Bubbles in ginger beer

jn-b, Sep 12, 7:09am
One of my batches of ginger beer is flat. What have I done wrong with this one?

summersunnz, Sep 12, 9:24am
Hi - What is the recipe? did you use sultana's or raisins in each jar?

pickles7, Sep 12, 9:37am
Have you tasted some? That should give you some clue. Have the bottles been stored in a colder place ? Are the lids on the bottles worn out? I have had wine brewing inside, it has been very slow, but has brewed. I have managed to brew malt vinegar, and that likes to be warmer, that was inside as well. I would taste it and if it tastes good I would add a few more sultanas, and put it in a warmer spot. good luck with it.

stormbaby, Sep 12, 9:33pm
Its just the rule of thumb. Some bottles just don't fizz. A lot of it is trial and error. I have really old recipes for my ginger beer, from those fundraising type church cookbooks. The one I use the most is from the 1930s and is made by the bottle. I used to do the whole bug thing, but this one is so much easier.

1tbsp ground ginger, 6.8Litres cold water, 4 cups sugar, juice of 4 lemons, some sultanas.
Mix sugar with water, add lemon juice and ginger. Mix well. Pour into screw top bottles (I find the best ones are the brown plastic home brew beer bottles, they are stronger than the 1.25 lemonade type supermarket bottles and you can use them over and over again), add about 2-3 sultanas per bottle. Screw tightly shut, put date on bottle or on top.
Leave at least 2 weeks. You can tell when its ready, as the bottle goes very rigid. I leave 3 weeks minimum. Its really really nice, and simple to make.

pickles7, Mar 14, 12:01pm
A good hint when bottling with plastic bottles. Squeeze to fill, screw tops on and when the bottle has regained its shape and is hard , it is ready. I gave up using glass bottles after having 1 bottle start all the others to blow up.