Name: Ginger Bug Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 7205 min
Ingredients: 1-2 fresh organic ginger roots; ½ cup white sugar; 2 cups filtered water

If you aren’t familiar with naturally fermented beverages, you might be asking what the heck a ginger bug is and why you should make one…

A ginger bug is a culture of beneficial bacteria made from fresh ginger root and sugar. It is similar to a sourdough starter for bread or a kombucha SCOBY. The ginger imparts its flavor and as it naturally ferments, creates a mixture of beneficial bacteria.

Though not overly tasty by itself, the ginger bug is the base for many homemade sodas and tonics. We use it to make root beer, ginger ale, fruit “sodas”, and more.

The recipe we use is an adaption of the recipe in Nourishing Traditions (p. 591) and is the culture we use for all homemade sodas. There is also an easier way to make soda that doesn’t require a ginger bug if you prefer to skip this step, but to make an authentic soda, the bug is needed.

Ginger Bug Recipe

Once this ginger bug is made, it can be kept alive and used continuously to make healthy soda at any time.

How to Make a Ginger Bug for Natural Soda

Ginger Bug Recipe

How to create a ginger bug to use as the beneficial culture to make healthy fermented homemade sodas like old fashioned ginger ale or root beer.

Prep Time 5

Fermentation Time 5

Total Time 5 5

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

Ingredients

1-2 fresh organic ginger roots
½ cup white sugar
2 cups filtered water

Instructions

Cut a piece of ginger root about 1.5 inches long and grate to make 2-3 Tablespoons of grated ginger. You can also finely chop instead of grating. There is some debate about if it is better to peel the root or not. My general rule is that non-organic ginger gets peeled and organic just gets rinsed before grating.
Place the ginger in a quart size mason jar and add an equal amount of white sugar (2-3 Tablespoons). Nourishing Traditions insists that white sugar is needed to create the bug and I’ve had the best success with this, but a local friend claims that unrefined sugar or sugar with 1 tsp of molasses added works better. Try what you have and adapt as needed.
Add 2 cups of filtered water to the mason jar. Make sure that the water has been filtered so that it does not contain chlorine which can affect the culturing process.
Stir with a non-metal spoon and lightly cover. I cover with a coffee filter and rubber band.
Each day for the next five days, stir the mixture at least once and add 1 Tablespoon of grated ginger root and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Depending on temperature, it may take up to eight days of adding sugar and ginger to create the desired culture.
You can tell if the culture is active if there are bubbles forming around the top of the mixture, it “fizzes” when stirred, and it takes on a sweet and mildly yeasty smell. It will also become somewhat cloudy and opaque. If mold appears on the top, scrape it off if it can be removed. It this happens more than once, you will need to start again. If the mixture hasn’t taken on these characteristics by the 7-8th day, you need to discard it and start again.
Keep the culture away from other cultures like sauerkraut and kombucha or it can cross-culture.
Once the ginger bug has cultured, it can be used to create fermented sodas and drinks at the ratio of ¼ cup ginger bug starter per quart of sweetened herbal mixtures for ginger ale or root beer or diluted fruit juice for fruit flavored sodas.

Notes

To keep the bug alive and continue growing it, you will need to feed it regularly. Add 1 teaspoon minced ginger and 1 teaspoon sugar per day if kept at room temperature. You can also “rest” it in the fridge and feed it 1 Tablespoon each of ginger and sugar once a week. To reactivate it, remove and let it reach room temperature and begin feeding it again.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Do you have a pet ginger “bug” sitting on your counter? Will you make one?

A ginger bug is a culture of beneficial bacteria made from ginger root and is the starter culture for many homemade fermented sodas and drinks.

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

431 responses to “How to Make a Ginger Bug”

Caroline

October 3, 2014

My bug, after three days is gelatinous. Is that normal? The color is cloudy and opaque and the mixture is bubbly but when I look at bug making on youtube, it looks liquid, not gelatinous…Thanks!

