(psst....CynUpstateNY? ...quiet...quiet....help! sshhhh...it's ALIVE!.

M

marilynfl

Moderator
don't breathe so loud...I may have created a monster here.)

Made the home-made ginger ale, but didn't have (oh....it's quivering!) a 2-Liter soda bottle (which, from an etymological viewpoint, would be a 2-Liter pop bottle for those of us reared in Western Pennsylvania)...

but I digress.

...so I put the mixture in a 1/2 gallon plastic apple cider bottle (the type with the press-on plastic lid) leaving a bit of space at the top. Then I gave it a good shake and went about my business.

Walked back into the kitchen an hour later and the container was bulging! Bulging, I say!! I gingerly (agh...another damn pun) picked up the bloated thing and NOW IT'S HISSING AT ME!

I'd put it in a lead-lined safe if I had one, but we seem to be out of those at the moment. So I put it down inside the utility tub because if it's going to blow, I'd rather clean the utility room than the kitchen.

Did yours do this? Or did I totally screw up by not using a soda/pop/sodey-pop bottle with a screw top?

 
LOL...I would like to know too, since I am making some today.

Also, I am assuming since there is yeast and sugar involved that this is an alcholic beverage when it gets done? I don't want to give this to the kids if there is even a slight chance that there is any alcohol involved.

 
We always knew when my Grandmother's ginger ale was done

because we could hear the bottles in the basement breaking. My Father would open the bottles after putting one in a big basin, then covering completely with several layers of towel or tablecloth. We always used glass bottles, that was all she had 100 years ago. I think her recipe calles for more yeast that the AB one and I assumed that was the reason for the problem with hers. Cover the bottle and take the cap off carefully.

 
Mar, some info

you have to have an airtight seal, as would be provided by the 2-liter pop (same in Ohio) bottles. Your apple cider jug is losing the gas with the hissing. This means, the gas is disipating into the air and not into your gingerale. You will not achieve carbonation as long as it's hissing at you.

You could also use one of those big screw cap wine jugs. I haven't seen the recipe, but if you refrigerate, you can bring the fermentation nearly to a halt.

Also, you can use the smaller plastic pop bottles, which is more effort to fill all of them, but it's another option. Water bottles and non-carbonated type containers are different and should not be used as they will probably explode under the pressure.

 
Ha! Too funny, Liz! Well, at least I know this is somewhat normal. Now, if only

I can get the bomb squad to loan me one of their "hazardous object" suits...

 
good info, Richard. Does this mean I've wasted all these ingredients? Or can I

just add more yeast to the stuff I've already made and re-bottle it? I can buy a 99 cent 2-Liter pop bottle at the dollar store and empty it out.

 
No waste, just transfer the gingerale to the containers.

It sounds like it's still undergoing fermentation, so you should be fine.

 
Ha! I read the reviews of the recipe and many people voiced the same concerns you have.

I agree with Richard-your carbonation is leaking out. I doubled the recipe and used the 2 liter "pop" bottles. I had half a bottle left and forgot about it for 2 weeks. The bottle wasn't bulging but when I opened it the ginger ale exploded out. Still good, though.
Try it with shot of rum and a squeeze of fresh lime.

 
I judged this recipe at a recent 4-H fair down in Chino, CA. . .

the other judge and I were saying to each other, cool soda pop, good, ginger ale, better. I went to to open and it was difficult to flip the bailed stopper (ceramic stopper with a rubber gasket attached by wire to the bottle itself) and when I finally got it open--BA-WHOOSH--I got a ginger ale shower.

It was very good; I know this from the direct experience of having it spray me in the face. --Plus I drank some also!

If you use this recipe, I would recommend using even less yeast. . . !

 
My sis and I made rootbeer once and we'll never hear the end of it.

They were bottled and in a box in the garage, and started blowing up! All over the washer and dryer and laundry, and all over my mom's sportscar and dad's tools. Not a single bottle survived. We were lucky we survived!!!!! I think we were grounded all summer.

 
emphasis on "MAD" smileys/smile.gif Think I'll run down to the store for a 6-pack of ginger ale...

 
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