Homemade Ginger Beer

This recipe makes about 600 ml of concentrated, still ginger base. Top it with soda water in the glass for sparkle.

Bring the water to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the ginger, cover and steep for one hour. Strain through a fine sieve, then stir in the sugar and lime juice until dissolved. Chill in the refrigerator.

Use roughly one part ginger base to two parts soda water. For more heat, steep longer or add a little grated ginger before straining. Keep for up to one week.

Bottle in a clean, sanitized container, label with the date and refrigerate at 4 °C or below. Discard any batch that turns cloudy, fizzy, moldy or smells off.