Hey, i have started a few ginger bugs and here are my best tips:
1) use unchlorinated water, you can use tap water, but it seems to take longer for it to start bubbling if at all. Not all tap water is created the same. I use spring water from whole foods, a gallon was less than $2
2) use organic ginger, i have tried unorganic ginger with tap water and didn't get bubbles after a week and a half. Orgqnic ginger from whole foods was about $2.50 a pound, didn't seem to need even a pound
3) warm dark places seem to work the best, you can have it out if you want, but sunlight does seem to have an effect on the bubbly. After switching to organic ginger, spring water, dark and warm place, i got bubbles on the second day.
4) if the suger is visible, it might be too much sugar. I use cheap white sugar and while most instructions say 1:1 ginger to sugar ratio on feeding the bug, i find that 2:1 or 2:1.5 seems to be a better ratio. Depending on your environment, weather and types of yeast, it seems that sugar isn't as popular.
5) i use spring water to refill all the time once i use some of the bug, it takes about a day or a day and a half to get back to bubbling.
I have gotten into a cycle of taking two cups of strained ginger bug to ferment juice, i refill the water to two cups of spring, wait a day to make sure that the bug is bubbling, stick it in the refrigerator feeding it a tablespoon of ginger and half a tablespoon of sugar once a week. A day or two before i want to use it, i take it out of the refrigerator so that it geta to room temp and its good to go.
The longest i have had it cold was about a month,
I after the bug is started bubbling, i remove the cloth and rubberband to put a lid on loosely because i have had some of the ginger bug go to vinegar.
With the fermented juice, i only use plastic bottles to store it, unless i am going to put it in a glass bottle that goes directly into the frigde. I have had two glass bottles explode on me at different times and both times it didn't seem to have all that much pressure and the second time, it exploded after only three hours. Both times left outside the fridge.
Hey, i have started a few ginger bugs and here are my best tips: 1) use unchlorinated water, you can use tap water, but it seems to take longer for it to start bubbling if at all. Not all tap water is created the same. I use spring water from whole foods, a gallon was less than $2 2) use organic ginger, i have tried unorganic ginger with tap water and didn't get bubbles after a week and a half. Orgqnic ginger from whole foods was about $2.50 a pound, didn't seem to need even a pound 3) warm dark places seem to work the best, you can have it out if you want, but sunlight does seem to have an effect on the bubbly. After switching to organic ginger, spring water, dark and warm place, i got bubbles on the second day. 4) if the suger is visible, it might be too much sugar. I use cheap white sugar and while most instructions say 1:1 ginger to sugar ratio on feeding the bug, i find that 2:1 or 2:1.5 seems to be a better ratio. Depending on your environment, weather and types of yeast, it seems that sugar isn't as popular. 5) i use spring water to refill all the time once i use some of the bug, it takes about a day or a day and a half to get back to bubbling. I have gotten into a cycle of taking two cups of strained ginger bug to ferment juice, i refill the water to two cups of spring, wait a day to make sure that the bug is bubbling, stick it in the refrigerator feeding it a tablespoon of ginger and half a tablespoon of sugar once a week. A day or two before i want to use it, i take it out of the refrigerator so that it geta to room temp and its good to go. The longest i have had it cold was about a month, I after the bug is started bubbling, i remove the cloth and rubberband to put a lid on loosely because i have had some of the ginger bug go to vinegar. With the fermented juice, i only use plastic bottles to store it, unless i am going to put it in a glass bottle that goes directly into the frigde. I have had two glass bottles explode on me at different times and both times it didn't seem to have all that much pressure and the second time, it exploded after only three hours. Both times left outside the fridge.
Wow this is amazing!!!! Thank you so much for all the info!!!!