Ginger Bug Starter

Had some issue starting my first ginger bug. Not sure if it was because I used tap water here which is treated with chlorine. However, I’ve never had issues with it when using it to make baked goods. I’ve also used the same water to make sauerkraut and more recently several batches of kimchi. I did find bubbling at the 5 day mark with air trapped inside the floating ginger and a little fizzing when the bottle was shaken. Nothing like active bubbling though which stopped the next day. It seems to build up bubbles best when undisturbed for a while and the ginger separates on the top and the bottom. The mixture did get cloudier over time, but did not get slimy or smell bad, in fact it had a pleasant yeasty aroma is familiar to the “Beer on lees” that is very common in Quebec and artisanal breweries like St-Ambroise and McLauslan, the Unibroue brand and some from the Brasserie RJ company which I’ve had some experience.

The first bug was started on Thursday, March 28th, 2024. However, I was unable to get a regular bubbling that is commonly shown or consistent fizzy activity. The first ginger bug I tried, followed a recipe of 1 Tbsp gratted unpeeled organic ginger with 1 tsp of sugar and 3 Tbsp of water. The daily refeed was 1 Tbsp of grated ginger and 1 tsp of sugar with and undisclosed amount of water. As I researched more, I found that in general recipes started off with 2 Cups of water and a ration of 1:1 equal amounts ginger and sugar to start and refeed with no more additional water. If it was the chlorinated tap water which was causing issues or the fact I had a disproportionate amount of ginger to water, a higher concentration due to less water there were too many variables as to why my ginger bug was not as active as I would like. I decided to try another method where the water is boiled first to get rid of the chlorine treatment in tap water. In haste, it might not have cooled off completely before starting the bug. I started this bug on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Nonetheless, if the wild yeast and bacteria was killed off by the initial heat which could be as hot as 30 Celsius the subsequent feedings of diced organic unpeeled ginger and sugar should still work in my estimation. If that was too hot, a third experiment was made using water which was cooled to room temperature after boiling for 15 to 20 minutes at a rolling boil. I read somewhere that extremely high temperatures, typically above 90°F (32°C), can also inhibit the growth of a ginger bug. At such high temperatures, the yeast and bacteria may become stressed or even killed, resulting in a decrease in fermentation activity. For this, I used diced ginger but switched to using pure white cane sugar instead of the dark brown sugar I sourced for the two prior samples. This bug was started on Friday, April 5th, 2024. Mixture for this was 3 Tablespoons of diced organic ginger with 3 Tablespoons of white cane sugar and 2 cups of boiled and cooled to room temperature tap water.

Being frustrated and also having large amounts of ginger, I was going to try one more batch of a ginger bug. This time, I used distilled water I had on hand, 2 cups of distilled water with 3 Tablespoons of diced, unpeeled organic ginger with 3 Tablespoons of sugar. This was on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Another thing I noticed was that my kitchen area tended to be cooler, measuring around 19-21 Degrees Celsius. It also tended to be quite busy with the bug sitting on the counter top where I regularly prepare and cook food, so I moved two bugs into a cupboard but measures roughly 19-20 degrees Celsius. The first and last bug I moved to my bedroom which I am trying to keep warmer, in the 22-24 Celsius to see if that will help the bug grow a bit better.

Ingredients: