Hi all,
Every year when the seasons change and the weather starts to get cooler I make a big batch of what I consider to my sort of "winter health tonic". It might be pyschosomatic, but even if it is, I'd still drink it for the taste.
What I do is take fresh ginger, grate it with a cheese grater and tie it in some cheesecloth so I have the equivalent of fresh ginger tea bags, squeeze some lemons, and add some honey. Then I steep it all in freshly boiled water. I usually fill up a water bottle and carry it around with me, topping it off as necessary, essentially building on the same batch. Normally this process yields a continuous supply of sweet, gingery, lemony goodness for the colder months.
But I decided to try a new process a few days ago, and the result is something pretty interesting and mysterious (at least to me). Every part of the process is the same - except the water. Instead of using boiled water, I filtered some room temperature tap water and added that to all my ingredients. I let it sit in the sun out on the porch, in a container with a lid. After two days, I poured some into my water bottle as usual, and nothing was different.
The next day, however, when I opened my water bottle there was a noticeable release of pressure. There was evidence of the same in the lidded container as well, as the lid was partially pushed up from building pressure in the container. I decided to be adventurous and drank some, and it's fizzy and delicious. Mild, but there is definitely some fermentation going on. It's been about a week and it's still continuing to carbonate. No mold has formed, it smells wonderful, no SCOBY, no real noticeable differences from when I first brewed it.
My question is - what on earth do I have on my hands? Is it possible to accidentally make ginger ale/soda/whatever?