211 things a bright boy should know.

One of the other things I got for my bday was a great book, called... well see the title of this post.

It is a book chocked full of gems of wisdom that every boy should know, from "how to judge a womans bra size at a glance" to "DIY funerals" but this one caught my attention for christmas.

Make old-fashioned ginger beer in your bathroom.

Required:
2 empty 2-litre plastic mineral water bottles and 1 cap
A large nodule of root ginger. Not powder.
A big toothmugful of any old sugar.
About a guater of a teaspoon of dried yeast.
A cheese grater
A lemon
Nail scissors.

Method:
1. Set the shower to hot and give everything except the yeast and sugar a good wash.
2. With your scissors, cut the top half off one bottle and keep the bottom in reserve. We'll call this piece B, for bottom.
3. Pour the sugar an yeast into the whole bottle, using the inverted top half of the other bottle as a funnel.
4. Grate the ginger onto a mittor until you have about 2 tablespoons. Leave the skin on.
5Cut the lemon in half with your scissors andsqueeze the juice into bottle piece B. Then stir in the ginger with a nail file or somthing. Two tablespoons makes a mildly spicy drink so if you prefer it nose-clearingly pungent add more.
6. Top up with water and pour the brew into the uncut bottle through the improvized funnel, clearing any blockages with a toothbrush.
7. Rines leftoverbits into the bottle and top up with water leaving a couple of inches of air space for fizzing room. A bit of leakageis inevitable; put a towel down and don't fuss.
8. Screw the cap on tightly and shake the bottle until the sugar is dissolved. This is great fun and can be done to music if there is a radio around.
9. The bottle should now gently resist a squeeze, like a debutante's leg. Leave it somewhere warm such as on top of the radiator.
10. After about 24 hours (longerin cold weather) spueeze the bottle again. You know fermentation is complete when it feels hard, like a sailors biceps. Do not leave it longr than 48 hours or it will squirt big time when you open it, or might even explode.
11. Serve chilled. If you dislike floating ginger shreds, sieve it through a clean flannel or hankikie before drinking.

There you go all, let me know if any of you have a go at this.
- posted by J @ 10:29