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Homemade Ginger Ale

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By , About.com Guide

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I have always been a fan of ginger ale. It is one of my favorite soda waters and I can go through a case quickly, even when I'm not mixing it into drinks (examples below the recipe). The exciting part about a carbonated water like ginger ale is that you can easily make it yourself and this recipe is the method I've found that works the best for me.

This recipe will fill a 2-liter bottle and will store refrigerated for about 2 weeks. As long as your bottle (cleaning and reusing a plastic bottle is perfect) has a tight seal it should stay nicely carbonated for that duration.

Prep Time: 48 hours, 50 minutes

Total Time: 48 hours, 50 minutes

Yield: 2 liters

Ingredients:

  • 3 Tbsp fresh, finely grated ginger root
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 7 1/2 cups distilled or filtered water

Preparation:

  • In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the ginger, sugar, and 1/2 cup of water to a slow boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved.
  • Remove the ginger syrup from the heat, cover, and allow to set for 1 hour.
  • Strain the ginger from the syrup using a fine mesh strainer (repeat if necessary until all ginger is removed).
  • Continue to allow the syrup to chill until it reaches room temperature. Speed this up by placing the container in an ice bath or the refrigerator.
  • Place a clean funnel into a clean, plastic 2-liter bottle and pour in the syrup, yeast, lemon, and remaining water.
  • Place the cap on the bottle and give it a good shake to mix the ingredients.
  • Allow the ginger ale to rest at room temperature for 2 days. Check it for the desired carbonation and when that is reached chill it and serve.

Ginger Ale Recipes:

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