Tasty homemade Ginger Beer (Homemade Non-alcoholic Drinks)

Member Name: durham_girl

Product:	Homemade Non-alcoholic Drinks
Date:	04/12/08 (496 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes lovely, homemade

Disadvantages: Does take a while to prepare

When I was pregnant, the one thing I really craved was a real drink! Probably because I knew I couldn't have one, we women always want what we can't have.....!

Anyway, I started looking online for non alcoholic cocktails that might take my fancy. I wanted to be able to make it myself, so I know exactly what went into it as I wasn't keen on drinking anything with additives or e numbers in it.

After lots of searching I found a recipe for Ginger Beer. I hadn't drunk this for years so I thought I'd give it a try! It does take some preparation as some of the ingredients need to be prepared and left overnight, so no good if you want some NOW!

The ingredients are;
- 1oz of peeled & crushed ginger root
1/3 cup of Lime juice
The peel of 3 small Limes
1/2 cup of sugar
3 3/4 cups of boiling water
1/4 tsp of yeast
1/4 cup of lukewarm water

Combine the crushed ginger, lime peel, juice and sugar in a jar or bottle larger than 32 oz with a lid that can be tightly sealed. Pour in the boiling water. Cover loosely and let cool to room temp. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and add. Seal the jar as tightly as possible and let stand at room temp overnight. Chill, strain and serve.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can adjust it to suit your taste. Personally I found using the peel of 3 limes made it too tangy for me, so I only add 2. Similarly I add slightly less sugar, as I found that it doesn't affect the taste too much, but saves on the calories!

Overall I found this drink to be very tasty. As soon as I'd tweaked it to my taste, it was tangy but not overpowering with a full gingery flavour. I like it chilled served over ice with a slice of lime. Lots of flavour and very refreshing, just like proper old fashioned ginger beer!

I must admit, I was fully expecting not to like it, but it surpassed all my expectations! I don't tend to make it very often because of having to leave it overnight, but when I do, I thoroughly enjoy it!

Summary: Great tasting Ginger Beer