African Food and Art

This blog explores the wisdom of African proverbs, the depth of folklore, the beauty of art, the stories of history, and the flavors of timeless African food recipes.

Homemade Authentic West African Ginger Beer Recipe

Homemade ginger beer can be hard to find but West African Ginger beer is easy to make at home. The key to making great ginger beer is using lots of ginger. Our Ginger Beer recipe yields six 12-ounce bottles.

Homemade Authentic West African Ginger Beer Recipe
Homemade Authentic West African Ginger Beer Recipe

Homemade Authentic West African Ginger Beer Recipe

Ingredients
12 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
8½ cups of filtered water
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon champagne yeast

Directions
Process ginger in a food processor until finely minced, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Stir in 4 cups filtered water and sugar and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves completely, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let steep uncovered, for 1 hour. Pour infused ginger syrup through a strainer.
Press ginger over a cup with a metal spoon to extract any remaining liquid; discard pulp.

Whisk in lemon juice and yeast until yeast is dissolved. Using funnel and ladle, divide ginger syrup evenly among sanitized bottles. Using a sanitized large measuring cup, divide remaining 4½ cups filtered water among bottles, filling each bottle to within 2 inches of top and cap. Shake gently to combine ingredients.

Store bottles in dark place until carbonated, about 48 hours. Transfer to refrigerator and chill to slow down fermentation. If you wait too long to refrigerate, the beer will continue to carbonate and could potentially force the bottles to explode. Ginger beer can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Fresh ginger
Fresh ginger


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