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ginger bug inside a pint canning jar, bubbling happily. Ready to make probiotic ginger beer

Ginger Bug Recipe

Ginger bug recipe makes exciting homemade sodas and other carbonated drinks full of fizz and probiotics. Make ginger beer and other carbonated drinks from scratch, using this bubbly bug, who will add live to your brews. Ginger bug will make sodas for you that will rock your socks off!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
feeding the ginger bug to maturity 7 days
Course Drinks

Equipment

  • 1 pint jar with lid
  • 1 measuring teaspoon
  • 1 funnel
  • 1 strainer
  • 1 cutting board
  • 1 knife
  • 4 pint size brewing bottles or canning jars

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large organic ginger root
  • 2 tsp natural organic cane sugar or honey
  • 2 cups filtered, non-chlorinated water

Instructions
 

  • Day 1
    Step 1 - thinly slice your ginger root. You can also dice it or grate it if you like. The important thing is to increase surface area. Do not wash or peel the root. You want the yeast that is present on the skin of the ginger.
    Step 2 - measure out the ginger. Measure out two teaspoons of chopped ginger. Place the ginger into a pint jar.
    Step 3 - add sweetener. Measure out two teaspoons of sugar or other sweetener and add it to the ginger in the jar.
    Step 4 - Add water. Add your non-chlorinated water to fill the jar to about an inch from the top. Put the lid on the jar, shake it to mix, and place your ginger bug starter in a warmish, darkish corner, where you won't forget about it.
    Start feeding tomorrow.
  • Days 2-6
    Repeat steps 1-3 from Day 1. Just add two teaspoons of the ginger root plus two teaspoons of sweetener to the ginger bug. Put the lid on and shake it up a bit to incorporate the sweetener. Repeat each day about the same time for 6 days. Your ginger bug should be starting to show activity in the form of bubbling.
  • Day 7
    Ginger bug should be mature enough for brewing. You can now make the awesome tasting and healthy ginger beer recipe that I provide on another post Best Ginger Beer. It has step by step instructions on how to brew a great soda. These instructions work for many other flavors of soda too, so be sure to check it out.
    To use the ginger bug, strain and measure out half a cup of the ginger bug water and set it aside to use in recipes.
    The rest of the bug needs to be fed again just the same as before, 2 teaspoons of ginger and 2 teaspoons of sweetener. Replace the water to fill the pint jar back to an inch below the top. 
    If you have too much ginger in your jar just take some out occasionally and chew it or use it in baking or cooking. I like to add it when I make my ginger beer syrup. When it's used up, it can go into the compost.
  • Day 8 to infinity
    Keep feeding your bug and making sodas everyday if you like. If you need a break, you can put the ginger bug to rest in the refrigerator for a while. She'll calm down and sleep there. Feed her once each week or two and keep her on the counter for a day to wake up and eat. Then use her to make soda, or put her back into the fridge. 
    This can go indefinitely. Just try to give her periods of activity every now and then so she will remember what her job is. 

Notes

How to use your ginger bug to make brewed sodas

Measure out your ginger bug juice

Now that your ginger bug is all active and ready to rock and roll, you can make some sodas. Measure out ½ cup of ginger bug juice and divide it between 4 pint bottles or canning jars (2 tablespoons per pint)

Add flavored liquids

Add juice, or flavored water or tea with 1-2 Tb of sugar, and if you like, a splash of lemon juice to fill the bottles, leaving 1 inch of air space. Then cap tightly.

Place in a darkish, warmish corner

Let it ferment for 48 - 36 hours in a warm place.  
After a day, you can burp the bottles to relieve some pressure. Do it carefully, as it's possible that your contents will start foaming out of the bottle or even spray out. Replace cap and let it sit another day. It takes about two to three days to get a nice fizzy drink. In a very warm room it goes faster.

Chill your soda

You can take a taste test at the end of day two and if you like it, put it into the fridge to chill. If it's too sweet or not fizzy enough, let it sit out another day. 
Once you refrigerate it, the yeasts will rest and stop producing more carbonation, but it will still consume a bit of the sugar in your drink, making it less sweet after a few more days. I like it that way, because I don't like my drinks very sweet. Just be aware of that.

One note of caution

Some caution is in place here. If your bottles aren't meant for fermenting, they could break from the pressure that builds in the bottles. So be sure to use quality glass bottles for brewing or canning jars. I like to re-use store bought kombucha bottles with silicone seal lids. They work great. 
If you're not sure about the bottles you're using, try to ferment inside a box, so if they do break, the mess is somewhat contained. 

Flavorings

Below are a few ideas for flavorings, but don't stop here. Let your imagination or your taste buds guide you and experiment. You are no longer limited to the few available flavors of store bought soda.
Add flavorings to the bottles at bottling time with your liquid ingredients. Do not add them to the ginger bug. 

Juices

Any juice can be used either straight up or diluted with water. Normally you would not have to add any more sweetener.
In the case of lemon juice or lime juice though, where you add just a dash or two to water, there is not really any sugar available to feed the yeasts. So you'll have to add a couple of teaspoons or more, depending on your preference for sweetness. This will basically make carbonated lemonade.

Juices can be just for flavoring, or for medicinal and health purposes.

Incorporate antioxidants and immune boosting properties into your soda to make it truly healthy. Try Elderberry, cranberry, pomegranate, aronia, black cherry or blueberry juice just to name a few. Pineapple juice can help with digestion and prune juice will help with regularity. Ginger juice can add all the health benefits of ginger. Mix in some beet juice, or carrot juice for more powerful health benefits.

Teas and concoctions

Here you can use any herbal tea you like. Black tea, green tea, sarsaparilla, ginger, turmeric, dandelion, peppermint, lemon balm, echinacea, hibiscus, rosehip, spice tea, elder- or schisandra berries, reishi or chaga mushroom, etc. Mix for health benefits or for flavor. Simmer any roots, spices, mushrooms, berries and seeds for a few minutes and add the leafy herbs and flowers after simmering.
Add a little sweetener to feed the yeasts. Try two teaspoons per pint bottle or more to suit your taste. You can experiment with sweetness to find what your 'sweet' spot is. If I simmer a brew, I use ⅓ cup of cane sugar in 8 cups of water.

Lemonade

Mix 2 Tb of cane sugar with a little hot water to dissolve the sugar, add 2 Tb of fresh lemon juice, fill with filtered water and ferment for 2-3 days. 

Water

Use plain water with a dash of natural flavoring. Just be sure to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar or honey to feed the yeast.

Where to get ingredients:

Organic fresh ginger root
Organic bottled lemon juice
Organic lime juice
Ginger juice
Grolsch type bottles
Evaporated cane juice
Panela, sucanat
Coconut sugar
Honey