The How Zone

Making Ginger Beer

Bubble Machine


bubbles

After a few hours you should start seeing tiny bubbles in the jug. The timing will vary, depending on how warm it is and how well the yeast kicks in. If nothing happens after a day there's a good chance the yeast was bad or something in the mixture disagreed with it...dump it.

When you see a steady stream of bubbles it is time to bottle the ginger beer.


I use plastic bottles. The main reason is safety. With plastic it's easy to give the bottle a squeeze and judge how much pressure has built up. With glass you have no indication. If you want to use glass then I'd recommend searching for good references on the precautions and safety, it can be dangerous.

These plastic bottles are from a six pack of walmart spring water. I've also tried the tall, skinny plastic bottles (with ribs) but they don't hold as much and seem to be made of a more brittle plastic.

Clean the bottles and arrange the lids, funnel, and cheesecloth for pouring. Ideally if you can pour one bottle right after the other without jostling the gallon jug you will pour off the least amount of sediment. Grab a friend to help.

Fill each bottle about an inch from the top and screw on the plastic lid firmly. Squeeze one of the bottles before putting on the lid so that almost all of the air is squeezed out, then cap while it's still squeezed. This deformed bottle will be a "visual" test. By looking at it you will be able to judge how quickly the pressure is building by how long it takes to re-inflate.

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