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Drink Ginger Beer ...for your Health and Enjoyment.
Ginger beer both tastes good and is good for you. Ginger root is high in vitamins K and B6 and also has magnesium. Ginger root is believed to relief symptoms of arthritis, motion sickness, nausea, gastrointestinal distress, and cold symptoms. Ginger beer is non-alcoholic. In addition, since it is spicy, it’s great for soothing sore throats just like hot pepper soup. There are two ways to make ginger beer in Africa: with and without yeast. The use of yeast allows fermentation and takes a longer time to prepare. My recipe uses ginger and pineapple, but no yeast. See below for how to make it with yeast. We usually make this beverage in a plastic bucket with a top and serve it at special occasions
like weddings and parties.
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 lbs fresh ginger root See below for a video Search this site:
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Here’s what you do: Wash your ginger root. Use a cutting board and small, sharp knife to cut into half-inch pieces. Transfer a half of the cut ginger into the blender. Add 2 cups of water. Cover and set blender to grate or high. Blend until ginger is in small pieces and mixed in the water. Transfer this mixture to a deep pot. I use an 8 quart pot. Repeat with the rest of the ginger. Add this mixture to the pot. Wash the pineapple. Use a sharp knife to remove the peeling. You should slice the peeling off so that you also remove a half-inch of pineapple with the skin. Cut the peeling into one-inch pieces. Transfer a half of the cut pineapple peeling to the blender. Add 2 cups of water and blend on high until pineapple is in small pieces and mixed in the water. Transfer to the pot of ginger. Repeat with the rest of the cut pineapple. Add to the mixture in the pot. Add 10 more cups of water to the pot. Add cloves. Make your first batch with 1 tsp and decide if you want a stronger flavor.
Half-cover the pot with the top. Bring to a boil on high and boil on medium-high for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove. Cover the pot completely and allow the mixture to sit for 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. Pour the mixture through a metal sifter to remove the larger pieces of ginger, pineapple peel, and cloves. Use a cook spoon to press help force the liquid through the sifter.
Next, Use a clean cotton kitchen cloth to strain out the finer particles. You will have to use your hand to squeeze the ginger beer out of the cloth. Please refer to video at the bottom of this page for a demo of straining the ginger beer. To sweeten, first add 1 cup of sugar and stir. Add more sugar according to your taste. Cut and squeeze in lime, if desired. Chill and enjoy. Store in the fridge. You can enjoy the unused pineapple while you wait for your ginger beer.
Ginger Beer with Yeast For a variation, add a half tablespoon of baking yeast per gallon of water after
straining. Let it sit a few hours and it will ferment as it sits. Watch this video for visual aid.
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