Ginger bug / ginger ale troubleshooting

[Christopher Weeks]

I don't see why not. It's just sort of a thin ginger syrup until the microorganisms start doing their job.

[bluehorserefuge]

Interesting thread.
I don't understand how the bug can go flat ? Isn't the whole idea of it that it goes on forever if you keep "feeding" it ?

[Christopher Weeks]

That's the theory. In practice, mine die out. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.

[bluehorserefuge]

Thanks Christopher, it's very interesting all this experimention anyway, great site. And as for what you say about experts, your matter -of-fact clear explanations are a breath of fresh air and much better than a lot of long-winded tech jargon, but I know what you mean, it is nice to know the science behind it all.

[bluehorserefuge]

There seems to be some confusion ( in me anyway) about what should actually go from the bug jar into the soda bottle. I poured half of my bug through a coffee filter in a funnel, leaving behind most of the 'gunk', foamy bubbly bits. What I see now in my 2/3'rd full soda bottle looks very thin and watery, with none of that lovely foggy creamy cloudiness of the original bug. I think as this is my first one I'm just worried it's going to be a dud.

[Christopher Weeks]

I typically grow 1-pint bugs and dump the whole thing into 1-3 gallons of sugary fluid. I have tried growing 1-quart bugs, only using half at a time to keep the bug growing, but have had only limited success with that.

And I don't filter anything out.

[khoomeizhi]

i don't think it's too surprising that the bugs die off. if you keep adding sugar and they keep metabolizing it, then regardless if you're adding more ginger or other yeast-bearer in there or even other things as nutrient sources, at some point the solution will either get too alcoholic or, since it's a pretty uncontrolled open-topped wild ferment, too sour/low pH for the yeast to do anything. or too sugary if you feed too fast.

i tend to make 1 cup bugs (so 8oz) for up to gallon-sized batches. going bigger, i step it up: 1 cup into a gallon, then when that's really rolling, that gallon into whatever the next size is (3 or 5 or 6 gallons). depending on what i'm doing i'll either strain the bug when pitching or not.

[bluehorserefuge]

Thank you.

I think I've gone wrong. I don't know why I thought filtering was a good idea, I thought I read that somewhere, but maybe imagined it.

I'll try your way next and throw the lot in, as my instincts were telling me to anyway. Far too thin and the final taste, while 'gingery' , was disappointing, didn't have that 'kick' and was quite flat.

I am reading Sandor Katz's brilliant book and am interested to see his ginger bug method. He boils up a load of ginger and sugar in a pan and when it's cooled and to his taste, he puts it in his bucket and open ferments this with his bug.

Guys, how can we be talking about condoms and airlocks when Ellis Katz is talking about open fermentation? It seems contradictory and I am confused with that. If the whole process of fermentation needs no air inside, just CO2 to escape, what magic is Katz performing here, by open fermenting his ginger in a bucket and stirring it a few times a day ? Will it still ferment ?

Your help is gold dust, thank you.

[Tibor]

I think you are confused a bit. Sandor, in Wild Fermentation makes the bug over a week or so , and then brews up ginger with sugar and water for 15 minutes and then adds the cooled tea to the strained bug . He then puts it into snap lock bottles where it ferments and builds carbonation for about 2 weeks. Sandor does not put it into a bucket to ferment.
His is the method I have used successfully to make a ginger or a turmeric brew. They were not quite as carbonated as I would have liked and left it longer than 2 weeks and it was better.
Personally making a bug and then a brew is a bunch of work. I find it way easier to make water kefir with a strong sweet ginger tea(or turmeric tea) and it carbonates up better in a shorter time to make a delicious ginger brew.

[bluehorserefuge]

Thanks Tibor, I would love to make kefir one day. I lived in Russia and drank it every day, it had a cheesy taste and was delicious.

I'm sorry, but unless I am not understanding what I am reading here, I am not seeing anything about snaplock bottles.

This is the bit from Sandor Ellis Katz's "Wild Fermentation" book:

" After boiling the ginger, strain the liquid into an open fermentation
vessel (crock, wide-mouth jar, or bucket), discarding the spent
ginger pieces (or leave the ginger in and strain later). Add sugar. I
usually use 2 cups of sugar per gallon (of target volume, still
requiring more water), but you might like it a little sweeter than I do.
Once sugar is dissolved in hot ginger water, add additional water to
reach the target volume. This will cool your sweet ginger decoction.
If it feels hot to the touch, leave it a few hours to cool before adding
ginger bug or other starter. If it feels no warmer than body
temperature, go ahead and add ginger bug or other starter. Add a
little lemon juice too, if you like. Stir well. Cover with a cloth to
protect from flies and leave to ferment in the open vessel, stirring
periodically, until the ginger beer is visibly bubbly, anywhere from a
few hours to a few days depending upon temperature and the
potency of the starter.

with respect, Joe.