It’s fun to make your own ginger beer, but you need to understand the terminology. First, ‘ginger beer plant’ refers to the solids that remain when you strain the fermentation. You can keep this and use it each time you make ginger beer. It’s a living thing and full of healthy bacteria. Second, the liquid you squeeze out when you strain the ginger beer plant is called the ‘ginger beer bug liquid’, which is the natural fermented liquid that will make your ginger beer fizzy. You need to make the ginger beer plant first in order to make the ginger beer bug liquid. Every time you make ginger beer, you need to discard half the ginger beer plant. (I always try to give it to a friend, as it’s already developed for them to start the recipe immediately from day four.) The beauty of this recipe is that the more times you make it, the stronger the ginger beer plant and ginger beer bug liquid become, and the less time you need to ferment your ginger beer. This is due to the ginger beer plant increasing its bacteria count. Try playing with the sugar content or even use different sweeteners to change the flavours. (I try to make sure my children don’t eat too much sugar, so this recipe is conservative on the sugar front.)