Summerific, I will be contacting you through Ravelry to get your address and ship out your skein of Malibrigo Rasta and iDye. Just head on over to the Stitches web site to choose your colour of iDye and let me know what you have chosen.
And now, as promised....GINGER BEER!
Traditionally ginger beer is a lemony, minty, fizzy drink. But I like mine the way I like my life....SPICY! (OK. My life isn't that spicy but I can dream can't I?) I use cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg to give this bevvy a ginger cookie taste and it's the yum! The other up side of this recipe is that it makes a WICKED cocktail when you add ice and Gin. Hello Gin & Ginger!
So here's what you need to make 4.5 litres:
- a large stainless steel pot
- a 5 litre mason jar
- 9 or10 16 0z mason jars
- strainers
- a food processor
- 4 litres of H2O
- 3 cups of ginger run through the food processor
- 3.25 cups of sugar
- 5 grams of wine yeast
- 1 Tbsp whole cloves
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- In your pot your going to put the water and heat it to a boil.
- Turn of the element and add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Congratulations! You've just made a simple syrup.
- Add your ginger and the spices and stir.
- Now you're going to let this sit, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches body temperature. When you poke a finger in it should not be hot. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast. If it's too cool it will not activate the yeast. If you don't mind the mess, you can always pour a spoonful on your wrist. If it's body temperature you won't really feel the liquid touching your skin.
- Next you're going to add the wine yeast. Crazy Cat is displaying the wine yeast that I use. I get it in the homemade boozy section of my grocery store. You can add regular yeast but your finished product will have a yeastier flavour.
- Now you're going to pour your concoction into your 5 litre jar and let it rest for a couple of days. This is where the yeast is going to do it's thing and belch and fart until your ginger beer gets a little fizzy. Here Crazy Cat and Freaky Fido guard the concoction.....no peeking!
- OK! Next you're going to strain your mixture two times! Once through a large sieve to get rid of all of the big chunkyness and then...
- ...through cheesecloth into your smaller mason jars. Jars that are just the right size for holding a Gin and Ginger.
And Viola! Tower O' Ginger Beer!
At this point I put the whole batch in the fridge for a day to let it get really fizzy. When you open a jar a pretty strong yeasty smell will come off of it but that dissipates in about 2 seconds. This is very slightly alcoholic and will become more so the longer you let it sit. How much more? Your guess is as good as mine! Sounds like a good experiment to me!
Enjoy everybody and....
Peace on Your Heads!
Felix-Marie
Wow! Thank you! Awesome recipe too, I'll have to try it I LOVE ginger! :D
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