Brambles and Bread

Directions

• Combine filtered water, ginger, and sugar in a large pot. Stir while heating on medium-high heat.
  
• Once the sugar has dissolved, let it simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
• While the ginger water cools, sterilize your bottles: pour boiling water directly into the bottle (handle with extreme care — make sure bottles aren’t cold, as this could cause them to crack; go slow). After a few minutes, pour out the water and let the bottles cool. They will be hot.
• Once the ginger water has cooled, add the lemon juice. Don’t worry about seeds — you’ll strain later. Give it a good mix.
  
• Skim out most of the ginger before pouring.
• Place a strainer over a 2L measuring cup and slowly pour the mixture through. Doing this in the sink helps reduce mess.
• Pour from the measuring cup into your bottles, leaving about 6cm of headspace at the top for gases produced during fermentation. Repeat for both bottles.
• Once both bottles are filled, add 60g of strained ginger bug to each. Close the bottles and shake once or twice.
• Place the bottles somewhere safe, out of direct sunlight — by the sink works well.
• Depending on your house’s temperature, the ginger ale may need burping after 24 hours (bubbles will form at the top). It’s usually ready after 48 hours — if still too sweet, give it another day, then move to the fridge. Open carefully over the sink and be ready to quickly reseal the lid; strong fermentation can cause it to fizz like a shaken soda bottle.