| Ginger beer plant is, surprisingly, not a leafy plant at | | | | How to spot the beer plant that isn't a probiotic |
| all. Instead ginger plant is a probiotic plant culture | | | | culture. |
| which you can use to brew your own, fizzy, | | | | Many places are selling 'plant' starter kits. This is not |
| old-fashioned drink. | | | | real ginger beer, but merely a yeast. This will not |
| What are the benefits of real such a drink? | | | | provide you with the real thing for life. |
| When you make your own real ginger beer, you are | | | | Brewing your own real ginger beer. |
| avoiding nasty additives like aspartame which are | | | | Home brewing your own organic beer is easy when |
| often included in cans of sparkling drinks. The true | | | | you have some beer plant. Unless you know |
| drink is made through fermentation with the probiotic | | | | someone who will give you some spare ginger plant, |
| plant bacteria and yeast creating a fermentation to | | | | then most people will buy their plant online. This has |
| give it a good fizz. Most colas and other shop-bought | | | | usually been dehydrated. When you receive it, you |
| fizzy drinks are carbonated, and that's what makes | | | | need to rehydrate it in unchlorinated water and sugar |
| them fizzy. You are controlling all of the ingredients | | | | for a few days, and then you will be able to rinse out |
| that go into your own fermented beer, so you can | | | | the probiotic culture grains and start adding ginger, |
| be sure that no nasty ingredients go in. You can use | | | | lemon and sugar to start the fermentation process. |
| organic fair trade sugar, and organic ginger and | | | | After a few days, you'll be able to bottle your real |
| lemons to ensure that your beer is organic too. | | | | home brewed organic ginger drink. |
| What actually is ginger beer plant? | | | | What equipment do I need to brew ginger beer? |
| Ginger plant's origins are not known for certain, but | | | | Other than the plant, you'll need sugar, unchlorinated |
| we know that it became popular in the UK some | | | | water (filtered or mineral water is fine), root or |
| time in the 1700's, and was a common sight in | | | | powdered ginger and lemon. You'll also need a large |
| kitchens right up until the 1950s. In the 1880s, curious | | | | jar for brewing the beer and then a plastic bottle to |
| botanist Harry Marshall Ward spent many years | | | | decant it into. |
| researching the culture. He worked out that beer | | | | So you can see that for a relatively small initial |
| plant is a "composite organism consisting of a fungus, | | | | investment and just some basic kitchen utensils and |
| the yeast Saccharomyces florentinus (formerly | | | | ingredients, you can ensure that you and your family |
| Saccharomyces pyriformis) and the bacterium | | | | have an everlasting supply of real old-fashioned ginger |
| Lactobacillus hilgardii (formerly Brevibacterium | | | | beer, a delicious probiotic drink. |
| vermiforme)". So now you know! | | | | |
