May 1st ginger beer

Home-made lemon beer is a traditional Finnish spring drink, prepared for the May 1 party. This version is made of ginger and is basically ginger beer. It is easy to make and tastes of childhood memories... So much better that industrial soft drinks!


Ingredients

4 l water
100 g fresh ginger, grated
juice of 2 lemons
200 g brown sugar
200 g sugar
1/2 teaspoon yiest

Preparation

Cook 2 litres of water, mix with grated ginger and sugars, stir until all sugar is dissolved. Add rest of water (2 l) and lemon juice, cool until luke warm. Take 1/2 dl of liquid and dissolve the yiest into it, then mix with the rest of the liquid. Cover with a kitchen towel, and store in a dark warm place overnight.

Strain the liquid into a large bowl until it is clear, then pour it into clean and sterile (heated for 10 minutes in 100 celsius oven) glass bottles. Add a couple of raisins into each bottle: once the raisins float, your ginger beer is ready.

The fermentation takes three days in room temperature and roughly a week in the frigde. During the process release the pressure in the bottle frequently by opening them carefully.

Note: do not fill up the bottles all the way because the fermentation will yield carbon dioxide!