Ginger Ale Several Ways

My dad is a ginger ale and ginger beer fanatic, and because his beloved vernor’s isn’t sold in washington state, he recently started making his own, jumping off from alton brown’s popular recipe to create versions that explode all over the house and clear your sinuses if you’re lucky enough to be able to drink any. His current process features Montrachet winemaking yeast, but regular instant yeast or champagne yeast will do just as well. Thalia and I have also been making a lot of lacto-fermented ginger ales, too: She’s at that age where she likes to have something other than water, milk, or seltzer to offer her friends when they come over to play. And I, of course, prefer any sweetened drinks in the house to have at least something healthful about them. The natural probiotics in the second two variations below fill that requirement.