Home brewing can be intimidating to those of us who haven’t mastered the craft but it doesn’t need to be. At its core, home brewing a batch of beer is much like cooking a pot of soup. It takes some preparation, quality ingredients and good filtered water. And just like making soup, too much of the wrong ingredients can turn out great or in some cases disastrous.
Home brewing kits take the guess work out of sourcing ingredients and are a great way to get started. Most kits produce smaller batches of beer, usually 1 gallon, which has the added bonus that of keeping your home clutter free and lessens the need to find storage for large brewing equipment. Plus, if a batch doesn’t turn out the way you like it, you’ll only need to endure 1 gallon rather than 5 or 10.
Many home brew kits are available to make beer, wine and my personal favorite ginger beer! The video above gives a quick rundown of how to brew alcoholic ginger beer at home with a little help from Bootleg Botanicals new Ginger Mule Kit.
What is ginger beer and how is it different from ginger ale?
Ginger beer was created (or believed to have been) in 18th century Yorkshire, England. Unlike the ever popular ginger ale; ginger beer uses yeast to ferment the ginger root into an alcoholic drink. However many ginger beers sold in the United States are not actually alcoholic at all. The ginger beer created made in this video uses an ale yeast to ferment the organic ingredients into an alcoholic ginger beer with an ABV of 0 -10% in about a week.
Ginger ale tends to be more carbonated and often is clearer in color while the yeast found in ginger beer has a cloudier appearance and can be less carbonated with a heavier mouth feel. The fuller bodied ginger beer works well in mule cocktails because the bite from the ginger root generally holds its own when paired with other liquor profiles.
What do you think of ginger beer?
We’d love to hear your thoughts below…