Reply
1. Angie Turner
  
  June 30, 2015
  
  My ginger bug became gelatinous on the third day too. I don’t see where you ever got a reply as to whether that is okay or not. Some time has passed since your post. What happened?
  
  Reply
  1. Katie – Wellness Mama
    
    June 30, 2015
    
    It should be ok as long as it doesn’t have an off smell or taste.
    
    Reply
Jane

October 2, 2014

My ginger bug worked great, but I don’t want to use it yet, and would like to transfer it to the fridge. Should I continue with the cheesecloth cover in the fridge, or can I cap it?

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1. Jessica
  
  January 25, 2015
  
  breathable cloth in the fridge.
  
  Reply
Dez

July 26, 2014

Has anyone tried using the molasses method? Am I suppose to add a teaspoon of molasses every day after along with sugar and ginger?

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1. Andrea
  
  February 23, 2015
  
  I used organic raw sugar and a teaspoon of molasses and only add the molasses once a week. I had bubbles in four days and full on fizzy in two weeks. 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. kimi wei
    
    February 24, 2015
    
    Can anone explain to me exactly what fizzy means? I don’t get it.
    
    Reply
    1. Aaron
      
      February 26, 2015
      
      It means the ginger bug is actively producing tiny bubbles (of CO2). “Fizz” is what gives soda or beer the tingly feel when you drink it; in that case, it’s the CO2 coming out of dissolution. In the case of the ginger bug, it means the natural yeast fermentation has multiplied to such a great extent that you can readily see the CO2 gas being released as it’s produced.
      
      Reply
      1. Kimi Wei
        
        July 20, 2015
        
        Thank you, Aaron
Rowena

July 26, 2014

I started one of these a few days ago (5 if you want to be technical) with tap water left out for a night first, ginger from Mal-Wart (cause that’s what I can get) peeled, and organic Turbinado raw cane sugar (cause I never use white sugar). My room temp is spastic (between 90 and 50, depending on whether my AC works) and I’m using a plastic disposable spoon, a glass bowl and plastic measuring stuff. I started it at 5 am, then fed it 3 days at midnight, until today, when I forgot and didn’t feed it til 7 am. The 1st day, it has some bubbles, and continued to have bubbles until this morning, when it had nothing. After reading the comments here (particularly the one about too much sugar making making it so there was no room for the yeast), I added some more of my room tempurature water, and now I’m getting tiny bubbles again. So, despite the fact that I apparently did everything wrong (except use an aluminum spoon, since I don’t use aluminum for anything) I have a lovely Ginger Bug, but there does need to be something mentioned in the original recipe about adding water at some point.
Anyway, thanks for the great recipe and the comments that kept me from thinking I killed it and giving up.

Reply
Holly

July 22, 2014

My ginger bug was looking great on the 4th day with a good aroma and lots of fizz. On the 5th morning it looked dead. I did dehydrate 5 pounds of mushrooms overnight and was wondering if those spores could have impacted the ginger bug? They were in separate rooms.

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Shirley Keith

July 10, 2014

This recipe does not tell you that you also need to add 1 tbs water every time you add 1 tbs ginger and 1 tbs sugar, otherwise you would be removing the liquid in the ginger bug to make ale and soon the liquid in the ginger bug would be gone. Otherwise a good recipe.

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Mathew

June 27, 2014

I started my ginger bug yesterday. It’s been going a little over a day now and it’s blowing up! It’s very fizzy with lots of bubbles now. Excited to see where it goes.

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JP

June 19, 2014

I’ve tried this …… it’s been a week and a half, no ‘fizzing’, no bubbles, no Ginger bug! I don’t have fermentation at all!
I don’t use white sugar, I used natural brown cane sugar, I used the same coffee filters that my wife uses for Kombuscha, but I forgot the spoon (I used a stainless measuring spoon), so I don’t understand why this isn’t working. Any advice?

