Learn how to make a homemade ginger bug using a wild ferment. It’s a very easy beginner fermentation recipe, can be a base for all kinds of naturally fermented soda drinks, including traditional ginger beer. Here is everything you need to know about this traditionally fermented ginger starter for homemade natural sodas!
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Fermenting Ginger as a Starter for Sodas
The coolest thing to me about fermenting is that it is one of the oldest methods of food preservation, along with salting and drying.
I love the thought of humans discovering the fermentation process many hundreds of years ago, and love the revival it has been experiencing in recent times.
One very traditional method of fermenting is to make ginger beer. No, not what you traditionally know as “ginger ale” which in most cases is usually just sugar water with ginger flavoring.
I’m talking about real ginger beer, which is made with a ginger bug starter.
I’m going to show you how to make a ginger bug, which is started by a wild ferment. This means that no commercial yeast is added, but rather comes from the local environment.
It’s super simple to make and can be a base for all kinds of fermented soda recipes, not only just ginger beer.
Ginger has been used as a spice and medicinally for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Somewhere along the line it was discovered that if you mix it with sugar and water it will ferment until bubbly fairly quickly.
Ginger root has a large amount of naturally occurring yeast and lactic acid on its surface, so it doesn’t take much for it to produce a “ginger bug.”
Ginger Bug Recipe
All that is needed to make a ginger bug is organic unpeeled ginger root, raw sugar, and filtered water. That’s it!
Some people suggest adding a squeeze of lemon juice, and I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt, but I usually just keep it simple.
Mix Ginger, Sugar & Water
First, get yourself a good sized hunk of organic ginger. Organic is important here because you are leaving the skin on and it houses all of the lovely bacteria and yeasts that you want.
Grate the ginger until you have about one tablespoon. A cheese grater with small holes or a microplane work well for this.
Then add the ginger to a pint jar with the sugar.
Next add the water and stir it all around well until the sugar completely dissolves.
That’s the slurry that you start with. Cover it up with a cheesecloth or other breathable cloth and a rubber band and let it sit on your counter for 24 hours.
Stir it up a little anytime you think of it, every few hours or so.
Feed the Ginger Bug Daily
Then, much like a sourdough starter, you need to feed it again after 24 hours. Same as before, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 1 teaspoon sugar, and a little bit of water.
Keep feeding it and stirring it every day, and after a couple of days you should start to see some bubbles forming in the jar.
How to Use a Ginger Bug
After feeding your ginger bug daily for a week or so, the jar will start to get full and should have some nice bubbles.
That’s when it’s time to use it as a base to jump start homemade fermented sodas!
Ginger beer is a common way to use a ginger bug, but I like making all kinds of delicious wild sodas with it.
Related: 12 Fermented Soda Recipes
One of my favorite ways to use a ginger bug is to make this apple ginger beer! It’s absolutely delicious!
Homemade strawberry rhubarb soda is another favorite around here.
A refreshing homemade soda sure does sound good, especially when you can choose your own favorite flavors.
You can also make a turmeric bug and fermented turmeric soda with fresh turmeric root!
Who needs the store bought stuff with all of its high fructose nonsense when you can make your own healthy, probiotic soda?
Making a homemade ginger bug is such a simple concept that uses easy to find ingredients to make a wonderfully healthy base for homemade sodas! You couldn’t ask for anything more.
Naturally Fermented Soda Recipes Made With a Ginger Bug
Here are some more recipes I have for using your ginger bug.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Soda
- Fermented Root Beer
- Fermented Elderberry Soda
- Apple Ginger Beer
- Strawberry Water Kefir Soda
- Homemade Soda with Yarrow
Ginger Bug
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon organic fresh ginger unpeeled, grated
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar
- 3 Tablespoons filtered water unchlorinated
Instructions
- Put the unpeeled grated ginger and the sugar into a jar.
- Add the water and stir it all around well until the sugar completely dissolves.
- Cover the jar with a cheesecloth or other breathable cloth and a rubber band and let it sit on your counter for 24 hours. Stir it up a little every few hours or anytime you think of it.
- Feed the ginger bug daily by adding 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 1 teaspoon sugar, and a little bit of water.
- Keep feeding it and stirring it every day, and after a few days you should start to see some bubble action. When the jar is full and bubbly, it's ready to use.
Notes
- Total fermentation time before the ginger bug is ready to use is 5-7 days.
- Soda recipes will require about ½-1 cup of ginger bug depending on how large a batch your are making.
i was wonfering what to do with all the leftover strained out ginger from making ginger bug once it gets larger than quart jar? or is your recipe saying to use grated Ginger instead of chopped like my other recipe had said and then when you add the ginger bug half cup to a cup of it to your ginger ale recipe, do you not strain out the hunks of Ginger or grated Ginger? Wondering what else I can do with the accumulation of ginger, top dressing for my veggies growing in containers or will that attract critters? Or using it in cooking Etc without the benefit of the fermentation not the liquid part just the hunks of ginger?
Hi Mary Lou. I compost the used ginger since most of its flavor is washed out.
