How to Make Homemade Ginger Ale: A Refreshing DIY Treat

Ginger ale is a classic beverage enjoyed by many, but have you ever considered making your own at home? It’s surprisingly easy and allows you to control the ingredients, ensuring a delicious and refreshing drink. This guide will walk you through the process of making homemade ginger ale, using two popular recipes as references.

Homemade Ginger Ale Recipes: Two Options

We’ll explore two different recipes for homemade ginger ale, each with its own unique approach:

1. Allrecipes’ Homemade Ginger Ale:

This recipe focuses on simplicity and uses readily available ingredients. It involves steeping grated ginger in water, adding sugar, yeast, and lemon juice, and allowing the mixture to ferment for two days. The resulting ginger ale is fizzy and slightly sweet, with a distinctive ginger flavor.

2. Simply Recipes’ Homemade Ginger Ale:

This recipe takes a more traditional approach, using a simple syrup and fresh ginger to create a more intense ginger flavor. It involves simmering ginger in water, creating a simple syrup, and then combining the two with club soda for a bubbly finish. This version offers a more pronounced ginger taste and a slightly spicier kick.

Choosing the Right Recipe for You

Both recipes offer delicious results, but the best choice for you depends on your preferences and available ingredients. If you’re looking for a quick and easy option, Allrecipes’ recipe is a great choice. It requires minimal effort and readily available ingredients, making it perfect for beginners.

If you prefer a more intense ginger flavor and are comfortable with a slightly more involved process, Simply Recipes’ recipe is the way to go. The use of fresh ginger and a simple syrup creates a more authentic ginger ale experience, with a spicier and more complex flavor profile.

Ingredients for Homemade Ginger Ale

Regardless of the recipe you choose, you’ll need some basic ingredients to make your own ginger ale:

Ginger root: This is the star ingredient, providing the characteristic ginger flavor. Choose fresh, plump ginger root for the best results.
Water: This is the base of the drink and helps extract the flavor from the ginger.
Sugar: This adds sweetness to the ginger ale. You can use white sugar, brown sugar, or even honey depending on your preference.
Lemon juice: This adds a touch of acidity and helps balance the sweetness.
Yeast (optional): Allrecipes’ recipe uses yeast to create carbonation through fermentation. If you prefer a non-alcoholic version, simply omit the yeast.
Club soda (optional): Simply Recipes’ recipe uses club soda to add additional fizz to the finished drink.

Making Your Homemade Ginger Ale

Once you have your ingredients, follow the steps outlined in your chosen recipe to create your homemade ginger ale. Both recipes are relatively simple and require minimal cooking time.

Allrecipes’ Recipe:

Combine grated ginger, sugar, yeast, and lemon juice in a 2-liter soda bottle.
Fill the bottle with water and screw on the cap tightly.
Shake the bottle well and leave it at room temperature for two days.
Refrigerate the bottle and strain the ginger ale before serving.

Simply Recipes’ Recipe:

Simmer chopped ginger in water for 5 minutes.
Let the ginger steep for 20 minutes and then strain the liquid.
Make a simple syrup by dissolving sugar in boiling water.
Combine the ginger water, simple syrup, and club soda in a glass.
Add ice and a squeeze of lime juice for an extra refreshing touch.

Tips for Making the Best Homemade Ginger Ale

Here are some additional tips to ensure your homemade ginger ale turns out perfectly:

Use fresh, high-quality ginger root for the best flavor.
Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste.
If using yeast, make sure it’s active dry yeast.
Be patient during the fermentation process (if using yeast). It takes time for the carbonation to develop.
Experiment with different flavors by adding fruits, herbs, or spices to your ginger ale.
Store your homemade ginger ale in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Enjoy Your Refreshing Homemade Ginger Ale

Making your own ginger ale is a fun and rewarding experience. Not only do you get to control the ingredients and customize the flavor to your liking, but you also get to enjoy a delicious and refreshing beverage that’s perfect for any occasion. So grab your ginger root, gather your ingredients, and get ready to create your own homemade ginger ale masterpiece!

Steps to Make It

Gather the ingredients. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi
In a 4-quart saucepan, place water, ginger, and lemon peel. Bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and cover and simmer for approximately ten minutes at a low boil. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi .
Stir continuously after adding the sugar and boil until reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi .
Place a fine wire strainer over a large bowl. Pour in ginger syrup to separate solids from liquids. Discard lemon peel. If preferred, the cooked, strained ginger pieces can be saved for other applications like yogurt or vanilla ice cream. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi .
Before transferring the ginger simple syrup into a glass container, let it cool. Once closed, let it cool for at least an hour. It can also be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi .
When ready to serve, combine 1 cup cold club soda and 1/4 cup ginger simple syrup per serving, then top with ice. To taste, you can add more sugar or ginger syrup to sweeten it. The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi .

Club soda contains a few mineral additives, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same as seltzer and sparkling mineral water. For the same effect, feel free to substitute any flavorless carbonated water.
Instead of using club soda, use real sodas like Sprite or Pepsi; this will defeat the purpose of making your own ginger ale and make it far too sweet in the end.
Use your ginger syrup to add sweetness to other drinks, such as iced or hot tea, or to a cup of hot cocoa.
Additionally, ginger simple syrups are an essential component of many other spiked beverages, such as this Moscow mule variation or a German Jägermeister cocktail.

Use spices and herbs to give your ginger syrup more depth. Along with the ginger and lemon, try adding some fresh mint leaves or a cinnamon stick to the boiling water.
To make a rich, cozy winter syrup, replace half of the white sugar with brown sugar.

Making Ginger Ale with REAL GINGER

FAQ

Is there a ginger ale made with real ginger?

Reed’s Ginger Ale: Reed’s is known for its strong ginger flavor and uses real ginger root, along with other natural ingredients, to craft their ginger ale. 2. Bruce Cost Ginger Ale: Bruce Cost Ginger Ale is made with fresh ginger, pure cane sugar, and other natural ingredients.

Is ginger ale healthier than soda?

In the case of artificially flavored ginger ale, the beverage has no more health benefits than any other soda, which, of course, are zero. But in the case of ginger ale flavored by real ginger root, the beverage has marginally more health benefits than other soft drinks.

Is ginger ale made from Sprite and Coke?

Not at all. The traditional forms of ginger ale/ginger beer involve sugar, ginger root, and often some citrus (lemon, lime, or both).

Is Canada Dry real ginger ale?

According to Ginger Ale | Canada Dry its ingredients include ginger extract —which is made from ginger root. So, legally, they can say it has actual real ginger flavor in it. But it just has no real health benefits to it, like settling an upset stomach, or any of the other benefits that ginger root has.