Reply
kayla

June 13, 2014

I made this about four days ago and it’s look perfect! it’s bubbly, creamy and smells just like ginger beer. i am beyond excited to try this bug out on some sodas! as for the people leaving comments about how this recipe doesn’t tell you what to do with it, this is a basic bug that Wellness Mama even states that she uses this specific bug for all her sodas… so why don’t you take a look at her soda recipes?
https://wellnessmama.com/8945/ginger-ale/
https://wellnessmama.com/11392/homemade-root-beer/

a BIG TIP; MAKE SURE YOU’RE USING THE RIGHT KIND OF WATER

Reply
Cyril

June 11, 2014

So I started this bug lsst week and I started getting foam on the second day, then on the fourth day the foam and bubbling stopped. I remember reading this happened to alot of people but I didn’t want to restart. So I read another article on making a ginger bug so I combined recommendation to bring my bug back so I figured I would share.

I squeezed fresh lemon juice, put a lid on top and placed in my garage at this point it took 4 days but when I checked on it the nason lid was almost blown off it had tons of foam so when I removed the lid the foam rushed up and spilled over with bubbling and fizzing like its cooking. The Bug is ready!

Thanks for these great recipes I love ginger ale and to be able to make it myself is great.

Doing this project has given me a better understanding on culturing beneficial bacterial and alliw me to tranfer this knowledge to the garden for worm tea.

Thanks
Cyril

Reply
1. Cyril
  
  June 11, 2014
  
  Sorry for the typos here I typed this on my cell and I have large hands.
  
  Reply
Kevin Weathers

June 10, 2014

The real concern with metal utensils is whether or not they’re made from non-reactive materials. Stainless steel is a non-reactive metal and will not have any adverse effects. Aluminum however IS reactive. Make sure your metal kitchen items: grater, spoon, funnel — WHATEVER — is stainless and all should be fine. Reactive metals will also give your recipes that awful “metallic” taste. When cooking up the soda syrups, use non-reactive pans. Aluminum and stainless look very similar. Most stainless utensils have a stamp on them indicating what they’re made of. If you’re unsure, don’t use it. Or, you can just use wood!
One more thing — hard anodized aluminum is considered non-reactive. Through the magic of physics and chemistry the properties have been altered so the material won’t wreak havoc on our foods and cultures. Hard anodized aluminum is usually a very dark gray — almost black — and is clearly marked.

Reply
Cesar

June 10, 2014

not sure if someone asked yet, but when you use the bug to make the soda, is the bug the actual ginger, the ginger water stuff, or both? and do i need to take out the ginger after its built up before i add new ginger? thanks

Reply
Ramona

June 4, 2014

Hello,
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve made a ginger bug and have been using it successfully for many batches of ginger ale. I just tried making a rhubarb batch and it has gone moldy! I know you mention scraping the mold off the ginger bug, but what about when the soda gets mold? Toss it and start over?

Reply
Sandeep

May 31, 2014

yeast ? bacteria. an important distinction.

with this ginger mixture, the brewer is using ginger (which is a natural antibacterial) to cultivate wild yeast.

Reply
Ashley

May 27, 2014

I’m wondering if it’s necessary to wait 5 days to use for making ginger ale if it’s already nice & fizzy? Thanks!

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  May 28, 2014
  
  Nope. It can go faster, especially in warmer months
  
  Reply
Matus

May 21, 2014

Hi all. A lot of people seem to be wondering what’s happened if the already-started-bubbling ceases after a couple of days. The problem seems to be the water, or lack of it: the recipe doesn’t mention anything about adding more water. The thing with strengthening sugar solutions (as this one) is that after a certain point, there is no more “free water” for the micro-organisms to live. So as jam or marmalade rarely gets mould or microbe-growth in it (that’s teh point of jam), this too strong sugar solution inhibits the growth of the “bug”. After I figured this out, I just added a couple of cups of water in to the mix and the next day the bug was fizzing once more.

