How to Make a Ginger Bug (and Keep It Alive)
A ginger bug in 3 to 7 days: the starter, the daily feed, how to tell it is ready, how much to use per gallon of ginger beer or soda, how to keep it going and how to fix a slow one.
In this post
The short answer: stir 2 tablespoons of grated, unpeeled ginger and 2 tablespoons of sugar into 2 cups of filtered water in a jar, cover it with a cloth, and keep it at 70 to 80°F. Feed it a tablespoon of ginger and a tablespoon of sugar every day. In 3 to 7 days it fizzes when you stir it and smells yeasty and gingery: it is ready. Use about 1 cup of the strained liquid per gallon of ginger beer.
A ginger bug is a starter culture you grow yourself. The skin of fresh ginger carries wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria; sugar and warmth wake them up. It is the traditional way to ferment ginger beer and homemade sodas, and it costs a few pieces of ginger and a little sugar.
What you need
- Fresh ginger, unpeeled. The yeast lives on the skin, so don’t peel it. Organic is worth it if you can get it.
- White sugar. Plain cane sugar works best; honey and syrups work but start slower.
- Filtered or dechlorinated water. Chlorine and chloramine in tap water can stop a bug from starting.
- A clean quart jar and a cloth or coffee filter with a rubber band.
Day by day
| Day | Do | What you should see |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 tbsp grated ginger, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 cups water; stir and cover | Nothing yet |
| 2–3 | Add 1 tbsp ginger and 1 tbsp sugar; stir | A few small bubbles at the edges |
| 3–5 | Keep feeding daily | Bubbles rise when you stir; it smells yeasty |
| 5–7 | Keep feeding until it is lively | Fizzes like soda when stirred, a little cloudy, smells of ginger and bread: ready |
Keep it somewhere warm, 70 to 80°F (21 to 27°C), out of direct sun. Stir it once or twice a day: stirring adds air and mixes the yeast back in.
How much to use
About 1 cup (240 mL) of strained bug liquid per gallon of cooled, sweetened ginger base. That is roughly 6%.
| Batch | Ginger bug liquid |
|---|---|
| 1 gallon | 1 cup (240 mL) |
| 5 gallons | 5 cups (1.2 L) |
| 10 gallons | 10 cups (2.4 L) |
| 20 gallons | 5 quarts (4.7 L) |
For a big batch, build the bug up first: two days before brew day, move it to a bigger jar and add a quart of cooled sugar water (about 3 tablespoons of sugar per quart) with an extra tablespoon of ginger, and keep feeding it. Past about 20 gallons, about 2 g of dry yeast per 5 gallons is simpler and more predictable than a bug that size.
Keeping it going
- After you use some, top the jar back up with the same amount of water and feed it as normal.
- Between batches, put a lid on it and keep it in the fridge. Feed it once a week.
- To wake it up, bring it to room temperature and feed it once or twice the day before you need it.
- Too much ginger pulp? Strain out half of it now and then.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No bubbles after 7 days | Chlorinated water, peeled ginger, or too cold | Start again with filtered water and unpeeled ginger, somewhere warmer |
| Fuzzy spots on top, green, black or white | Mould | Throw it out and start fresh; stir daily so nothing settles on the surface |
| Thin white film, flat, not fuzzy | Kahm yeast, harmless but off-tasting | Skim it off, stir more often, keep it a little cooler |
| Smells like nail polish or vinegar | Overfed or underfed for too long | Pour off most of it, keep a few tablespoons, and rebuild with fresh water and feeds |
Frequently asked questions
Is a ginger bug the same as a ginger beer plant?
No. A true ginger beer plant is a specific symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria that forms gel-like grains, passed from brewer to brewer. A ginger bug is a wild starter you catch yourself from fresh ginger. Both ferment ginger beer.
Does a ginger bug make alcohol?
Yes, a little, like any yeast fermenting sugar. What matters is how far you let the ginger beer ferment afterwards. The alcohol math is in our ginger beer guide.
What else can I make with it?
Any homemade soda: lemonade, root beer, fruit sodas. The method is the same: a cooled, sweetened base, a cup of bug per gallon, a short ferment, then cold and carbonated.
Related
How to make ginger beer, classic ginger beer with a ginger bug, non-alcoholic ginger beer, how to make kombucha.