Probiotic Ginger Beer - A Refreshing, Fermented Elixir

Milhaan Home
Aug 27
4 min read

I've been doing a lot of experimenting lately and this is one of my favourite new fermented recipes! It's an age-old probiotic ginger beer — naturally fizzy, tart, and comforting. This Ginger Beer is fermented using a homemade ginger bug, making it rich in gut-loving probiotics, mildly sweet, and glowing with wellness benefits. You can enjoy it as a standalone refresher or add it to a zesty cocktail!

As this is a fermented drink, it takes a while to make the final product, but the active time is only about 20 minutes....time does the rest! I don't have a video for this recipe, but my detailed instructions are easy to follow! ENJOY!!

Probiotic Ginger Beer Recipe

Course: Beverage

Prep Time: 20 Minutes (Approx) Plus 2-3 Weeks Fermentation

Difficulty: Easy

Special Equipment Needed: Flip-top Bottles

INGREDIENTS

For the Ginger Bug (Ginger Beer Starter):

1-inch fresh Ginger, Grated (Do not peel) (≈1 TBSP) (Plus extra for feeding)
1 TBSP Soft Brown Sugar, (Plus extra for feeding)
2 Cups Filtered/Spring Water (Non-Chlorinated)

For the Ginger Beer:

1 Cup Ginger Starter
1 Gallon Filtered/Spring (Room Temp)
1¼ Cups Soft Brown Sugar
½ Fresh Lemon/Lime, Juiced
⅓ cup Fresh Ginger, Unpeeled & Grated

METHOD TO MAKE GINGER BEER STARTER

Prepare your Ginger Beer Starter:
1. In a large jar, combine:
  - the Grated Ginger
  - 1 TBSP Soft Brown Sugar, and
  - 2 Cups Filtered Water.
2. Stir and cover loosely with a lid, or with cheesecloth secured by a rubber band. This is so the starter can breathe.
3. Note: You do not need to peel nor wash the ginger. The natural bugs in the ginger and peel will help make a successful starter!
4. Note: You must use Filtered Water or Spring Water as the chlorine in tap water will kill any bugs in the ginger and you will not be able to make a ginger starter.
Let the ginger starter rest on the counter, out of direct sunlight. You need it to be warm (21-29ºC/70-85ºF), so summer is the perfect time for this. Or you can keep in a warm place.
Feed the ginger starter daily: add 1 tsp each of Sugar and Grated Ginger, stirring gently to mix it in. Within 3–5 days (longer in cooler homes), you’ll see bubbles — signs the bug is active. Just listen to the starter when you stir it and you will hear the bubbles! It may take up to 10 days. The bubblier, the better! Once the starter is bubbly, it’s ready! Listen to my starter below:

My Bubbly Starter!

METHOD TO MAKE GINGER BEER

For making the Ginger Beer, You will need a large pot or 1-gallon jug.
1. In the pot or jug, combine:
  - 1 Cup Active Ginger Starter
  - 1¼ Cups Soft Brown Sugar
  - Juice of 1/2 Lemon or Lime, more if you like it
  - ⅓ Cup Grated Ginger, Unpeeled
  - Fill up with Filtered or Spring Water to nearly 1 Gallon
2. Stir thoroughly, cover with cloth or a lid, and rest in a warm, dark place (21-26ºC/70–80 °F) for 8–10 days.
3. Check it and give it a stir every day. Taste it; if it’s too dry (not sweet), add a touch more sugar (about 2 TBSP) to keep feeding the probiotics. I find I keep needing to add sugar every other day! If you want it stronger and more fiery, add a bit more ginger. As it ferments, bubbles will form just like the starter — a sign of progress.
4. Once you start seeing a good amount of bubbles, add 2-3 TBSP Soft Brown Sugar and stir it in. Let this sit for 2-4 hours so that the probiotics are really well fed!
Stir the Ginger Beer so the the probiotics are mixed in well, then immediately sieve the fed Ginger Beer into flip-top bottles, leaving a little room on top. This way, some of the probiotics filter evenly through to each bottle. Make sure the lids fit tightly otherwise the Ginger Beer will not get very fizzy as the gas will escape.
Leave the bottles at room temperature so the Ginger Beer can keep fermenting and get fizzy. This is the secondary fermentation process. After 3-5 days, you can put the Ginger Beer in the fridge. Leave it for a day or so and then enjoy it.
Note: Open the bottles carefully to avoid overflow!
If you need more fizziness, warmth helps: wrap your bottles if your kitchen is cool.
Keep feeding your ginger starter so you can continue to make more Ginger Beer! You can add more Water, Ginger and Sugar to keep it going!
If your ginger starter ever gets mouldy or tastes/smells bad, throw it away! You don't want to get sick!

Why It Works

Probiotic Richness: Fermented Ginger Beer delivers naturally fermented goodness to support your gut.
Holistic Benefits: Ginger eases digestion, acts as an anti-inflammatory, and is an immune booster.
Natural Fizz: Fermentation gives you vibrant effervescence without any added chemicals.

So what happens to the sugar?

In homemade Fermented Ginger Beer, the sugar doesn’t just stay there—it plays an essential role in the fermentation process. Here’s what happens:

1. Food for the Microbes

The sugar you add feeds the wild yeasts and beneficial bacteria that live in your ginger bug (the starter culture).
These microbes consume the sugar during fermentation.

2. Conversion into Alcohol & CO₂

The yeasts break down sugar into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide (CO₂).
The CO₂ gives the ginger beer its natural fizz.
The alcohol content usually remains very low (around 0.5–2%) if fermented briefly, but can increase with longer fermentation.

3. Acids from Bacteria

The beneficial bacteria convert some of the sugar into organic acids (like lactic acid), which give the drink its characteristic tangy, probiotic flavour.

4. End Result

The longer it ferments, the less sugar remains — the drink becomes drier, tangier, and more probiotic-rich.
If you stop fermentation earlier, more sugar remains, so the drink is sweeter and less alcoholic.
The chart below gives you a visualisation of the sweetness, fizziness and tanginess you may achieve. Of course, this will vary depending on the room temperature and amount of sugar and probiotics in the ginger you have.