I don’t understand the instructions. What is a ‘plant’? When and how do you put it into the muslin?
I had some of that on a trip to South Carolina. I tried both kinds. Then I read the ingredients. The hot version is spiked with chili pepper extract. This is what makes it hotter than any purely ginger beverage.
Here you go:
http://www.freshgingerale.com/
This stuff is really good and would make a great Dark and Stormy. On its own it is delicious, though it really is quite spicy and much more ginger beer than ginger ale.
Reed’s Extra Ginger Brew for me. It is the best of what is available hereabouts. It has a nice, peppery bite and isn’t overly carbonated.
The “plant” is the yeast/sugar/ginger/water mixture that you put in a jar and “feed” sugar and ginger daily for a week. Then you strain it through muslin and use the liquid to make ginger beer. The solid that is left in the muslin is halved and put back into fresh water in the jar. You can either discard the other half, or use it to start a second ginger beer plant.
This is how my mum made ginger beer when I was a child, although she got her plant from a relative rather than starting her own. My co-worker’s mother started her plant using sultanas instead of yeast, which was an alternative method that came up when I was searching. Apparently ginger beer plants were common on kitchen window sills before WW2 but fell out of favour after.
Non-Alcoholic: Old Jamaica
Alcoholic: Williams Bros.
How odd… it’s like a sourdough starter of sorts.
I wonder what the advantage is; seems to me you could just make the ‘plant’ new each time, starting a few days early.
Groovy. I SO want… 
Goya. It lacks the snob appeal of Old Tyme or Reed’s, but hits the spot every time. For a real treat, mix it 50/50 with any mass-market beer.
I’ve only ever encountered the phrase “ginger beer” in books, even though I’ve always been thoroughly familiar with both “ginger ale” and “root beer.” So I’ve wondered, ever since I was a kid, just what it is, and whether it’s a totally old-fashioned thing or a totally British thing (or both).
It’s was a British thing but I started seeing it in Midwest in the early 1990s in gourmet, health food, and hippie shops. These days ant decent supermarket has a few bottles of Reed’s or Stewart’s. Places like Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and gourmet markets will have more brands.
Reed’s is the best. Stewart’s is way too sweet but I’ll drink it if that’s all there is. Recently I’ve discovered a brand I really like, Fresh Ginger.
Since I last posted to this thread in 2004, I’ve continued to try new varieties. I still enjoy Reed’s extra strength a lot, and Old Tyme, but Buderin is great, as is Blenheim’s. AJ Stephan’s makes a top notch product too. Ginger People is good, and their lemon variety is nice. Fentiman’s is enjoyable.
I’m drinking a Fentimans right now. It’s not bad but it has too much of a raw ginger flavor – that woody scent you get when you cut or chew raw ginger. That’s my least favorite aspect of ginger.
This thread inspired me to write Old Jamaica and ask where I can find it in the USA. I’ve had it when in the UK and liked it but I’ve never seen it locally.
You mean Old Tyme? I have to buy mine when I visit my daughter in Canada.
Nope. Old Jamaica. I’ll look for Old Tyme on my next visit to Canada though. Thanks.
Break out a large stock pan. Boil 40 grams of chopped ginger with 3 halved lemons and 400 grams of sugar in some water for ten minutes or so. Take the pan of the heat and fill up with cold water to 5 liters. Make sure the temperature is down below ~ 40 C. Add one packed of dehydrated yeast. Put the lid on the pot, cover with a plastic bag and let it stand for 2 or 3 days in a warmish room.
Filter the liquid, put in plastic bottles and let stand for another day or so until the pressure has made the bottles quite stiff. On warm days, that may take only a few hours. Put in the fridge to cool and stop most of the carbonation/alcohol production. Drink when cold.
I used to love Stewart’s when I could get it. Now I drink Maine Root every time that I go to Whole Foods. Also, Sprecher make a good ginger ale.
Keep 'em coming folks!
Coincidentally in view of this bump, this weekend I had a bottle of the best ginger beer I ever drank - Barritts Ginger Beer. A good fresh ginger taste. I recommend it.
For an excellent alcoholic Ginger Beer check out Stones Ginger Beer, No idea if it’s avialable in the US though.
For non-alcoholic Bundaberg is the way to go. Funnily enough Bundaberg also brew my very favourite Sars ever. (Sarsparilla - similiar to Root Beer)