Three Ginger Beer Variants And Their Recipes

It is interesting to compare the three following types of ginger beer:

Nineteenth-Century English Ginger Beer

"Pour four quarts of boiling water, upon an ounce and a half of ginger, an ounce of cream of tartar, a pound of clean brown sugar, and two fresh lemons sliced thin. It must be wrought twenty-four hours, with two gills (1/2 pint) of good yeast, and then bottled. It improves by keeping several weeks, unless the weather is hot, and it's an excellent beverage. If made with loaf instead of brown sugar, the look and flavor are finer."

Modern Ginger Beer I
2 cups sugar
2

Mix sugar and juice of the lemons in a big bowl. Pour in 6 quarts warm water, and stir thoroughly to dissolve sugar. Allow to stand until tepid. While mixture is cooling down, dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water, and add to cream of tartar and ginger. Add this to the sugar mixture, and stir well. Pour into 12-ounce bottles for carbonated beverages, and seal using crown caps. Lay bottles on their sides in a cool place 5

Makes 16 (12-ounce) bottles

Modern Ginger Beer II
1 ounce fresh ginger root
1 gallon rapidly boiling water
1 pound loaf sugar
1/2 ounce yeast cake
1/2 ounce cream of tartar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 lemons
In a small mortar or on a wooden cutting board, bruise the ginger root. Place it in a 4-quart bowl or kettle with loaf sugar and cream of tartar. Using a potato peeler, peel rind from lemon as thin as possible. Remove white pith with a sharp knife. Slice lemon thinly. Add the lemon peel and slices to ginger mixture. Pour boiling water into the bowl; stir with a wooden spoon. Let cool to lukewarm. Cream yeast with granulated sugar, and add to the mixture. Cover the bowl with foil, and leave it for a day in a mildly warm room. Then strain the liquid through a nylon strainer. Bottle and cap like in the preceding recipe. Allow to rest for 4 days. Chill before serving.

Makes 10 (12-ounce) bottles