Too bitter soda, any suggestions?

[Tim Hall]

Hmmm, I realized I skipped over couple things here. For ginger beer what I do is start with a small ginger bug. This one I might keep going for a while. When this is active, I step it up to a larger volume with roughly the same proportion of sugar/water/ginger. When this big bug is active it goes in my beer. This one usually takes off faster than the original bug did.

This stepping-up process is really the same principle as making a yeast starter for beer or wine. It simply ensures you have plenty of bugs to get things rolling.

[Christopher Weeks]

When I was getting ready to add the ginger bug to the rest of the mix, I started a new one in a quart jar and spooned a couple tablespoons of the old bug into the new as a starter.

I also spooned out some growth from the top of it last night -- we'll see over the next day or two if it becomes a problem.

[Christopher Weeks]

I'll use the plastic bottle as a barometer trick in the future. For now though, I just opened one this morning and tried it. It released a little hiss of pressure, tasted a little fizzy and was crazily powerful in flavor. I may have overdone the cayenne, but I might like it just like that. If I want a more pronounced gingery flavor, should I add more to the boil?

[Tim Hall]

If I want a more pronounced gingery flavor, should I add more to the boil?

Yeah, once you have a basic recipe as your point of reference it's easy to start making modifications and experimenting.

One thing you might try is substituting sugar for honey in the recipe. I like honey, because I keep bees, and I like the added flavor. Sugar may give you a cleaner flavor that allows the ginger to come through more.

[Tim Hall]

...was crazily powerful in flavor.

I did mention this recipe is a palate wrecker ;)

[Christopher Weeks]

It's really good. Very sour at first, then the ginger hits and as you swallow, that's replaced with the heat from the pepper and cayenne. It leaves my mouth tingling.

[Christopher Weeks]

Tim, what do you do with the sediment? I've been decanting the soda into a glass, allowing a bit of sediment to flow in, but trying to limit it. When that starts to be impossible, I stop and there's less then a half inch of slurry in the bottle and I just compost that. Do you drink it?

Also, the ginger bug that I now have brewing on my counter keeps developing a white film on top very much like my kimchis get. I've been scooping it off, but last night, when I fed the bug, I just ignored it, adding some ginger and sugar and stirring it in. Is there any reason to assume that's a bad idea?

Why do we filter out the chunky solids? Is it just for aesthetics? I'm thinking about trying a berry soda and wondering about bottling with the mashed berries left in.

[Tim Hall]

I'm thinking about trying a berry soda and wondering about bottling with the mashed berries left in.

I say go for it. I don't see any reason, from a fermentation standpoint, you can't do this. You can always strain it and add only a portion of the pulp back in.

Sometimes I'll gently rock (not shake up) the bottles to put the sediment back in suspension and drink the whole thing.

The only thing about this is solids in the brew may cause it to release the carbonation faster. This is a minor point, and something I've not paid enough attention to to really verify.

[Tim Hall]

...the ginger bug that I now have brewing on my counter keeps developing a white film on top very much like my kimchis get.

I suspect this is just an aerobic yeast pellicle forming...possibly some type of Brettanomyces. If it's white (or very pale cream color) and not a furry mat or some other obvious color, stirring it in is fine.

If it's more like a thin, greasy-looking, translucent film, it could be Acetobacter. In which case you can just stir it in too.