I finally have a ginger bug going again (I made some awesome sodas lasf summer) and I was wondering about fermenting some carrots with it. The recipes I’m finding are all based, and while pickled carrots are yummy, I’m thinking I’d rather have sweet than salty and sour. What should I add? Should I follow the apple ginger beer recope and use carrot sticks and water instead of apple juice?
Hi Jeni. I’ve never tried making a ginger bug with carrots before. I would probably make the ginger bug following the recipe and then use carrot juice in the ginger beer recipe and see how that turns out.
My bug has been in the refrigerator (never got around to making my soda) for awhile. How do I re-activate or get it started again?
You can revive a ginger bug by letting it come to room temperature and resuming feedings.
Hey there!
I tried this recipe and never got it to ferment properly. I was using organic ginger and turbinado raw cane sugar. Could the sugar have been the culprit maybe? If so, do you have any recommendations for sugar that would be more effective?
Hi Kierstin. It’s really hard for me to say what went wrong. Is it cold where you left your ginger bug to ferment? Sometimes it can take much longer to get going if that’s the case.
Gave it another try after it got a little warmer and it worked like a charm! So the sugar definitely wasn’t the culprit. Can’t wait to make a soda with this!
So when using the ginger bug, do you use just the liquid or stir and use a good mix? Also, do you wash or clean the ginger before adding to the bug?
Hi Ed. You’ll want to use the entire ginger bug, liquid and all. No, I don’t wash the ginger before using it for a ginger bug.
How important is the sugar? My husband is a type 1 diabetic & cannot have sugar drinks. We use stevia instead. Will it still work with a sugar substitute?
Hi Jenny. Unfortunately, the sugar is needed for the fermentation to take place as the good bacteria you’re trying to cultivate requires it to survive.
Also, in fermented foods the sugar usually feeds the cultures so your not really getting the sugar in you end product. The good bacteria have eaten it up.
I cook with ginger a lot. Had some in the freezer. Tried to use it to make a bug. It didnt work at all. Bought fresh organic and had bubble action day 2. Just thought Id share my experience while i stalk my new fav blog lol
Have you ever made this with Thai ginger? Foraged a bunch from my neighbor’s yard the other day…
Hi Jane. I haven’t, but I’m curious how it turns out for you!
Hi My my ginger bug is happy and I’ve made some delicious finer soda but it seems to have grown a SCOBY!
I hadn’t fed it for a while. It looks healthy but I don’t know what to do.
Hi Karen, wow that’s cool! I’ve never had that happen, but I’m not surprised. I would remove the scoby and try to revive the ginger bug by feeding it for a few days. You could experiment with the scoby as well!
Hi. What if I want to make just plain ginger beer?
Thanks for this recipe. I love how simple it is. I started it two days ago and have just checked it this morning to find mold on the top. I sterilized the jar before I started so wondering what has gone wrong? Or is it okay to have the mold?
Should I throw it out and start again?
If it’s black mold, throw it away. If it’s white and chalky, it’s likely kahm yeast and while it’s harmless, it may change the flavor of your ferment. If that’s the case, I would remove the layer of yeast, and either clean the sides of your jar or add your ferment to a new clean, sterilized jar.
This worked a treat! Thank you. My bug is super active after 8 days and I made a bottle of fizzy peppermint tea with it which was amazing. Got three bottles of cloudy Apple juice mixed with ginger bug now, can’t wait to try it
Awesome! Fizzy peppermint tea sounds wonderful! Enjoy!
Hi… I’m in love with your entire blog… started my ginger bug 6 days ago… no action at all… should I start over or keep feeding it? Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Depending on how cold it is in your region, it may take longer to get going. Did you use organic ginger?
My ginger bug has lost its bubbles. I’m on Day 7, it’s been doing really well with bubbles with separation of ginger at top. This morning I noticed it’s become more of a homogeneous mix. Should I start over? Thank you.
No, it’s probably fine. All ferments slow down a bit with time. If you’re not using your ginger bug for a fermented soda, simply refrigerating it will cause it to go dormant. When ready to revive it, resume feedings.
I finally made it, after waiting for 6 days only few bubbles and no significant rise..yesterday I saw plenty and rise quite high!!
I have a question, though. Should I keep feeding the bug? Can I keep it in the fridge and use it the next day? Thanks!!
Yes, you can definitely use it the next day. In fact, it’ll stay alive in our refrigerator indefinitely as long as you periodically feed it fresh ginger and sugar.
I’m on day 4 or 5 of my ginger bug and it seems to be going well. There’s definite bubble activity and some yeasty looking sediment in the bottom, but is separation natural? Every time I go to feed it or stir it in between, All the ginger is at the top. Hoping I didn’t do anything wrong!
Separation naturally occurs in the fermentation process. There’s nothing wrong with it and it’s safe to use.
Can I put my local apples in my juicer and juice the apples instead of doing the press method?
Yes, you can do that.
