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

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

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”

Barb

May 10, 2015

I noticed many have difficulties getting their bug up & bubbling. It is a particilar yeat element in the SKIN of the ginger root that promotes fermentation.! Therefore do not remove skin and obviously use only organic root and bottled spring water. Not tap water, not distilled or demineralised. I use organic blond sugar, sometimes with rapadura (dried cane juice). Lovely stuff!

Reply
1. Tim
  
  May 10, 2015
  
  I think part of my problem is I stuck the ginger root in the fridge after breaking off a peice. Last few days I’ve been putting my finger bug in a warm place, keeping the ginger root at room temp and bubbles are slowly rising to the top. I added just a lil bit of yeast energizer to speed it up.
  
  Reply
Susan

April 29, 2015

I have been making this root beer recipe for at least 6 months now, and I have also been making the ginger bug on a regular basis. Today, I noticed there was mold on top of the liquid in my ginger bug. I am wondering if I should scoop it out or if I should toss the whole thing. What do you think?

Reply
Mimi

April 25, 2015

In your instructions, for continuing the process you didn’t mention replacing the water after you take some out to use. You do have to replace the water right? and in what ratios? I know for Water Kefir, it’s 1:1:1 (1 cup water, 1 tbsp. sugar, 1 tbsp. Kefir grains) and made in any amount as long as you follow the ratio. Also, do you add any water during the first week process? or just stay with the original 2 cups? Thanks so much for the recipe…I had to quit drinking soda for health reasons and really miss it. Please let me know…

Reply
erin

April 22, 2015

I have a question about flavoring any fermented drink. I make kombucha and am now in the process of starting a ginger bug. All along with kombucha I have always wondered… does flavoring the drink afterwards kill off the good bacteria in the drink? ie: kombucha must not be made with herbal teas such as ginger, cinnamon etc because these herbs kill the scoby due to their antibacterial properties. Instructions always say to add these flavors after the brew. But how does adding these herbs after a brew not kill the bacteria remaining in the brewed product?

Reply
Debbie

April 15, 2015

Have used gingerale recipe with great success, but have some questions:
1. After I strain the gingerale, what do I do with the ginger? The first time, I re-used it, but then the second time I threw it out. Could it be re-used to “feed the bug”?
2. When I take some liquid/ ginger pieces out of the ginger bug, do I replace same amount of liquid?
3. How long do I let the ginger pieces build up in the ginger bug. Could I “thin” it out and used some pieces for the gingerale?

I apologize if some of these questions have already been answered, but I am getting a friend into this as well and want to be able to answer all her questios/ let her know all the tips ahead of her first attempt.

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  April 23, 2015
  
  I don’t reuse the ginger, but just compost it after it is strained. Yes, replace the same amount of liquid. and yes you could thin it out 🙂
  
  Reply
Penny

April 12, 2015

This recipe and instructions are exactly what I wanted. Easy, precise and fully loaded.
Today is day 4 of my Ginger Bug and the bubbles are so happy. They are actually trying to make their way up to the top of my jar! 🙂
Wish I could post a photo on her to show you. You would be so proud!

Thanks so much for a mighty fine recipe!
Penny

Reply
Lynn

April 5, 2015

How far apart should the ginger bug and the kombucha be located?

Reply
jon

April 1, 2015

I’m just about to combine my bug with my ginger beer mixture and I’ve noticed some tiny white round things on the top and edges of my ginger bug. Is this mold?

Reply
Elmer

March 5, 2015

This is a lambic style fermentation. It uses wild yeasts and bacteria. As a beer and wine brewer I would say that it’s inferior to pitching a good strain of ale or wine yeast, there will be more off flavors. Yeasts invert their own sugar, so refined cane sugar is the easiest and most inexpensive food for them. They convert sucrose to glucose, and dextrose is basically glucose, but you don’t taste the sweetness. Fructose is very sweet but yeast can’t ferment it. It would be good for flavouring the soda without adding alcohol or having it ferment into ginger beer. I would puree the ginger, add it to purified water and enough sugar to bring the specific gravity to 1.010 or so, and perhaps use Camden tablets to sanitize it (which takes a day to clear out), then activate some good yeast, champagne yeast was an excellent suggestion, and pitch it in, let ferment two or three days, and try it. The reason so many are failing to start is the random availability of a healthy strain of yeast and the presence of bacteria. And if you continue adding so much sugar each day you are either feeding the yeast until the alcohol concentration reaches %13-%14 at which point yeasts die, or raising the sugar level to where the yeast cannot survive the osmotic pressure and go dormant. Sugar is an excellent way of preserving food for that reason.

