Ginger Beer – Wild Fermented WITHOUT Yeast

This recipe for ginger beer uses REAL GINGER and NO commercial YEAST. It is easy, 100% natural, delicious and a true money saving.

Welcome to the zesty world of Ginger Beer, a world so vast one could write a whole book about!

Ginger beer(s), ginger ales, ginger syrups, fermented and non fermented versions, gingerettes…

… with or without lemon, with or without added yeast, with or without tartaric acid…and lime? Do we add lime?

In this blog post we are going to shed some light on all of the above, teach you how to make ginger beer at home and share with you the very easy and delicious recipes we ourselves use all the time.

First things first though.

And as you are here why not give this tasty drinks a try?

→ Fermented Watermelon Lemonade
→ Russian Beetroot Kvass
→ Elderflower champagne and lemonade

Ginger Beer vs Ginger Ale

What is the difference between ginger beer and ginger ale?

Ginger beer is the original and traditional English drink for which real ginger, water, sugar and sometimes a starter are brewed to obtain either an alcoholic or a non alcoholic drink.

This is the very beverage half the world fell in love with and the reason why, in this modern and very consumeristic era, a similar but mostly artificial drink called ginger ale was created.

One of the main differences between the two is that ginger beer uses real ingredients whilst ginger ale often takes advantage of artificial flavours.

Furthermore, where the original version produces an incredibly pleasant carbonation – thanks to fermentation – the other, beside being flatter, is simply injected with CO2 by a machine.

Most importantly fermented ginger beer, just like the name suggests, is indeed fermented and like all fermented drinks ( Russian bread kvass, nettle beer, tepache drink etc ) it is rich in probiotics.

On the contrary ginger ale, being a basic infused drink, does not contain any.

Ginger beer has been a beverage consumed globally for a long time.

In fact, aside from the original English version, other traditional beers have been produced for centuries both in South Africa and Jamaica.

South African Gemmerbier And Jamaican Ginger Beer

The South African drink, called gemmerbier ( gemmer for short ), is naturally fermented, cloudy and can be either made as non alcoholic or quite alcoholic. 

The result depends on how much sugar is added and how long the brew is allowed to ferment for.

It is such a staple that almost every family has a secret recipe for it, a recipe that has often been passed down for generations. 

Some of these recipes use fresh ginger, some others powdered ginger and a few combine both.

But nearly all of them use raisins and other fruits for flavouring. 

Many of the gemmerbier recipes available online make use of tartaric acid or cream of tartar and if you have ever wondered why, the answer is that they both help to quickly lower the ph of the solution.

The reason for that is to reduce the growth of potential microorganisms inside the brew.

We never use them in our recipes though, so don’t worry, you won’t need them.

Jamaican ginger beer instead, is made by infusing water with fresh ginger ( Jamaicans say their ginger is the best and most pungent in the world ) and by adding sugar and lime

The drink is then refrigerated and consumed as is or mixed with carbonated water.

It is probably fair to say it is the original and natural ginger ale!

How To Make Ginger Beer At Home

Now that some light has been shed, let’s proceed with learning how to make a delicious one at home.

From zero to hero.

Ginger Bug

If you have searched the web for recipes about making naturally fermented ginger beer you have probably come across something called ginger bug.

And you have come across it quite often because it is widely used in place of store bought yeast.

Even though we don’t use it in our simple recipes I will quickly explain what it is in case you decide to go down that route ( which you would be 100% fine with ).

To say it simply, ginger bug is a starter culture in which we intentionally create the best environment for wild yeasts, naturally present in and on ginger, to proliferate.

Thanks to such proliferation we are able to jump start the fermentation of our brew.

You will simply take a glass jar ( like Fido jars ) and place grated unpeeled ginger, water and sugar in it, let it rest for 24 hours and begin the feeding process the following day.

So every day for up to 6-7 days you will feed your wild yeasts a little more sugar and a little more ginger.

This is because, just as sourdough starter requires time to be mature enough to be an effective levain, ginger bug will need up to a week of continuous feeding to be strong enough to use.

Moreover if you intend to keep using it for future brews you will have to keep the yeasts alive by periodically feeding them.

As we want to simplify every process as much as possible we apply a method – where a “yeast water” is used in place of ginger bug – which requires less time, effort and works just as well.

Here is our very simple recipe to make ginger beer from scratch only using natural ingredients.

Fermented Ginger Beer Without Yeast

This recipe will produce a spicy non alcoholic ginger beer that is perfect as is or mixed with soft drinks like lemonades, fruit juice or simply with water.

