Ginger beer
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'''Ginger beer''' (or ginger ale) is a type of [[carbonation|carbonated]] [[soft drink]] or rarely, [[alcoholic beverage]], flavored primarily with [[ginger]], [[lemon]] and [[sugar]]. It originated in [[England]] in the mid 1700s, and it reached its peak of popularity in the early 1900s.<ref name="DonaldYates">{{cite web
|url=http://www.fohbc.com/BandE_Article4.html
|title=Root Beer and Ginger Beer heritage
|author=Donald Yates
|date=Spring 2003
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref> The original recipe requires only ginger, sugar, and water, to which is added a gelatinous substance called "ginger beer plant" (see below). Fermentation over a few days turns the mixture into ginger beer. Lemon may be added. A simple version of this recipe can be made at home today in which the following is bottled in a 2 liter bottle: grated fresh ginger, sugar, a small amount of baker's yeast, and (optionally) lemon juice. It is sealed at room temperature for a day or two before refrigerating <ref>="http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ginger_Ale_Ag0.htm</ref>.
Instead of using the ginger beer plant, some other form of live culture may be used to produce fermented ginger beer. This is often baker's or [[brewer's yeast]], but can also be a culture of [[lactic acid bacteria]], [[kefir]] grains, or [[tibicos]]. Ginger beer is fizzy due to carbon dioxide. The alcohol content when produced by the traditional process can be high, up to 11%,<ref name="DonaldYates"/> although it is possible to ferment ginger beer in such a way as to produce little alcohol. Ginger beer may be mixed with [[beer]] (usually a British [[ale]] of some sort) to make one type of [[shandy]], and with [[Gosling's Rum|Gosling's Black Seal]] [[rum]] to make a drink, originally from [[Bermuda]], called a [[Dark 'N' Stormy]]. The soda version of ginger beer is the main ingredient in the [[Moscow Mule]] cocktail.
The beverage produced industrially today is often not brewed (fermented). Such ginger beer is carbonated with pressurized [[carbon dioxide]], does not contain alcohol, and is sold as a soft drink. Ginger beer is similar to [[ginger ale]] except that it has a significantly stronger ginger taste, often being described as ginger ale with a kick to it. Its other distictive properties include its traditional cloudy appearance, its predominately citrus sour taste base and its spicy ginger bite.
==History==
Ginger beer was first brewed in the 1700s, and the brewed, alcoholic drink became very popular in Britain and North America, with, in 1935, 3000 breweries in Britain, 300 in the U.S. (which had been affected by the [[Prohibition]] law), and 1000 in Canada.<ref name="DonaldYates"/> It is often sold as a nonalcoholic soda; an example being the Regatta brand.
It was brought to the [[Ionian Islands]] by the [[British Army]] in the 19th century, and is still made by older villagers in rural [[Corfu]] as a local specialty, along with [[plum pudding]].
Today in Eastern Africa (especially in Kenya and Tanzania), ginger beer is a very popular drink. It is called "Tangawizi" which is the Swahili word for ginger. Stoney Tangawizi is a product of the Coca-Cola company.
==Ginger beer plant==
Ginger beer plant (GBP) is a fungus (typically occurring in the presence of bacterial [[symbiont]]s), which must contain the [[yeast]] ''[[Saccharomyces]] florentinus'' (formerly ''Saccharomyces pyriformis'') and the [[bacterium]] ''[[Lactobacillus]] hilgardii'' (formerly ''Brevibacterium vermiforme'').<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/ginger_food_ginger_beer_plant.html
|title=Ginger - ginger beer plant
|publisher=Plant Cultures
|date=[[16 June]][[2006]]
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref><ref name="YahooGroup">{{cite web
|url=http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/GingerBeerPlant/
|title=Yahoo! group GingerBeerPlant
}}</ref><ref name="RajBApte">{{cite web
|url=http://www2.parc.com/emdl/members/apte/GingerBeer.pdf
|title=Lactic Acid Beverages: sour beer, (milk) & soda
|author=Raj B. Apte
|date=[[22 June]][[2006]]
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref> It forms a gelatinous substance that allows it to be easily transferred from one fermenting substrate to the next, much like [[Kefir|kefir grains]] and [[tibicos]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/picrender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1264278&blobtype=pdf
|title=CCLI. Investigation of a Polysaccharide Produced From Sucrose by Betabacterium Vermiformé (Ward-Meyer)
|author=Walter Donald Daker
|coauthors=Maurice Stakey
|date=[[14 September]][[1938]]
|accessdate=2006-12-07
|format=pdf
}}</ref>
The GBP was first described by [[Harry Marshall Ward]] in 1892, from samples he received in 1887.<ref name="RajBApte"/><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.french4tots.co.uk/HMW/hmw.html
|title=Harry Marshall Ward : Biography
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17523625.800.html
|last=Vines
|first=Gail
|title=Marriage of equals
|journal=[[New Scientist]]
|issue=2362
|pages=50
|date=[[28 September]][[2002]]
}}</ref> Original ginger beer is made by leaving water, sugar, ginger, and GBP to ferment.
Some modern sources and yeast-based recipes speak of GBP, but it is just a simple yeast culture rather than the original. The original may be found from several commercial sources or from yeast banks.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.dsmz.de/strains/no002484.htm
|title=DSM 2484 - Ginger beer plant
|publisher=DSMZ
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref><ref name="FermentedTreasures">{{cite web
|url=http://www.fermentedtreasures.com/gingerbp.html
|title=Ginger Beer Plant
|publisher=Fermented Treasures
|accessdate=2006-12-06
}}</ref> There is also an active Yahoo discussion group<ref name="YahooGroup"/> dedicated to "the real traditional Ginger Beer Plant" and members of that group may share excess plant material.
==See also==
*[[Ginger ale]]
*[[Root beer]]
*[[Caribbean cuisine]]
*[[Ginger wine]]
*[[Canton (liqueur)]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Cookbook}}
*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2000.01.0026&query=head%3D%23160 Of the Street Sale of Ginger-Beer, Sherbet, Lemonade,&C.], from ''London Labour and the London Poor'', Volume 1, [[Henry Mayhew]], 1851; subsequent pages cover the costs and income of street ginger beer sellers.
[[Category:Mycology]]
[[Category:Fermented beverages]]
[[Category:Ginger ale|*]]
[[Category:Rhyming slang]]
[[fr:Ginger beer]]
[[nl:Gemberbier]]
[[pl:Piwo imbirowe]]
[[ta:ஜின்ஜர் பியர்]]