Ginger Ale

Just finished making, tasting :), and bottling some home made ginger ale using water kefir grains.

It was easy to do using sugar, ginger, lemon, water, pure baking soda and water kefir grains.  The result is a natural ginger ale filled with probiotics that are good for your intestinal health.  The kefir grains eat the sugar and naturally carbonate the water resulting in a refreshing fizz (and a mildly sweet probiotic drink.

Natural Ginger Ale Recipe

1/2 C sugar (I used raw but you don’t have to, I’ve also read that you can use other natural sweeteners but I haven’t tried it yet.)

2 oz ginger (This batch I grated, but it was hard to get out, the next batch I’m pealing and slicing into thin slices.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.)

1/2 lemon

pinch of pure baking soda

6 C Water

1/4 C Water Kefir Grains (or more, they grow)

Place the sugar, ginger, and water in a jar and shake to mix.  Add the water kefir, lemon, and baking soda.  Shake again if you want.  Cover the jar and let sit 24-48 hours.  You can gently shake it after 24 hours if it’s going to ferment more.  When it’s fermented to your liking, strain the ginger ale and pour it into sealable bottles.  Seal the bottles and place in the refrigerator.  I’ve read that if you leave it out it will get even more fizzy.  I’m going to try that with one bottle and put the other in the refrigerator – I’ll let you know how that turns out.

I really like the flavor of the ginger.  I’ve tried it using sugar and molasses, but didn’t care for the flavor of the molasses.  What I really like though is knowing that this soda is actually good for my family!  Now if I can only convince my husband to give up his Pepsi.  🙂