New Zealand Lemon Ginger Beer Food

NEW ZEALAND LEMON GINGER BEER

Steps:

• Put first measure of sugar in warm water to dissolve, add yeast and stir.
• Place in warm place to start working.
• Finely grate or slice rind from 2 lemons and place in a heatproof container with the 1 cup of sugar and the dried ginger.
• Pour over 1 cup of boiling water and leave to steep for 10 minutes.
• Strain into 1.5 L plastic bottle in which the ginger beer will be made.
• Top up bottle with cool water to near top so that final temp is approximately body temperature.
• Add yeast to bottle as soon as it shows signs of working, ie. it foams.
• Cap bottle tightly.
• Mix thoroughly and put in a warm place.
• Leave until bottle becomes undentable. Depending on the yeast this can take anything from 12 hours to 3 days, but best to check regularly, as there is a risk of explosion with this!
• Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and open with great care!

HOMEMADE GINGER BEER

Steps:

• Place ginger in a food processor, and process until finely chopped.
• Transfer to a large pot, and add boiling water.
• Allow to stand for 1 hour.
• Drain with a fine sieve lined with a double thickness of damp cheesecloth.
• Discard solids.
• Add lime juice and sugar, and stir to dissolve.

JAMAICAN GINGER BEER

Steps:

• Puree ginger and water in blender.
• Let it sit for a day.
• Add sugar & mix (add more or less sugar based on your taste).
• Best served with crushed ice.

MARCUS' GINGER BEER

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour into a bowl and let cool.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day. Strain before serving!

CARIBBEAN GINGER BEER

Steps:

• Wash and scrape the skin off the ginger. Grate or blend the peeled ginger (grating brings out the flavor more, but to save time it can be blended).
• Put ginger, lime juice, cloves, cinnamon stick and 3/4 cup of the sugar into a wide mouthed gallon glass or ceramic jar.
• Add 10 cups boiling water to jar and stir until sugar dissolves.
• Set ginger mixture aside to steep and cool to room temperature.
• Cover jar tightly and refrigerate for 1 week.
• Line a large strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth.
• Strain ginger mixture through strainer into another wide mouthed gallon glass or ceramic jar, firmly pressing on solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much flavor as possible.
• Throw away the solids.
• Add the remaining sugar to ginger beer and stir until it dissolves.
• Serve in glasses over crushed ice, garnished with mint sprigs.