Ginger beer

1. For the ginger beer mother, place the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar in a large jar and add the warm water and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. Mix well, cover the jar with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 8 days, mixing in 1/2 teaspoon each of sugar and ginger every day.

2. For the sugar syrup, put the sugar and cold water in a large saucepan and heat, stirring, just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the warm water and the lemon juice. Stand, if necessary, until just comfortably hand-warm.

3. Strain the yeast mixture into the syrup, through a sieve lined with a double thickness of muslin, and stir well. Keep the sediment on the muslin for making further batches of ginger beer. Stir the syrup mixture well and pour into clean, sturdy bottles, preferably fitted with clip-on seals, or else with screwtops. Fill the bottles only to the base of the necks, and seal. Leave in a cool, safe place for about five days – in hot weather, the ginger beer will be ready in three or four days.

4. To make further batches of ginger beer, return half the ginger beer mother left on the muslin to the jar (discard the rest) with 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger and sugar and 1 cup of water (no more yeast is added).

5. Repeat the process as before, feeding the mother with 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger and sugar daily. After 8 days, mix with the sugar syrup and bottle as before.