Why it works: Ginger and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Hop Beer
Ingredients
Directions
Make the hop liquid
Take five quarts of water and six ounces of hops, boil for three hours.
Strain the liquid.
Add ginger and sugar
Add five quarts of water and four ounces of bruised ginger root to the strained liquid, then boil again for twenty minutes.
Strain and add four pounds of sugar.
Ferment and bottle
When the mixture is luke-warm, add a pint of yeast.
Let it ferment; in twenty-four hours it will be ready for bottling.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Hop | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Hops + gingertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Hops + sugartop 43% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hops
- Adds bitterness and aroma that balance the sweetness of the beer.
- Sugar
- Provides the fermentable sugar that yeast converts into alcohol and carbonation.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Bruised ginger root
- Adds a spicy, aromatic flavour to the liquid.
The step that matters
Cooling before adding yeast. Yeast is killed by high heat, so the mixture must be only luke-warm before the yeast goes in. Adding it while hot can stop fermentation before it starts.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (hops, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
- Nutmegfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against hops, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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