Also, I find it very hard to believe that stirring the bug with anything metallic would be a problem. The only thing that is important is that everything you touch the bug with – the jar, spoon, cups etc – are absolutely clean. Desinfected with boiling water preferably.

Reply
Marilyn

May 17, 2014

Aloha, Katie – Wellness Mama ,

Thank you again for your wonderful articles.

I posted a comment at day 9-1/2 of my Ginger Bug, but it is gone, lost somewhere in space while it is being determined whether to post it, or not, I guess. It is now day 11 (eleven) for my Ginger Bug attempt. I have only a metal grater, metal measuring spoons, so I used those. BUT I did NOT use metal spoon for mixing the Ginger + Sugar + Molasses + Water mixture. I used ONLY a wooden spoon to mix the Ginger Bug mixture once the ingredients where combined. There is no, nor has every been, fizzing. It still smells good & there was never any mold growing. It has been 80-100 degrees outside these 11 (eleven) days. We have no air conditioner. It is on top of my range, not too near the heat elements, and not in the dark, but not in direct sunlight, either. Should I put the jar in (a) brown plastic bag(s), or brown paper bag to give it dark? Does it help to be in the dark?

I sure hope I haven’t wasted all this time. Can’t wait for a successful outcome.
Thank you, again!

What is going on? And, if I start over, what have I done wrong?

Reply
1. Tony
  
  February 26, 2015
  
  I know this is an old post but you were super concerned about using metal and is really nothing to worry about. All professional food companies(organic and otherwise) use metal all the time. Go into any brewery or winery and I guarantee you’ll find metal. This disdain for metal among the fermenting community is puzzling because it is really no big deal. The ONLY time you may have a problem is using cast iron or other reactive but most all kitchen utensils are stainless, so rest easy, you’ll be fine. If you’re not having success,I would put my money on something else besides using a metal spoon or grater. In your case, with the temps you had I would guess it may have gotten too hot.
  
  Reply
  1. Aaron
    
    February 26, 2015
    
    Yeah, I thought the no-metal-stirring-element restriction was a bit ridiculous, given that most people will be using metal tools to peel and grate the ginger. I’ve been using stainless steel spoons to stir and have no issues with my bug. In fact, it’s bubbling quite actively at day five.
    
    Reply
    1. Dan
      
      July 17, 2016
      
      Using stainless steel is ok.
      
      Reply
Marilyn

May 16, 2014

Aloha, Again, Katie – WellnessMama,

P. S. I have been “feeding it” 1 TBSP of grated ginger + 1 TBSP of sugar premixed with molasses every night. Again with the metal grater & metal measuring spoons, mixed only with a wooden spoon.

Aloha & Mahalo!

Reply
Marilyn

May 16, 2014

Aloha, Again, Katie – WellnessMama,

As I stated earlier, I dumped out the first batch of Ginger Bug because I forgot & had mixed it with a metal spoon.

I started over again. I have a metal grater & metal measuring spoons which I DO USE, however, I DID NOT USE METAL, ever, after I had combined the water, ginger, & sugar + molasses. From the directions it specified to avoid using metal, seemingly specifying only after these ingredients are combined. It is day 9-1/2 days old, and it is not fizzing yet. I haven’t given up yet, as it still smells fine & no mold is growing on it.

I’ve read elsewhere a statement that the Ginger Bug is so acidic it even reacts with plastic (utensils?) Sigh!

Please tell me what type of kitchen tools YOU have used for guaranteed success. Thank you so much to any who respond! Aloha & Mahalo!

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  May 20, 2014
  
  I use wooden ones typically.
  
  Reply
Brandi

May 15, 2014

This is my second try on making a ginger bug. My first try didn’t go so well. On the 8th day nothing was happening and it began to grow mold. I was wondering if the way I store my ginger could have anything to do with it? After I grate it I put it in a zip lock bag and put it in the refrigerator until the next day when I grate some more. Should I be doing something different?

Reply