Ginger beer plant
8 raisins or sultanas (or half of the dry fraction of the plant from last time)
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2.5 cups water
Add 2 teaspoons ginger and 2 teaspoons sugar per day for a week.
Ginger beer
3 cups sugar
5 cups boiling water
juice of 3 lemons, oranges or limes to taste (I normally use 2 oranges, 1 lemon or 2 limes, 1 lemon, 1 orange)
7 litres cold water (or just top up to 10 L) as this is 8x 1.25 L soft drink bottles
First strain the plant through some kind of cloth as this takes time. Work on the rest of the mixture while it strains. Retain the dry part of the plant for next time (in a sanitised jar in the fridge, you’ll use about half of it to start your next plant). Dissolve sugar in boiling water, add fruit juice, top up with cold water to 8 L, add strained plant, top up to 10 L. Bottle in soft drink bottles. Leave for a week or until the bottles are hard to a squeeze. Refrigerate and drink. Any bottles left for more than 2 weeks, let out some gas to prevent them exploding. The beer will get drier and fizzer over time.
