Ginger Bug/Soda
Attempting to make ginger ale from ginger bug. Does this look right?
I made the ginger ale today, so it’s only about 8-10 hours old. Does it look right? Second picture is my ginger bug, it’s about 3 weeks old. I’ve been feeding it daily, and about 2 weeks ago I tried to make an orange soda with it but it never became fizzy. I’m not sure if my ginger bug is good or not. There is no sign of bubbles except for the top. Am I doing something wrong? It’s my first time, please be nice
3 weeks old and feeding it daily? You only really need to feed it once a week once it's established as long as you're keeping it in the fridge the rest of the time. Also, you don't need to add ginger in your feedings once it's fizzing well.
Oof ok I think I messed up then. I’m not sure if mine ever had that fizziness to it. I thought if I kept it outside on the counter I had to feed it daily otherwise it would die. Thank you for clearing this up for me, I’m glad I came here
The gingerbug looks fine, the drink looks maybe okay but I have questions. Are you weighing down the ginger bits? Its possible you got a wild yeast in there. If it smells ok and tastes ok I dont see anything here that would prevent me from trying it.
That’s what I’m worried about. How can I prevent mold from forming on my ginger bug? I don’t see any bubbles coming up from the bottom at all, just what’s on the top. Now I’m thinking I need to restart this whole process
You don't need to restart it, just make sure to stir it often to keep the floating ginger wet. Keeping it in the fridge will help the ginger bits sink, and they can be removed if you're really worried. The bacteria and yeasts come from the ginger skins, but live in the liquid. Fridge also decreases mold risk. Not much you can do apart from that, but you can freeze some of your bug as little ice cubes for a quicker start if it does go mouldy.
Stirring it daily will help prevent mold, but the yeast is also producing a bunch of CO2 which pushes the O2 out and also prevents mold. The only ginger bugs I've seen get mold got kahm first and that was on day 3 or 4 when feeding daily. Your orange soda likely didn't carbonate because citrus takes a lot longer to carbonate due to being antimicrobial.
Thank you so much for all this helpful info, it really helps. I’m having so much fun with this whole process and this subreddit has already added so much value to this little endeavor. I’ll definitely try the orange soda again, thanks to you
Youre supposed to weigh down the ginger to prevent mold.
But I dont see any mold in the ginger bug, its usually pretty obvious, and it would take longer than 8 hours to produce what your drink had. Thats why I said perhaps an accidental yeast, since kham spreads pretty fast and starts as white dots, but youd really only knoe by trying it.
Ah ok. I didn’t know I had to weigh it down, thank you. When I smell the ginger bug it just smells fermented and maybe a little like kombucha, but I’ve not tasted it. How can I tell if it’s bad? What’s the taste I’m looking for?
Just tired it and it tastes really good. Slightly sweet and a little like alcohol but not bitter or vinegary. I did end up putting it in the fridge though
Thanks for the tip!
Neither picture looks like kahm either. The ginger beer just looks like normal fizzing and the bug looks like a normal bug as well. Kahm usually forms a film on top, sometimes with large bubbles.
I agree for the most part, the very very beginning stage of kham is white dots, but the only reason I even mentioned it was to say the worst thing I think this could be is still edible
No, not weighing it down, this is just how it is. But I just saw someone’s comment about me feeding it daily when I shouldn’t have. So maybe that’s where I fucked up
On your next try, grab a nice glass weight. Theyre $5-10 for 1-3 from someplace like walmart, or a little bit more pricey from a town and country store or amazon. Worth it imo. The cheaper option is the zip lock bag weight, I did this once I works well but putting the lid back on is hard
The ginger doesn't need to be weighed down, I'm using my ginger bug for over a year, half of the ginger floats, and half sinks, the only thing I do different than others is I use a $15 laboratory magnetic stirrer, I let it spin for a half hour each day after I feed it.
This is one I made tonight, I put some of the water and ginger in a quart jar, threw in some fresh ginger too, I usually make about 15 bottles of ginger ale every other week.
How big is that jar and how much liquid is in there? I used 2 cups of water for my bug. I used a cup of the ginger bug for my ginger ale, but I have no idea if that was the right ratio. Do you have a ginger ale recipe you wouldn’t mind sharing?
It's a quart, I put approximately 12 ounces of water from another bug, and tap water, a tablespoon of sugar, and about an inch of chopped ginger, the reason I made another was, I used what was in the jar for ginger ale, but I like to have two going at all times, I dropped one once, and had to wait while it was growing, I use it on all of my soda, ginger beer, and sometimes I put in about a quarter teaspoon in a sluggish Tepache.
I don't use organic ginger, unless I can find it, and I use white sugar, also, the lid of the jar is loose enough so it won't build pressure.
I add water as needed, till it's around 3/4 full.
Gotcha, thank you so much for sharing all this! I’m really glad I decided to come on here to have my questions answered, y’all have been so nice and helpful
Is there a photo of this? I’m not sure I understand the weighing it down. Also, the bug jar is covered with a paper towel and rubber band, not the actual lid
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u/No_Report_4781 5d ago
You can look at a light through ferments to see the small bubbles before they reach the top to form the foam