OK, I started a ginger bug a few days ago, and as of yesterday the 17th I grated a large chunk of ginger, some orange zest, and added the sugar, heated them, then left them to cool till they reached 85°F, strained the ginger syrup, strained and fed the ginger bug then put him away. I mixed up a total of a gallon of ginger beer, put some into plastic bottles, the rest into my (beginning) collection of bail top bottles.
After only a few hours of sitting out one of the plastic bottles distended and needed to be replaced immediately or risk a Bottle Bomb!!! the other is hard as a rock. The bottle that had to be replaced hissed like crazy, and started to foam like mad when I poured it into the new heavier duty soda bottle.
I did it just like the instructions in the book, but I don't think I would be able to leave my plastic bottles let alone leave my bail tops for 2 weeks to ferment as it says to do in the book!!! As it is I am going to be storing my supply in an old crock and is cracked and non-reparable so that if there is a BB then it will be contained.
The only change I made was to dilute one cup of bug into my one gallon instead of two cups of bug as it recommends. It is a testament to my bug being really active that the carbonation is forming/accumulating to such a high level in so short of a time. An extremely well seasoned house is probably the culprit (It was the old Forest Service/Ranger Station from almost 100 years ago now. Lots of history, no chance of sterility!).
I just need a few variations on a theme, a little planning ahead, and I'll be able to stop buying soda at the store entirely!!! So any yummy recipes out there??? I am going to experiment with a vanilla soda of some sort. I have about 8oz of madagascar vanilla beans sitting around needing a use, vanilla (cream?) soda to start with, a vanilla mead, and other vanilla somethings in the future...