Reply
Calon Lochridge

February 22, 2015

Hi!

I love this recipe and I’ve used it to make apple beer, ginger ale (also from this site), and a melon soda that ended up exploding but smelled really good as I cleaned it off the walls 🙂

I recently acquired a 5 gallon dumped whiskey barrel and I want to make large batches of soda using this culture. Up to this point I’ve only made 1 liter batches in swing top glass bottles. Does anyone have any suggestions for scaling the recipe? I also see challenges in determining an appropriate amount of time to let the soda stand after adding the culture and how to “burp” the soda. Finally, what is the best way to stop the culture from fermenting so that I can use my soda over a long period of time without worrying about it getting more alcoholic but also not going flat?

If anyone has any expertise to lend on Thai it would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

Reply
Debbie

January 24, 2015

I’m just starting to look into making homemade sodas by scratch and making a Ginger bug sounds like a great way to start.. though my house is quite cold at most times. will that affect the ginger bug?

Reply
1. Owen
  
  January 26, 2015
  
  Depends water that temperature of “cold” is. Yeasts thrive in environments around 68 degrees. If you get into beer brewing and winemaking you will find some yeasts like it hotter and some yeasts like it colder. Lager would be an example of this because they are brewed around 50 degrees. Worst case scenario, if it is too cold your yeasts will become dormant. Too hot and they die. find a place in you house that keep the water in your ginger bug at that nice 68 degrees. Cheers
  
  Reply
Renee

January 19, 2015

I would just like to say that you can indeed use honey. I have done so myself…it just takes longer for it to begin fermenting….

Reply
Kim G.

December 29, 2014

Once you have your ginger bug, could you feed it with ground ginger? This is all very new to me & I may have missed something. Please help to clarify : step 1: great bug according to above inst. step 2: Strain through Muslin cloth? drink? start again? sorry to be such a newbie and ask questions which may seem obvious, but I really want to try get this right as I want 2015 to be a year of optimal health rather than just trying to ” lose weight”

Reply
Kat

December 20, 2014

I’m DYING to try your homemade ginger ale, Katie. My first attempt at making my ginger bug did not work (peeled conventional ginger), but my second seems to be working (organic unpeeled). I found an article that I think explains why. Conventional ginger is often irradiated, which interferes with fermentation. I will ONLY use organic from now on. I will let you know how my ginger beer turns out. I’m sure it will be DELSH!

Reply
Elizabeth

November 22, 2014

I started my ginger bug a while back, tried to make soda and it didn’t work (I don’t think I waited long enough before using the bug), then put it in the fridge for a bit. Took it back out and tried to get it started again. It has bubble on top now, but when I look at the bottom on the jar there are a few black dots… I can’t tell if this is mold or not (looks like mold to me). It seems that it would not be able to grow at the bottom of all that liquid, but it definitely doesn’t look like ginger bits. Is it still safe to use or not?

Reply
Chloe Merritt

November 14, 2014

Followed your instructions and ginger bug is already bubbling and starting to fizz after 3 days! So excited 🙂

Reply
Brenda

November 10, 2014

i read the instructions wrong. I only fed it sugar for 7 days. I did not add more ginger. Did I lll it? I made 8 jars. I would hate to through them all out. I just added ginger today. No sugar. It’s kind of syrupy.

Reply
Rebecca

November 4, 2014

Hey Katie! I’ve been eyeing this for sometime & I’m ready to get started. I’m curious about something though. I make a drink called Switchel. It’s a very old recipe that has ACV(w/ the mother), molasses, sugar/honey(depends on the pantry), ginger, & water. There is a sharpness to it already, but could use a carbonation umph. Could I give my drink more sparkle with this? The ACV is something I don’t see mentioned in many drinks across the internet, & none that fizz, so I wonder if there is an unwanted affect?

Reply
Ginger

October 16, 2014

Looking forward to trying this recipe. I make kombucha as well and since you say this shouldn’t be too close to other live cultures, I am wondering what is an optimal distance to grow this culture away from the kombucha brews?

Reply
Kirsten

October 6, 2014

I started a ginger bug on Saturday afternoon (It’s monday evening now) and it’s already got a 1/4 inch of foam on the top, is cloudy, and is clearly fermenting very well. How do I know when it’s ready? I’ve been adding sugar and ginger and stirring the jar every day. Should I just wait the week to be sure it’s fully fermented, or can I use it to make rootbeer earlier since it seems to be working so quickly?

Reply