I am a big fan of ginger beer.  You can keep your timid ginger ale, I like drinks that kick back.  An Aussie friend of mine brought me this really strong ginger concentrate that’s not available in the states (twice, bless her), and ever since I’ve been on the hunt for a good, truly strong brew.

It’s remarkably difficult to find something good, and even harder to find something to my taste without high-fructose corn syrup, so I decided to try my hand at making some.  Goodness gracious, the whole place smelled strongly of it, though I suppose that’s to be expected when you start with this and soak it in an open container for a day:

I’ve finished my first batch, and it’s… interesting.  Needs a little work and a little more sugar, and it seems to work best when cut with sparkling water.  I’m perfectly fine making it extra strong and using it as a concentrate.  But one of the best parts was listening to the yeast at work in an open container.  So enjoy the recording below, and if I manage to make ginger beer that’s worth presenting to the public, I’ll let you give it a try.

Ginger beer brewing (0:24)