Make | A Ginger Beer 'Starter'

This easy-to-make starter will set you off on your ginger beer brewing journey

Root ginger has vivacious populations of yeasts and bacteria on its surface, which make for a thrilling bubbly brew. Surprisingly easy and satisfying, it takes about a week to ferment.

MAKES 6 TBSP OF STARTER

100g fresh ginger (ideally organic)
35g raw, organic caster sugar

1 Finely grate 1 tbsp fresh ginger, skin still on, into a small bowl. Add 1 tsp sugar and 1-2 tbsp filtered water and mix to a moist paste; it should not be too watery. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to ferment at room temperature for 1 day.

2 Uncover the bowl and add another 1 tbsp grated ginger, 1 tsp sugar and 1-2 tbsp water to the ginger paste.

3 Repeat for another 4-5 days, topping up your mix each day with the same ratio of ginger, sugar and water, until it starts to fizz a little – if you dip a spoon in you should hear a little snap, crackle and pop, and there will be bubbles. There should also be a ring of yeast on the base of the bowl. Once you have bubbles and yeast, your ginger bug is ready to use.

Cook’s note: It’s better to use organic ginger, as the chemicals involved in conventional farming tend to disrupt the natural balance of bacteria and yeasts on the surface of ginger.

Storing your ginger beer starter

Store your ginger bug, covered, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks between batches. If you plan to brew ginger beer regularly, keep a little bit of your ginger starter back and store it in the fridge until you’re ready for your next brew. Top it up with a paste of 1 tbsp grated ginger, 1 tsp sugar and 2-3 tbsp water to feed it, ready for brewing. You can do this before storing in the fridge, or a few days before brewing.

Once your starter is ready to use, you can make your own homemade ginger beer with the addition of only some sugar and water. Turn to page 43 of the November issue to find the instructions on how to make your finished ginger beer.

Making it fancy

If you want to get fancy you can make your ginger beer with different flavours. Try these additions…

Apple & rosemary (good for sore throats)

Plum & wood avens (or clove)

Pear & star anise

Lemon & thyme

Cranberry (or hawthorn berry) & cinnamon

The starter above is from our November Home Economics feature, ‘Stir-up Sunday’, which includes lots of recipes to share and store. The recipes are by Rachel de Thample and the photography by
Ali Allen.

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Tipple | Hedgerow Fizz

Nothing signals the season like a pile of foraged hedgerow finds. Dilute with sparkling wine or fizzy water, delicious either way.

Makes around 500ml

200g sloes
200g blackberries
200g elderberries
200g damsons
250g granulated sugar
Sparkling wine or sparkling water

1 Leave any foraged berries outside for an hour to give bugs the chance to escape, then soak them in cold water for a couple of minutes. Drain, transfer to a pan and add enough water to just about cover them. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 mins, or until soft.

2 Using a potato masher, crush the berries in the pan and then push the mixture through a sieve or leave to drip through a muslin into a bowl. Pour the resulting liquid into a clean pan and add the sugar.

3 Bring to an almost boil before reducing the heat and giving the occasional stir. The sugar needs to dissolve and thicken the juice, but you’re not making jam so it should only take 10 mins or so.

4 Pour the liquid into a clean, sterilised glass bottle. When ready, pour around 20ml into a glass then top up with sparkling wine or water and serve. Bartender’s note: This can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Or, you can freeze in an ice cube tray. This recipe is adaptable – if you can’t find elderberries or sloes, then increase the amounts of the other fruits or berries.

The recipe for Hedgerow Fizz, above, is just one of the ideas from our September issue’s ‘gathering’ feature, a menu for an early autumn supper that we’ve called ‘Merry Michaelmas’. You’ll also find recipes for Rosemary Roasted Nuts, Roast Carrot & Lentil Salad, Michaelmas Roast Duck Salad with Sticky Damson Sauce and Parsnip Chips and an Apple, Pear & Ginger Cobbler with Cardamom Custard. The recipes are all by Lucy Brazier with photography by Jonathan Cherry.

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Tipple | Hedgerow Fruits Gin

You might find windfall fruit on your adventures, or snaffle some sloes to make a gin – a bottle has great gift potential.

Makes 34 servings

You will need

600ml good quality gin

150g light brown muscovado sugar

Plums or damsons (about 450g, halved, stoned and sliced; you could also use bullaces which are in season from October to November), or sloes (approx 500g, each pricked with a fork; like rosehips, sloes should be picked after the first frosts)

How to make

1 Pour the gin into a large sterilised jar and add the sugar. Stir well until the sugar has dissolved.

2 Wash the fruit and add to the jar then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Store in a cool, dark place for about 3 months, stirring weekly.

3 When the gin has developed a good, fruity flavour, strain it through muslin, discard the fruit and pour into sterilised bottles. Store for at least 1 month before drinking.

4 Serve the gin chilled, over ice. For a long drink, top up a shot of the fruity gin with apple juice or elderflower tonic, or add a dash of cherry brandy and pour in champagne for a cocktail.

Cook’s note: Sloes are tarter than plums/damsons, so you may want to increase the sugar to 225g. If you don’t want to prick the sloes, you can freeze them overnight to split the skins.

Tipple taken from the Four Seasons cookbook, a collection of recipes that champion British ingredients. Available from dairydiary.co.uk. Our Gathering pages feature recipes by Matt Long and photography by Jonathan Cherry.

The Hedgerow Fruits Gin is just one of the recipes from our October Gathering pages, which we’ve called ‘To The Woods!’ The ideas are inspired by Scouting adventures and include Pickled Elderberry Capers, Hot Rosehip Drink, Potato Salad, White Cabbage Sauerkraut, and Walnut & Tahini Brownies, as well as plenty of things to make, do and play out in the woods this autumn.

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Tipple | Spiced Pear Syrup

Serve diluted as a cordial or as an aperitif – equal parts syrup, vodka and soda water, with ice, a squeeze of lemon and a pear wedge.

Makes 600ml

700ml water
300g sugar
3 pears, roughly chopped (no need to peel or core)
2 star anise
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick

1 In a pan, heat all the ingredients until almost boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 30 mins. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool completely.

2 Once cool, sieve the syrup into a jug (save the pear to eat with breakfast granola or the maple crème fraîche), then pour the liquid into a sterilised glass bottle. Store in the fridge and use within a week

This recipe is taken from our November' issue’s ‘Gathering’ pages, which we’ve called ‘Giving Thanks’. The recipes and ideas, by Lucy Brazier, are for a British twist on an American Thanksgiving get together, including Celery Soup with Toasty Toppings, Roast Chicken with Winter Salad, Stateside Salsa Verde, Bean Harvest Stew, Sweet Potato Gratin and an Apple and Hazelnut Tart with Maple Creme Fraiche.

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