Home made ginger ale

[George]

I stumbled across this recipe last week and decided to give it a try. Why? Because I can, what more reason do I need?

The first batch did not go well. In the interest of science, I drank most of it anyway.

The first lesson is that 1/4 ounce of dry yeast (the amount in one off-the-shelf packet) != 1/4 teaspoon of dry yeast (called for by the recipe). I saw "1/4" on the packet, figured it was conveniently packaged, and tossed the whole thing in. Turns out that's an order of magnitude too much. Oops. The whole apartment now reeks of yeast byproducts, and the ginger ale has an unpleasant yeasty aftertaste. However, carbonation worked beautifully. With that much yeast, it reached the suggested pressure in about four hours, rather than the 24-48 hours suggested in the recipe. It took almost five minutes to bleed off enough pressure to open the bottle without spraying ginger ale everywhere. Its still fizzy even after opening the bottle four or five times.

The second lesson is that the shredded ginger fibers need to be strained out before drinking. The texture isn't a problem, but the ginger flavor is just too strong. Unfiltered, the flavor was more like eating raw ginger and washing it down with ginger ale. Aging it longer may help mellow the flavor, but I'll probably pick up a pack of coffee filters just in case for next time.

The third lesson is that this seems to produce what Wikipedia calls "dry" flavor (e.g., Canada Dry), while I was hoping for a "golden" flavor (e.g., Vernors).

Other than those problems, though, I think it went well. Under the excessive yeast and ginger, I was able to taste something that seemed about right. And, as a bonus, it didn't explode or poison me. So, I'll probably try making another batch.

[Dave]

Is ginger ale code for 'large explosive'?

You should try making home made Arnold Palmers, no yeast required!

[quantus]

You should try making home made Arnold Palmers, no yeast required!

We've done that a few times using lemons from our lemon tree.