Grolsch bottles — or rather, swing-top bottles — are great simply because they form an airtight seal so that it can become pressurized, and since it’s swing-top, it can be reused.

The flavor of the ginger beer will depend partly on what sorts of bugs are living in it, how long it ferments, what you mix with it, how warm the environment is during fermentation and even where you get your ginger.

I’ve found that longer ferments tend to make it taste a bit dryer, shorter ferments are much sweeter. Carbonation should happen pretty quickly, if your bug is alive. Alcohol should NOT form the first time around, since the carbonation should limit the bug from fermenting further.

Give your first bug 10 days to ferment, and resist the urge to open the bottle prematurely. Be sure you open outside, or over a sink, or in a shower — sometimes they can get REALLY pressurized.

So the Grolsch bottles are the way to go huh?

Thanks again, I just needed more clarification after the bug. I also got the Wild Fermentation book and it’s a pretty good book.

A couple troubleshooting notes:
- You didn’t wash the ginger first, right? The Wild Yeast is going to come from the environment; you must overcome your sanitary compulsions and allow it to be a little “dirty” going in.
- Avoid using city water, if possible. If you don’t have any alternatives, boil the water for about 10 minutes to get the dissolved gases out. If you have access to Distilled / De-ionized water, that’s ideal.
- “organic” ginger, if possible. USDA Organic ginger should be pesticide-free — I don’t know for CERTAIN that this is an issue, but it’s something to consider.
- Be sure the culture can get a little air circulating. A few layers of cheesecloth works fine.
- Keep it room temperature — cold temps are non-optimal for the microbial growth. I’ve found that slightly warmer than room temp (just under 80 degrees F) works well.

Let me know how it turns out for you.

If you click on the “Fermentation” tag above, there’s a recipe for a Rootbeer prototype — it’s a little more involved though because some of the ingredients (wintergreen, for example) are difficult to come by.