fermenting root ginger beer

[robint]

Hi brewers, Im new on here but not new to home brew. I am looking for advice/links on successful use of fresh ginger root
FWIW I managed to source some ginger root £5/kg from Tesco (yes of all places?) but otherwise found it expensive on EB >£10/kg etc
I wanted to make Ginger juice at first as I found you couldnt buy it readily (I didnt want any artificial chemical cordial). The other thing I notice is that Ginger Ale (soda) has a soapy taste, not all that pleasant IMHO. I thought it prudent to peel the root (PITA) and then cut into chunks mixed with tap water and liquidised. This worked well and I used a sieve mesh to strain the fibrous stuff out and put liquid in plastic 1L PET bottles (saved from recycle). This went well and after a couple of days on room shelf it settled to mostly clear with ca 10% sludge at base. I decanted into new bottles and that was it. The taste was quite bitter but I found that 50mL into 1L dilution plus a little tab of stevia made it suprisingly effective when used with ice tea.

So that is now my starting point FWIW. (2kg root makes 5L of strong juice). OBTW it doesnt naturally start fermenting and if I add it to some fresh squeezed OJ from a carton diluted 1:2 then I can keep this in a handy sport bottle and it doesnt start fermenting (as OJ does itself after a few days - becomes sour and upalletable)

Now I want to proceed to making a Ginger Bug, but I have to start with pure ingredients, eg tap water dechlorinated by standing for 24hrs and using organic root.

Now here's where I fall flat

AFAIK Imported Ginger root is normally washed and irradiated to kill off bugs before importation to UK. I tried a few sources of (so called) organic) root but the O seems like a recipe for price gouging and scams. Enquiries in EB UK showed me the sellers didnt understand my query and couldnt provide evidence of Organic provenance let alone about radiation (UV?)

Can anyone advise here?

How can I make a Ginger Bug based in UK?

BTW I also want to progress to fresh Tumeric roots if I can get the basic process right.

I am a big follower of natural food processes and IMHO a lot of home brewing custom is guided heavily towards commercial exploitation and the pursuit of high ABV goals.
I had an OH who was Belgian and went across there many times to Ghent and Bruges. Belgium is a hugely underestimated country for very many reasons but on this forum, for its 1000 year old tradition of brewing ale. I was told that there are 365 traditional breweries scattered around, almost one in every small town and they are fiercely protected against Big Corps. I am sure on here I dont need to go Uber over Belgian Beers - but hope you see where I am coming from

What did we used to say about Watneys Red Barrel - like making love in a punt - I used to live opposite the Mortlake Stag brewery

Guidance will be much appreciated

Cheers

 

[MashBag]

Welcome aboard. That sounds interesting.

A wild ferment ginger bug is going to be tough unless you grow the ginger yourself.

You could use strawberry leaves if you can find some. Or buy some white eating grapes.

home brewing custom is guided heavily towards commercial exploitation and

Yes indeed, like everthing else, but there still free thinking foodies out there.
What we need to do is find a balance, for me dried yeast is OK. Mayonnaise isn't. My local farmer/butcher makes a stunning sausage roll but you will never see me in greggs.

 

[robint]

A wild ferment ginger bug is going to be tough unless you grow the ginger yourself.

We havent got the climate and it takes years to get the right clumps growing well in the tropics/caribbean

You could use strawberry leaves if you can find some. Or buy some white eating grapes.

Hmm you mean supermarket stuff? Dont they UV it all?

Mayonnaise isn't.

Try making your own, its remarkably simple, even better with free range eggs - the difference in the yolk is startling. Use EVO and you need a whizzer like those hand blenders, I got a cheap one from WILKO (RIP) years ago, great kit. It a moments work when organised and you can go native with ailioli or thousand island, or chilli mayo, wasabi mayo, all served with grissini sticks - dont get the oil on your glass.

 

[MashBag]

We seem to be on the same train.

I have grown it in the uk, in a polytunnel. Was a trial, took a couple of hours and I will be doing it again.

Strawberry leaves I was thinking wild. I don't think grapes are uv blasted (mine certainly weren't) But of course a can't speak for all of them...but loose not prepacked.

Whizzer Mayo: we use local cold pressed rs oil, our eggs & English mustard. Very nice.

Just revving up my confit machine for the season. Happy days 🙂