Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/98

Ginger Beer.—A Small Quantity.

Ingredients: One pound of good white sugar, one ounce of bruised ginger, one ounce of cream of tartar, 40 grains of citric acid, two tablespoonsful of brewer’s yeast or three of home made.

Mode: Pour one gallon of boiling water on the sugar, ginger, cream of tartar, and citric acid. Stir well till everything is mixed and when nearly cold add the yeast. Let it stand all night or 12 hours. Then strain, bottle, cork tightly or tie down. Ready for use next day.

Ginger Beer Powders.

Ingredients: Thirty grains of bicarbonate of soda, five grains of powdered ginger, one dram of white sugar, 25 grains of powdered tartaric acid.

Mode: Put into blue or yellow papers, to each one 30 grains of bicarbonate of soda, five grains of powdered ginger and one drachm of white sugar. Then into white papers, for each one 25 grains of powdered tartaric acid. Put a paper of each kind of powder into half a pint of water and let them dissolve separately. Then pour together in a large glass. These powders are excellent and very useful when travelling or for bush picnics.

Ginger Ale.—Very good.—Bruise one and a half or two pounds of ginger according to the strength wished, boil it in three gallons of soft water for half an hour, then add to it 20 pounds of sugar, one quart of lime juice, one and a half pounds of honey, and as much warm water as will make it up to 16 gallons. Strain carefully through a flannel jelly bag. Put it into a cask with the beaten up whites of two eggs and about a tablespoonful of essence of lemon. Shake the casks well and now pour in half a cup of good yeast. Shake again for a few minutes and let it stand from three to five days according to the weather, or strength of the yeast, then bottle and store away for use in a few days. The yeast can be left out if liked but it is not so

sparkling or so sharp without. It can be coloured with burnt sugar in solution.

This is a capital recipe, but each one who makes it must use his or her own judgment in using the ginger, some like it hot, others not.

Chili Beer.

Ingredients: Twenty-two chili pods from the chemists), 12 quarts of water, two and a half pounds of sugar, two ounces of cream of tartar, one tablespoonful of yeast, white and shell of one egg, two teaspoonsful essence of lemon.

Mode: Boil the chilies, sugar and cream of tartar with six quarts of water for 20 minutes, then add six quarts of cold water, the yeast and the white and shell of one egg. Strain through muslin, add the essence of lemon, let it stand till next day, bottle and cork tightly. Ready for use in a few days.

Lemon wine.

Ingredients: Five or six dozen lemons, four or five quarts of brandy, 43 and a half pounds of sugar, half a cup of good yeast.

Mode: Take the lemons, any kind will do, peel them very thin, cover the peels with the brandy and let them stand for ten days. Squeeze the juice from the lemons and boil it for five minutes with three and a half pounds of sugar to make a syrup. Then when the peels are ready, boil 14 gallons of water with 40 pounds of sugar for half an hour or so and put it into a wooden tub, and when cold add the yeast and let it work two or three days according to the weather. Then put into a cask, add the brandy, peels and syrup. Stir all together and close the cask. In three months bottle off, when it will be a delicate pale colour. This is in reality more a cordial than a wine. It is a very old recipe and very good when well made, but it is both troublesome and expensive. It can be made in the same way as orange wine which is less trouble than the recipe just given, but the latter is superior and quite repays for the extra trouble.