This will become a log of new adventures.  This time on a 25,000 acre lake on the Kentucky Tennessee boarder.  I also bought a harmonica, come teach me how to play it. 

The best Ginger Ale

The best Ginger Ale (ginger beer?) is made fresh.  There is no comparison to anything we have found at any store.  Here is my recipe:

 Juice ½ to 1 pound of ginger (the fresher the ginger the less you use).  I use a fine microplane, then add a few ounces of water, sometimes a little lime juice and strain the pulp.  Discard the pulp or make ginger chicken.

12-16 ounces of simple syrup

About 100 prills of champagne yeast (maybe 1/32 teaspoon).  One ounce of yeast should make 5 gallons.

Combine all ingredients, QS with water to not quite full.  Let stand at 60 to 80 degrees for 2 or 3 days.  Consider reracking during the first 24 hours as solids from the ginger will have settled.  Some of these solids give the bite to the ale, so you may not want to loosen all of them.  Chill to stop fermentation.

- Varying the amount of sugar will change the sweetness.

- Increasing fermentation time will increase the alcohol content and reduce sugar.  This will also increase the pressure in the vessel.

- Chlorinated city water may kill the yeast.

Add a little lime juice, a jigger or so of Gosling's Rum to an ice filled glass and you have the quintessential boat drink - a Dark and Stormy.