GINGER BEER

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After the plant has begun to "work", you'll need to feed it once a day, for a week, with a mixture of 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and 4 teaspoons of turbinado sugar. At the end of seven days, the starter will be ready for use in the brew.

To make a batch of ginger beer, you'll need a large mixing bowl (or a blue enamel canner) and one case of clean, sterilized beer — or soda — bottles. Pour 4 cups of boiling water over 4 cups of sugar, and stir the mix until the granules are dissolved. Then add 3 quarts of cold spring water, the juice of 4 lemons, and the starter. Strain the resulting liquid through a muslin square placed in the bottom of a colander . . . then squeeze the cloth dry, into a separate container, and save the "salvaged" moisture to begin the "plant" for your next batch of ginger beer.

BOTTLE AND BREW

Stir the strained lager well, and fill each bottle to within an inch of its top. (This recipe should produce enough to fill 20 to 24 bottles.) Then cap each container tightly with a metal top . . . using a beer bottle capper (which you should be able to buy for under $15 at a good hardware or homebrew supply store). Because of the "explosive" nature of the stored liquid, it's essential that you use returnable bottles . . . not the thinner disposable containers (which simply can't stand up to the pressure).

After three days at room temperature, the Australian brew will be ready to be cooled and consumed. However, if you don't drink it all right away, be sure to store your ginger beer in a refrigerator or root cellar where it will remain cool. I once tried stashing my hoard in the basement during a spell of hot weather . . . and was rudely awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of exploding bottles! I've also learned — from experience — to open each bottle inside a wide-mouthed pitcher, just in case that particular "vintage" is especially bubbly.

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