Ginger Beer Plant

Ingredients

The plant

• 2 tspground ginger
• 2 tspsugar
• 250 mlwarm water
• a 500 ml jar

To feed, daily

• 1 tspground ginger
• 1 tspsugar

The brew

• 600 gsugar
• 3.5 litreswater
• juice of 3 lemons
• the strained liquid from the plant

Directions

1. Mix the ginger, sugar and warm water in the jar, cover with a cloth and leave somewhere warm.
2. Every day for the next week, stir in another teaspoon of ginger and a teaspoon of sugar. Within two or three days it should be fizzing and smelling yeasty — that is the plant coming alive.
3. When it is bubbling vigorously, dissolve the 600 g of sugar in a litre of hot water in a large container, add the lemon juice and the remaining cold water, and cool it to room temperature.
4. Strain the liquid from the plant into the sweetened water and stir. Keep the sediment left in the jar — that is the plant, and it starts the next batch.
5. Bottle into strong bottles designed for pressure — swing-top or PET, never ordinary glass bottles or screw-top jars.
6. This matters more than anything else here. A live ginger beer builds real pressure, and a sealed bottle that cannot vent will eventually burst. Use proper bottles, leave headspace, and stand them somewhere a burst would not matter.
7. Leave two to four days at room temperature, opening one carefully each day to check the fizz. Once it is lively, refrigerate — cold slows the ferment almost to a stop.
8. Split the retained sediment in half, feed both halves, and give one to somebody else. This is how the plant has been passed between New Zealand households for a century.

Technique

• Pressure-rated bottles, headspace, and refrigerate once fizzy. Exploding bottles are the real hazard here and they are entirely avoidable.
• Feed the plant daily or it stalls. It is a living culture, like a sourdough starter.
• The alcohol stays very low — under about 1% — if you refrigerate as soon as it is fizzy.

Substitutions

• Fresh grated ginger in place of ground, which gives a brighter flavour and a slower start.
• A pinch of baker’s yeast to get the plant going, if it will not start on its own after four days.

Variations

• A stronger version left to ferment longer, which becomes genuinely alcoholic and is a different proposition.
• Flavoured with lemon peel, chilli or a stick of cinnamon in the brew.

History

A colonial kitchen tradition passed between New Zealand households, with the living culture shared like sourdough starter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ginger Beer Plant?

Ginger Beer Plant is a fermented & pickled from New Zealand: home-fermented ginger and sugar brew kept alive as a bubbling starter. A colonial kitchen tradition passed between New Zealand households, with the living culture shared like sourdough starter.

How long does Ginger Beer Plant take to make?

Ginger Beer Plant takes 20 min to start, then 5 min a day for a week of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes 4 litres, and a starter that runs indefinitely. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Ginger Beer Plant?

Yes, within limits. Fresh grated ginger in place of ground, which gives a brighter flavour and a slower start. A pinch of baker’s yeast to get the plant going, if it will not start on its own after four days.

What is the most important thing to get right in Ginger Beer Plant?

Bottle into strong bottles designed for pressure — swing-top or PET, never ordinary glass bottles or screw-top jars.