Kyla and I like ginger beer a lot, and it was really good to find an alcoholic variety whilst down in New Zealand (called Ginger Tom, served in the Dux Delux in Christchurch and Queenstown). There was also a similar brew at the Cambridge beer fest this year called Ginger Nut, which I (over-)indulged in with great relish, but sadly alcoholic ginger beer doesn’t seem to be generally available in the UK. On this site it talks of some lost age of home ginger beer production:

All over the British Isles people used to relish a frothy, fizzy, gingery, alcoholic beer which was made at home. All you needed was a bit of sugar, ginger, water and a ginger beer ‘plant’. But it wasn’t a typical green, leafy kind of plant. It was a sloppy, white mass that lived in a jam jar.

… The popularity of the ginger beer plant died out.

Not so! I recently (via the Cambridge Freecycle group) acquired a ginger plant, and have been feeding it regularly ever since. Here are the instructions I was given (handed down to me in mystical fashion by a ginger beer guru… well, ok, it was emailed to me).

You will need:
One or two clean jars large enough for over 1 pint liquid
Preferably muslin cloth but at least a very fine sieve
A saucepan to hold at least 8 pints
A funnel
Some clean plastic pop bottles (or if using glass bottles use corks)
sugar
ground ginger
2 lemons

If you have a plant already started:
Keep the plant in a loosely covered jar at 18-21C (room temperature), not in direct sunlight. Every day ‘feed’ the ‘plant’ with 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp sugar and stir. After one week you are ready to make a batch of ginger beer.
On the day you are making the beer, do not feed the plant. Strain the contents of the jar through sieve and/or muslin into another clean jar or bowl. Boil 3 pints of water in a saucepan and leave to cool slightly. Put aside 1 pint to cool to 21C. To the 2 pints of hot water in the saucepan add 1.5lb sugar and the juice of 2 lemons. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the strained liquid from the plant. When the mixture has cooled to 21C add a further 5 pints of cold water. Mix thoroughly and transfer into clean bottles. Leave 1/8 of the bottle empty to allow for the production of carbon dioxide. The residue that is left in the sieve/cloth should be divided in half. Put one half in a clean jar with the 1 pint of cooled boiled water and continue feeding daily as before. Give the other half to a friend to start their own plant. Leave the bottled ginger beer to mature for 1 week before drinking. Even if you do not want to make another 8 pints of ginger beer every week, the plant should be halved otherwise it will die.

I split my plant the weekend before last, so for the past week I’ve been cosseting 4 litres of ginger beer, and yesterday I cracked into a bottle. The beer is mainly clear, though there are a few floating things in it.  However, with careful pouring, I managed to avoid them and the majority of the sedimenty bits at the bottom.  The taste is good, quite light with a good amount of ginger, though not really as fiery as canned ginger beer.  Overall, I’d say it’s a winner!  And if anyone wants half the plant, just shout…