Yeast in action

Ginger beer is one of my favourites. Not the horrible insipid stuff they sell in Tesco for me though. I prefer the murky, home-made variety that burns the back of your throat and makes your eyes water.

It’s not really the time of year for this classic drink but who doesn’t need a reminder of summer during January? The recipe card is hand written and is attributed to S.B.C. or Sarah Bancroft Clark – my great-grandmother.

• 1 lb loaf sugar
• 1 oz Cream of Tartar
• 1 oz bruised ginger
• 1 lemon – juice and rind
• 1 gallon water
• 1/2 oz yeast

The rind of the lemon to be rubbed on the sugar. The water to be poured boiling on the ingredients. When cool add about half an oz of yeast well mixed with two tablespoons tepid water. Stand all night. Strain and bottle. Ready for use in about three days.

Bottled up

We deviated from the original recipe slightly.  We doubled the amount of ginger – as we thought 1oz sounded a bit wimpy – and instead of loaf sugar we used granulated that we had infused with the lemon zest overnight. Otherwise we followed the instructions to the letter. The end result was 6 bottles of cloudy, intriguing liquid and a kitchen that smelled delicious.

Having left to stand for three days we cracked open a bottle today. Unfortunately the pressure was such that nine tenths of the contents were sprayed all over my kitchen ceiling. What was left was very good but I’m a now a little scared of opening the remaining bottles.