Ginger Ale... Part 1

I think I really should have liked Chemistry class more.  Or at least have done better in it.  I do like some good old-fashioned chemistry now, but I guess that's the problem.  We didn't make soda in chem class. 

As soon as I heard it was possible to make ginger ale at home (with minimal supplies and equipment) My eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning.  I don't even like ginger ale.  There were no Pepsi recipes though. and beggars can't be choosers.

What could be more fun?  The only thing I needed that I didn't have at home was a clean, empty 2L pop bottle.  I called around to see if I could find one, but alas, no one had any, so I was bad.  Not capable of the patience required to wait for someone I knew to buy and finish 2L of pop, I went to the grocery store and picked up the cheapest club soda I could find and used it to clean the drains.  (It does help with that you know).

As far as ingredients, you only need:

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon dry, active yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons grated ginger

the juice of one lemon

water

Easy enough.

First off...  get a bigger funnel than the one I have pictured.  While trying to put the sugar into the bottle mine did this:

mmm, sugar clog.  I tell you, I have no patience, and trying to find my larger one seemed to take too long.

So, get the sugar into the bottle, then dump in the yeast

Grate up your ginger.  You can use a rasp if you have one (I do, but considering my brain power today, I figured I'd cut my fingers off) or the smallest cutting holes on a cheese grater. 

I was very close to getting out the cheese grater turn-y thing (like they use for parmesan at Olive Garden), it seemed like it would be really easy to use, but I figured, I haven't used it yet, why start now?

Mix the grated ginger with the juice from one whole lemon.  The lemon is important to kill off and prevent bacteria.

Dump the whole lot into the bottle.  If you're like me, and too lazy to use a funnel, just pour very carefully so as not to make an enormous mess.

Shake the bottle around a bit to make sure everything is well mixed and no sugar is stuck in the bottom ridges of the bottle.

Fill with clean water (the website I was reading made sure to mention this, I sure am glad they did because it would have been a tragedy if I used scummy water when I was supposed to use clean stuff) leaving about an inch at the neck.  Flip over a few times until everything is well incorporated.  I don't think you should shake it at this point, because the yeast is starting to act to carbonate it.  I did, but I thought better of it after.

Now, you just need to let it sit on the counter for 24-48 hours.  This all depends (I think) on how quickly it carbonates.  If you leave it out too long, the pressure will build up too much and you'll have a ginger ale geyser when you try to open it.  Once the bottle is hard, and you can't dent it (think of a new bottle of pop) it's done and you should stick it in the fridge to stop the carbonation.

*fingers crossed*

Stay tuned...