Non-Alcoholic Ginger Beer Recipe: 1 to 30 Gallons
No culture, no fermenting, no alcohol: a strong hot steep of fresh ginger, sweetened and soured, then chilled and carbonated with CO₂. The one to serve to everyone, and the one to sell.
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Non-Alcoholic Ginger Beer at a glance: No culture, no fermenting, no alcohol: a strong hot steep of fresh ginger, sweetened and soured, then chilled and carbonated with CO₂. The one to serve to everyone, and the one to sell. Clean, bright ginger.
Bräu Supply recipe · Ginger beer
Non-Alcoholic Ginger Beer
Ingredients · for 5 gal
| 4.76 gal (18.0 L) | Filtered water | |
| 750 g | Fresh ginger, unpeeled, grated | 150 g/gal |
| 2.48 lb (1.12 kg) | White sugar | 225 g/gal |
| 2.54 cups (600 mL) | Lemon juice, fresh | 120 mL/gal |
Process
- Steep: grated ginger in water at 190°F (88°C) for 20–30 minutes, lift it out, dissolve the sugar
- Cool: to 34–38°F (1–3°C): chill through a counterflow chiller, then let the jacket or a fridge finish it
- Sour: stir in the fresh juice once it is cold
- Carbonate: 3.0 volumes: about 14 psi at 34°F through a carbonation stone, or 16 psi in a keg at 38°F
- Keep: cold, and drink it within about three weeks
Per US gallon of finished ginger beer. The water allows for the room the sugar takes up and the juice; grated ginger holds a little back. Ginger varies: taste the steep and add more if you want more heat.
How to make it
- Fill the fermenter with the water, heat it to 190°F and steep the grated ginger in the basket for 20–30 minutes. Taste it: it should be hotter than you want the finished drink, because the sugar and cold tame it. Lift the basket out, squeeze it, and stir in the sugar.
- Chill it through a counterflow chiller, then bring it the rest of the way to 34–38°F with glycol through the jacket, or keg it and let the fridge finish it.
- Stir in the fresh lemon juice once it is cold.
- Carbonate to 3.0 volumes: about 14 psi at 34°F through a carbonation stone in the tank, or 16 psi in a keg at 38°F. Ginger beer is served fizzier than most beer.
- Keep it cold and drink it within about three weeks. With no fermentation there is no alcohol, but there is also nothing stopping wild yeast if it sits warm.
Tips
- Grate the ginger with the skin on, or blitz it in a food processor with some of the water. More surface means more heat from the same ginger.
- Add the lemon juice cold: heat dulls fresh citrus.
- For a cloudier, more rustic look, skip squeezing the basket hard; for a clear one, let the keg settle for a day before serving.
Frequently asked questions
Is this ginger beer really non-alcoholic?
Yes. Nothing ferments: the fizz comes from CO₂, not yeast, so there is no alcohol. Keep it cold so it stays that way.
Can I bottle it?
Fill bottles from the carbonated keg with a counter-pressure or beer-gun filler and keep them cold. Don’t add sugar and cap it warm: that turns it into a fermented ginger beer, with alcohol and pressure.
Ginger beer or ginger ale?
Ginger beer is the strong, peppery one. Ginger ale is lighter and sweeter. Halve the ginger in this recipe and you are close to a ginger ale.
Related
How to make ginger beer, how to make a ginger bug, classic ginger beer, spicy lime ginger beer.