Ginger Beer

Put into a large bowl or jar the sugar, the rinds (thinly peeled) and the juice of the two lemons, the well-bruised ginger root. Add the squeezed halves of the lemons to the water as it comes to the boil. When it reaches boiling point, pour it over the ingredients in the bowl. Remove the lemon halves, stir well and cover. Dissolved in a small amount of the warm liquid (78x) the yeast, leave to stand for half an hour before adding this to the cooled liquid (78 deg). Lastly stir in the cream of tartar. Leave covered for 24 hours. Strain and bottle, tie down the corks. NEVER use screwstoppers or the bottle may burst. Store in a cool place and drink fairly soon, take care when opening the bottles, they are liable to froth over. If you wish you can ferment the ginger beer longer to give a more alcoholic drink. Note: This recipe has a lot of sugar; it needs it, to remain sweet as the yeast consume the sugar to produce carbonation. If glass bottles are used, there is a significant risk of explosion. Regular glass bottles cannot withstand the pressure, and will almost surely explode. At the least, champagne bottles should be used, even beer bottles are questionable. Better than that, plastic soft drink bottles are able to withstand such pressure, and do not present the risk of flying glass if they fail.