A very old and very good ginger beer recipe

In our family homemade ginger beer and Christmas go hand in hand. Recently I came across an old ginger beer recipe at the NSW State Library. It was part of a collection of the Scott family who lived at Glendon in the Hunter Valley. Helenus Scott had kept three volumes of books with recipes and home remedies and labelled this recipe “very good”. Scott came across this recipe while visiting Tahlee in the early 1830s. It was made by a servant at Tahlee House during the time that Sir Edward Parry was Commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company.¹

The AACo is Australia’s oldest continuously operating company in Australia and it established itself right here on the MidCoast at Carrington and Tahlee.² One million acres was granted to the company in 1824 to primarily raise merino sheep as well as cattle and even thoroughbred horses. The company made use of convict and servant labour to establish themselves. In 2024 the AACo will celebrate its 200^th anniversary.

Ginger Beer (very good)

{Made by Sir E Parry’s servant at Port Stephens}

1 oz powdered ginger; ½ oz cream of tartar; 1 large lemon, sliced; 1 lb sugar; 1 gallon water. Mix them all together & let it simmer over the fire half an hour; then put one tablespoonful of yeast to it – let it stand a short time – then put it into stone bottles & cork it down closely for use.

In pencil there are questions and notes such as “What heat must the liquor be when the yeast is put to it? Luke warm? 70°? Would it not be better without the yeast?”³

If anyone is adventurous enough to make this recipe, please let us know how it tasted!

Author: Janine Roberts