ginger water and or ale, or beer...?

[bornthrifty]

I have been wanting to make gingerale

but all of the recipies I have found use yeast
and one has the addition of whey


I am wondering if grandma really added yeast or just let hers sit on the counter and ferment naturally for a day or two...

anyone know how or if it is possible to make an ale or water w/o the addition of store bought yeast?


thanks so much

 

[Henrietta23]

I have been wanting to make gingerale

but all of the recipies I have found use yeast
and one has the addition of whey


I am wondering if grandma really added yeast or just let hers sit on the counter and ferment naturally for a day or two...

anyone know how or if it is possible to make an ale or water w/o the addition of store bought yeast?


thanks so much

I learned about ginger water from Little House on the Prairie. A quick Google of "ginger water" shows that it is made with brown sugar, ginger, cider vinegar and water.
It must be that the yeast helps with the carbonation of ginger ale?

 

[Farmfresh]

Grandma might have "captured" a wild yeast and then kept a starter, like you do with sour dough bread. Unless you are allergic to yeast I would just use some the first time and then keep a "starter" of that for the future.

 

[Wifezilla]

They most likely got a "starter" from a friend or used the whey method. Since a lot of people had their own cows and lacto-fermenting was common, whey would have been very easy to get.

 

[bornthrifty]

ok, thanks guys

I might try lacto fermenting with whey

I am loosing my interest in things that have commercial yeast,

so maybe whey is the whey to go

 

[Mackay]

Hey, let us know how it goes and share your recipe if it works out!

 

[~gd]

I have been wanting to make gingerale

but all of the recipies I have found use yeast
and one has the addition of whey


I am wondering if grandma really added yeast or just let hers sit on the counter and ferment naturally for a day or two...

anyone know how or if it is possible to make an ale or water w/o the addition of store bought yeast?


thanks so much

Store yeast was bred to produce carbon dioxide gas to make bread rise it usually doesn't work very well to make alcohol (do you want that in your ginger beer or ale or water?) If you do want a alcohol kick try to get some live brewer's yeast it will convert all the sugars to alcohol an then die.(a home brew store or on the internet) Sourdough starter has both yeast and bacteria (bacteria=sour) I don't know about whey but I suspect it is all bacteria since I can't think of a dairy product with alcohol and carbon dioxide bubbles.
I suspect you grandma got her starter the same place I get mine to produce soft cider from apple juice. get an untreated apple or grapes,(they have a natural yeast in the bloom on the skin)crush and put in a bottle with a loose fiting top. leave at a warm room temperature and look at it at least once a day. when you see bubbles rising or foam on the top (usually two-three days)you have a live starter and place in the refrigerator still with a loose top to allow gas to excape. the cold temperature will slow it down so it lasts longer. Mix up a batch of your ginger drink and add a teaspoon of your starter when it is cooked and cool. leave in a warm place until you see bubbles rising like the starter, Move to the refrigerator for a cool refreshing drink. place in bottles and store carefully. If you want the drink to fizz when you open it the caps must be tight WARNING TIGHTLY CLOSED BOTTLES CAN EXPLODE IF YOU LET THE PRESSURE GET TO HIGH! I like to use plastic "pop" bottles with screw caps because they will buldge before the pressure gets too high, I check every night and unscrew the cap if doesn't look right, loose fitting corks are a option on glass as they will pop the cork and make a mess rather then explode sending glass flying everwhere. If you have ever opened a sparkling wine you know what I am talking about. I love soft cider in the beady stage, the taste of the fruit with just a touch of heat from the ~1% alcahol that it contains.
BTW there is nothing in the ingredients mentioned on this thread that will lacto-ferment so the use of whey makes no sense to me.~gd

 

[patandchickens]

I made ginger ale last year (or the year before? I forget) from the recipe on that Fankhauser guy's website in Ohio. It used regular ol' storeboughten bread yeast.

The result was *nasty*. Very bitter and sort of metallic-tasting.

If you could get maybe like a champagne yeast or something like that it *might* be better, I dunno.

Just sayin,

Pat

 

[Wifezilla]

Whey just acts as a food for naturally occurring lactobacilli.

 

[ORChick]

This is the recipe that I use, and I really like the results.

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2009/10/live-traditional-food-making-ginger.html