pirate bottle too. I’ve never tried it, though. If it’s similar to ginger ale (which I drink lots of) then it’s probably worth trying.
About citric acid - carbonated water is saturated with CO[sub]2[/sub]. According to the following reaction (which just happens to be on the same page of the book as the stuff about catalytic converters in this book I have open):
where H[sub]2[/sub]CO[sub]3[/sub] is carbonic acid. The pH of such a solution is around 5.5. This isn’t as strong as a solution of citric acid but it still might be acidic enough to cause damage to metals during prolonged exposure. Still, I think you’d be able to recarbonate flat beverages with a seltzer bottle. (This post does not constitute a scientific opinion. Wear safety goggles.)
If it’s because you like a strong ginger, maybe you should consider making it yourself. Yeast carbonation. Good stuff. I use 4 oz. ginger and 2 cups sugar per gallon.
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Interested?
What would happen if you put the ginger beer in a PET bottle followed with a few chips of dry ice? Leave a bit of head space in the container.
Obviously dont put too much dry ice in. Just put in a little bit ( a couple of chips) at a time - and leave the container in the fridge, because the CO2 is more soluble as temp. decreases.
You can keep the dry ice in a polystyrene box outside in a cool spot.
I havent tried this but it should work, shouldnt it?
