I kept seeing a recipe for homemade ginger ale on Facebook, and I had lots of fresh ginger on hand, so I decided to make it!
There are two pretty obvious reasons why you should make homemade ginger ale. One, it’s made with ginger, which has numerous health benefits. And two, it’s fermented, which, as Frank pointed out, “Is probably why people say ginger ale is good for you when you’re sick, except only the REAL, FERMENTED version is, not the store-bought soda version they have now.”
To make homemade ginger ale, you’ll need the following simple ingredients:
- 3/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and diced
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup rapadura, sucanat or organic raw cane sugar
- 1/4 cup whey (from raw milk)
- 2 quarts filtered water
To prepare
Peel and chop ginger into little pieces. Alternatively, you can grate it or mince it.
Next, add the ginger and all the other ingredients to a 2 quart (half gallon) mason jar.
Cover with lid, and close tightly.
Leave it for 3-4 days (or longer). It should be a bit bubbly and fizzy.
Best served warm (unlike the soda version of ginger ale).
09/17/2012
Ginger ale update! Nice and fizzy! Tastes…well…like ginger ale! Just less sweet than commercial versions, which to me makes it even better! :)
Pretty! This has been a really wonderful article.
Many thanks for providing these details.
I am whey free and use ginger bug , or water kefir.
Can fresh lemon juice be substituted for the lime?
Definitely. :)
I looked at the link for vegetable starter, but it includes milk powder, putting it off-limits for my kids. Is there anything else you can think of that might work as a sub for whey? Perhaps a coconut milk derivative?
Yes!! I also can’t do dairy but would love to try this! What’s a vegetable culture?
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/caldwell-starter-culture-for-fresh-vegetables.html
I do pretty much the same thing with my water kefir. Delicious!!!
Is there an alternative to using whey because my family is trying to eliminate it from our diet?
Why are you trying to eliminate whey? You could use a vegetable culture, which can be bought at http://www.culturesforhealth.com/caldwell-starter-culture-for-fresh-vegetables.html.
Where do you find whey? And if I can’t find whey is there an alternative?
We use the whey that we get after making cheese with raw milk. If you can’t get that, I know that a lot of nutritional/health stores carry culture starters.
We use the whey that we get after making cheese with raw milk. If you can’t get that, I know that a lot of nutritional/health stores carry culture starters.
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/starter-cultures/yogurt-starter.html
Make home made ricotta cheese. It is easy and you will have plenty of whey left over. I use it instead of water to make bread. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Homemade-Ricotta-234282