Ginger Ale Redux

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The Professor-guy?s Homemade Ginger Ale

1 cup sugar ? $0.30

1 lemon ? $0.30

2 tbsp grated ginger ? $0.25

1/4 teaspoon yeast ? $0.15

water ? negligible

2 liter plastic bottle

Total: $1.00

OK ? you probably want to grate up the ginger first. This took me the longest time, even with a really good microplane zester thingy. I just have the habit of grating knuckles and fingertips when going too quickly. You can use less ginger ? we actually felt like it needed MORE, but then we?re ginger eating maniacs.

Get the plastic bottle and make sure it?s clean. Oh, dude, I would NOT use glass bottles. No way. Using that much yeast makes it ferment like a fermenting madman. Just know that I will not be held responsible for any inadvertent boom-booms. Trust me, or rather, trust the Professor-guy whose recipe this is.

Get a plastic funnel, pour the sugar and yeast into the bottle. Shake it a little. Get a glass measuring cup, stick the ginger in it. Juice the lemon, and pour it into the cup as well. Swirl it around.

Now dump that lemon-ginger mofo into the funnel. Professor-guy said to not worry about it sticking in the funnel. Fill up the unwashed glass measuring cup with clean water. Pour that into the funnel and it?ll wash all the remains into the bottle. Damn, I like this Professor-guy ? such attention to detail.

Fill up the remaining space in the plastic bottle with clean water. You can use the funnel if you like. Just don?t fill it up too much. I actually left about 2 inches at the top, though Professor-guy says 1 inch is OK. Cap it and shake to distribute ? turn the bottle upside down to make sure the sugar is not sticking in the crevices.

Now comes the sketchy part ? leave the bottle in room temperature for between 8-48 hours. I would say to put it in a bomb-proof bag, but not everyone has one of those. The reason for the great range of time is that the temperature of the room and the efficacy of the yeast can be REALLY different.

So how do you know it?s done ? you kinda ?squeeze the bottle forcefully?. So much for science! If you can?t really dent it in, then it?s time to refrigerate it. Then chill it in the fridge overnight. When you?re opening it the next day, make sure to open it slowly. Dang, there?s a lot of gas in there.

You?ll want to strain it into a glass, unless you like bits of ginger and lemon floating around in your glass. I actually do ? feels more homemade.

This entire recipe was copped from Professor-guy. Thank you, Professor-guy.

http://www.bloglander.com/cheapeats/ This is where my inspiration piece came from. My mind wanders at the possibilities. Orange lemon syrup, vanilla maple syrup, vanilla orange syrup, very possibly the jackpot of taste..

The ratio seems to be 1 cup of sugar (a little more in my case) to ¼ teaspoon of yeast (champange yeast works best) 3 tablespoons lemon juice to most of a two liter fresh water and flavor. Additions include ¼ teaspoon pure salt, pure vanilla extract, flavor oils and endless combinations. Sugar/ stevia combinations could make this a good option for diabetics. Paying 7 dollars for a case may seem down right silly when compared to the ease of this recipe.