It’s the school holidays and your friends and cousins and coming around. You want to serve them something special to drink that is cheap and tasty too! Here’s just the thing: homemade ginger beer to sweeten your holiday!

Before you start, make sure you have: a medium-sized pot large enough to contain 1 litre of water, a 5 litre or bigger pot or open container, clean/sterilised plastic bottles that can accommodate a total of 5 litres of ginger beer, a wooden spoon, a hotplate or stove, and a refrigerator.

This recipe makes 5 litres of ginger beer. So get your bottles ready!

Ingredients
5 litres water
60 ml ground ginger
750 ml sugar
125 ml raisins
3 ml cream of tartar
5 ml tartaric acid
15 ml instant dry yeast

Method
1. Make a syrup by boiling for 15 minutes in the medium-sized pot: 1 litre water, ground ginger and sugar.

2. Place the syrup in a large container/pot and add 4 litres cold water, raisins, cream of tartar and tartaric and yeast. Stir with your wooden spoon.

3. Leave at room temperature in a dark placefor about 3 hours, or until the raisins have risen to the surface. The mixture should smell gingery and yeasty.

4. Pour the liquid into the clean/sterilised plastic bottles, close securely.

5. Place the ginger beer in a dark, warm room for 2 to 3 days. One to three times a day, carefully loosen the caps to relieve some of the pressure (without opening the bottles all the way). The drink becomes very pressurized and fizzy, so skipping this step could result in a ginger beer bottle explosion lol, true story. Be very careful in this process and do not point the bottles at anyone’s face, including your own!

6. After the 2-3 days of the ginger beers settling, put the bottles in the refrigerator.

7. Drink and enjoy the yummy ginger beer with your friends and family!!

Please note: The residue floating in the liquid is just from the raisins. These help with the fermenting process and they help you to tell when the beer is ready by floating to the top.

Did you know that ginger has health benefits?
Ginger is a root. It has been used as a natural remedy for colds and flu, and for upset stomaches and nausea across many civilisations for hundreds of years. Ginger is known for its abilty to cleanse the body of toxic chemicals as it is full of antioxidants. When fermented, ginger releases enzymes and probiotics, which help to maintain healthy gut microflora.

Tell us: What homemade treats do you enjoy making?