Ginger beer
From Freepedia
Ginger beer is a type of carbonated beverage, flavored primarily with ginger, lemon and sugar. It originated in England in the mid 1700s, and it reached its peak of popularity in the early 1900s. The basic recipe calls for ginger, lemons, sugar, and water. Traditionally it was fermented to produce carbonation and alcohol with a gelatinous substance called "ginger beer plant." The plant is a symbiotic mixture of bacteria which should contain the yeast Saccharomyces pyriformis and a dependant bacteria Brevibacterium vermiforme. It is difficult to obtain a real ginger beer plant and a baker's or brewer's yeast can be used instead. Ginger beer produced by the traditional process will contain alcohol as a result of the fermentation, although the alcohol content is generally low (but historically was very high). In the modern production process, pressurized carbon dioxide is used to produce the carbonation. Ginger beer produced in this manner does not contain alcohol. Ginger beer is similar to ginger ale but is more strongly flavored, and is usually cloudy, while ginger ale is clear.
Ginger beer is traditionally mixed with beer (usually a British ale of some sort) to make one type of shandy, and with Gosling's Black Seal rum to make a drink, originally from Bermuda, called a Dark and Stormy.
External links and references
- Root Beer and Ginger Beer Heritage
- Ginger Beer Bottle List
- Simple Ginger Beer Recipe
- Ginger Beer Plant Information