Beside being delicious, it will also improve your digestion and help you out with any heavy lunch…

INGREDIENTS

For the starter

• 350 ml / 1.5 cups of water
• 35 gr of sugar
• 35 gr of fresh ginger

For the beer

• 4L / 1 gallon of water
• 8 tbsp of sugar
• 450 gr of fresh ginger

*** You have to follow these next steps ( day 1 to day 3 ) ONLY THE FIRST TIME you make ginger beer ***

STEPS

Preparing The Starter

DAY 1 Put water, sugar and grated unpeeled ginger in a jar then seal it and keep it at room temperature ( ideally above 20 Celsius or 68 Fahrenheit )

Every so often shake the jar vigorously.

DAY 2 Shake the jar at least twice a day.

DAY 3 By now you should see some activity on the surface of your ginger starter; if not you can add a little more ginger to the mix and/or place the jar in a warmer area of your house.

Shake it twice a day.

As a rule of thumb if you see bubbles or froth on the surface of the liquid it means the wild yeasts have been reproducing, fermentation is ongoing and the starter is ready to use.

So let’s assume it is.

Making Beer

STEPS

1. Grate or chop ginger ( unpeeled ), place it in a big bowl then add all the water. Cover with a lid or a cloth and let it sit overnight
2. Pour ginger and water into a big pan and add all the sugar. Heat up on the stove and stir to dissolve sugar then let the liquid cool until it reaches room temperature
3. Filter through a cloth or a colander right into a sealable glass jar then add all the starter you have previously prepared
4. Stir with a spoon then seal and let ferment for 48 hours
5. You can now bottle the beer! If you want to obtain a fizzy drink add 1 tsp of sugar to every bottle before pouring the liquid in
6. Seal the bottles, shake them to dissolve sugar and let them rest for 48hours more

NOW ENJOY A WONDERFUL WILD FERMENTED GINGER BEER you have made from scratch!

TIPS

Remember that the magic critters inside your ginger beer will continue to ferment it making it taste more and more sour.

In order to slow down fermentation, you can keep the bottles inside the refrigerator, but, if you make large batches and don’t want all your fridge estate to be taken up by such bottles, pasteurising them in hot water for 30 minutes is the best option.

Keep in mind though, that pasteurisation ( aka heat ) will kill all the probiotics.

If you just fell in love with your wild fermented beer and intend to make it quite often make sure to always save at least 250 ml ( 1 cup ) of the last brew.
It will be the starter for the next one.

Pretty handy right?

But what if I want to make fermented ginger beer without yeast and without a starter, you might ask?

You absolutely can!

And it’s also a very simple process, much similar to the recipe above minus the preparation of the yeast water.

Make Homemade Vinegar With (almost) Anything

Fermented Ginger Beer Without Starter

INGREDIENTS

• 4L / 1 gallon of water
• 8 tbsp of sugar
• 450 gr of fresh ginger

STEPS

1. Pour water into a pot, add sugar and heat up whilst stirring to dissolve sugar
2. Remove pot from the stove and allow water to cool down to 35C (95 F). In the meantime grate ginger ( unpeeled ) and add it to a sealable glass jar
3. Add water to the jar and stir vigorously with a spoon for a minute to incorporate oxygen
4. Cover with a cloth or paper towel and let it sit for 24 hours at room temperature stirring occasionally
5. Seal the jar with a lid and ferment for 48 to 72 hours remembering to stir or shake a couple of times per day. Release CO2 by unscrewing the lid if necessary
6. Bottle up by filtering through a cloth or a colander, seal and let ferment for 48 more hours

*** When you see activity such as bubbles or froth you know fermentation has started; from that moment wait another 24 hours before bottling ***

For a fizzier result add 1 tsp of sugar per bottle

That’s it!!

A Word Of Caution

This type of fermented drinks ( beetroot kvass, blaand etc ) can produce a significant amount of CO2 and pressure inside any vessel.

It is therefore important to always unscrew lids when necessary and to only use plastic bottles to avoid explosions.

Last but not least.

Is Naturally Fermented Ginger Beer Alcoholic?

Yes, it can be.

But both our recipes will render a nearly non alcoholic beer because of the short fermentation time and the limited amount of sugar we use.

For this reason, and for its wonderful taste, we believe this could easily be the best ginger beer to make Moscow mule.

But if you wanted to make ginger beer the centrepiece of your grown up cocktail then make an alcoholic one.

Just do this

Follow all the steps of your favourite recipe above with these two little variations:

. Use more sugar: 100gr to 200gr per litre (half a cup to one cup per qart)
.. Let it ferment until activity inside the airlock has terminated
… For a fizzy result prime the bottles by adding 1 teaspoon of sugar in each of them

DONE!

Now the ball is in your court!

For any questions or suggestions drop us a line below in the comment section and don’t forget to let us know how your first brew went.

See you soon.