I’m rating this mid range because it hasn’t worked for me yet. I’m having a problem maintaining bubbles they appeared on the third day and then disappeared the next day. I am in Florida do you think the temperature is a factor? Or could it be that my reverse osmosis water does not filter out the chlorine? Do I need to buy filtered water? I moved forward with the recipe & it tastes like ginger ale and has a sting to it but no fizz & it doesn’t hiss in the jar that has a lid on it. (I used organic ginger from Whole Foods & raw sugar & stirred it with a wooden spoon.
It can take a fermentation longer than a few days to start bubbling and there are lots of variables that need to be right for fermentation to take place. Fermentation should take place, ideally, around 70-80 degrees, however, if the temperature is lower, your bug may take longer to ferment, so I would probably give it more time. Reverse osmosis water does filter out chlorine, so I don’t think that’s a factor.
Does it contain any measurable amount of alcohol?
The ginger bug isn’t fermented long enough for it to contain more than a very tiny amount of alcohol.
So I have kept my ginger bug going for months now and have a ton of ginger in the jar & it’s almost full. I’m wondering rather than throwing away the ginger, what do you suggest doing with it? cooking or baking into cookies?
You can store it in your fridge where it’ll go dormant. Once you’re ready to use it again, resume the feedings. You could try adding it to other ferments, like pickles, to help get the fermentation started faster while also adding a spicy flavor. Cooking or adding your ginger bug to baked goods is possible, but be aware that heat will kill any good bacteria in your bug.
Love this
Thank you!
I started my ginger bug a five days ago and there’s only a thin layer of bubbles at the top. I’m at 10,000 feet elevation and wondering if the high altitude is holding it back? Any suggestions as to what to do? Or should I just be patient?
Hi Selina, I don’t think that altitude would affect this, I’ve fermented things at nearly 10,000 feet and never had a problem. Sometimes ginger bugs have trouble getting started, and if it’s chilly where you are at (which I’m thinking it might be) then that would slow it down as well. I would just keep feeding it every day and be patient!
Hi! I started on your recipe today but have a question regarding feeding. What do you mean by “a little bit of water”? Thank you in advance!
My ginger bug lost its bubbles. I saw bubbles on days 3 and 4, but then no more bubbles. I’m going to try again but wondering if you can offer any tips? Another question is, when feeding the bug you say add “a little water”. I ended up adding a tbsp with each feeding. Not sure if the mixture should be watery or heavy. Again–any help would be appreciated–thanks!
You list ginger beer as an American drink but it was invented in Yorkshire, England before the United States existed! I know it’s trivial but there’s no point in misinformation being spread! Loving your page by the way! X
Hi Paul, thanks for the clarification, I will fix it!
Hello, I have a heap of lemons could I do Mabey like a lemonade with the gingerbug?
Hi, Cindy! Yes, there are tons of fermented soda recipes out there that you can make with your ginger bug, including a fizzy lemonade.
I know some Navajo and Apache that would disagree with “before the US existed”… haha. Just some cross the pond jabbing, not being too “cheeky” I hope.
Instead of sugar can honey be used?
I don’t think you can use honey because it’s antibacterial, and you want all that good bacteria and yeast to grow. Don’t quote me on that, but I don’t think honey will work.
Raw, unfiltered honey does house yeast colonies, but it is a more complex sugar and can be more difficult for the yeast to break down.
My ginger bug is still sweet after a week or more. Is the end product sweet or hasn’t it gone long enough?
Thanks for this– I love ginger (all things) and have sampled many different kinds of ginger beer, but they always seem a little sweet. I’m excited to see how this turns out.
Will this work if my organic ginger has been kept in the freezer?
Probably not because the yeast will be killed by the cold, but I’d be curious to hear your experience. I had a ginger bug starter that I forgot to feed one day and it went bad and I couldn’t recover it.
That isn’t logical. If the cold killed yeast, all if my freezer-stored yeast would be useless to me. In addition, wild yeasts survive thousands of years throughout all sorts of conditions & temperatures. Please do your research before commenting on something you’re obviously not clear on. Opinions aren’t facts.
I have to go out of town on an emergency! Is there a way to store my ginger bug? Will it be OK in the fridge for a few days to be able to be used later?
I have the same question, I just started mine yesterday – info from other sites indicate it’s okay to put in the fridge, then allow to return to room temp and start feeding it again. I figure I can just start a new one if I mess it up. Good luck!
I also was out for all Sunday and I feed immediately on Monday morning, it still great. But I’m sure it also depends on the environment.
You can put it in the fridge for a few days without any issues. If I’m going to be gone for a longer period of time, like a couple of weeks, I dry out the ginger bug sediment and then keep it. It works well, just make sure it’s good and dry before storing it.
This may be a silly question, but what’s the best way to keep a ginger bug going? I’ve just added more ginger, sugar & water, but I’m never sure how much to add to have a cup or so on hand to make soda. Having trouble saying this – after you use the bug to make soda, how do you keep it replenished so you can continue soda making without having to do a new ginger bug? Really enjoy your blog. :)
Hi! I too would like to know how to keep a ginger bug going for months – do I add ginger, sugar (I use panela) and water each day? How much water? Thanks!
Hi there, Mary Anne. You can put your ginger bug to sleep by refrigerating it. When you’re ready to use it again, resume daily feedings.