Made with fresh ginger and honey, this Homemade Ginger Ale makes for a refreshing beverage with lots of zing. It starts with a homemade concentrate sweetened to your liking that gets mixed with bubbly club soda. More flavorful and spicier than store-bought ginger ale, it’s a refreshing drink you can enjoy anytime or mix into cocktails and mocktails.
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About this Easy Homemade Ginger Ale recipe
Ginger ale — oh, how we love it to settle our stomachs or sip on an airplane. It makes a wonderful cocktail mixer, too. This spiced soda is loved all over the world. In fact, the ginger ale market size is forecast to reach $3.2 billion by 2026.
But wouldn’t it be great if it were less sweet and more, well, gingery? The good news is you can make it yourself, and tailor it to your liking! Homemade ginger ale is easy to make with just a few ingredients, and you can sweeten it however you like.
This recipe makes a ginger ale concentrate, so you can whip up fresh ginger ale with bubbly seltzer or club soda any time you like. Sip it on its own or mix it into cocktails and punches. It’s also great in mocktails, especially when paired with a zero-proof spirit.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ginger ale is simple to make at home with just a few real ingredients. (And no artificial sweeteners or high-fructose corn syrup!)
- You can make it according to your preferences: Sweeten it or enjoy it unsweetened and choose your perfect amount of carbonation.
- The concentrate keeps in the fridge for a few weeks so you can have a glass of bubbly ginger ale any time you wish.
Just made this tonight and it turned out great! It made the apartment smell wonderful while the ginger was simmering. I looked at several recipes for homemade ginger ale and am glad I chose this one! I used honey as the sweetener. Will definitely be making it again!
— Andrea
Ingredients
You only need a handful of ingredients to make homemade ginger ale concentrate. It starts with water and fresh ginger root. Real ginger will provide much more spice and flavor. You will need about a 6-inch piece of ginger root. I don’t recommend using ground ginger as it creates a grainier texture for the finished
For the sweetener, you can use honey, maple syrup or simple syrup. For sugar-free ginger ale, use sugar-free syrup. Or you can skip the sweetener completely if you prefer. a sweetener and water.
A splash of vanilla extract * and lemon extract (or lemon juice) add a bit of flavor to highlight ginger’s kick. And finally, to make it bubbly, you’ll need something carbonated like club soda. You can also use clear lemon-lime soda like Sprite or Sierra Mist, but you might want to omit the sweetener if you plan to do this.
Instructions
👇 For full measurements and step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card. It’s all there waiting for you!
Making this ginger ale concentrate at home is a super simple process (very similar to my ginger syrup recipe). It comes together on the stove, then you strain it and let it cool. Stash it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to mix up some ginger ale with carbonated water!
- First, get out your ginger root. You don’t have to peel it (but if you want to, use a
vegetable peeler * ), but you do need to dice it into ¼ to ½ inch cubes. You will want about 1 cup of ginger root.
- Then cover with 4 cups of water in a small saucepan. Simmer water and ginger together over medium heat to infuse the flavor for about 30 minutes until the water has reduced by half. This creates a concentrate, where the liquid has a strong ginger flavor.
- Let the ginger mixture cool to continue infusing ginger flavor, then strain out the ginger pieces with a fine-mesh strainer *.
- Discard the solids. Stir in the extracts. You can add the sweetener at this point or you can add a little bit to each glass, to taste. (If sweetening with regular white sugar, you’ll want to stir it in while the mixture is hot.)
- Once cooled, store in the fridge in an airtight, food-safe container such as a fliptop glass bottle or a mason jar.
Tips & tricks
- Batching is easy. Feel free to double or triple this recipe to make even more ginger concentrate. Freeze it in ice cube trays to preserve it longer.
- For a stronger ginger flavor, use more ginger root with the same amount of water. You could also add in other whole spices like a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods or a piece of star anise to spice things up even more.
- For super fizzy drinks, use a carbonated water maker. (I have this Phillips soda maker.)
- If carbonation bothers you, you can use distilled water to make a ginger tea that still tastes super fresh.
How to sweeten ginger ale concentrate
Credit for this recipe goes to my best friend’s mom, who used to serve this to me when I went to their house in high school. I’ve been obsessed with making it ever since! She used to keep a big batch of the concentrate in the fridge, then let us pour our own glasses of ginger ale and sweeten it to our liking.
My favorite sweetener for this ginger ale is honey syrup, which is just a runny honey made by warming honey and water together. Honey can seize when it meets something cold, so the process of making honey syrup helps it mix in a little easier.
Brown sugar syrup is also really good with this. It’s also fun to use flavored simple syrups or skip the sweetener altogether. A few flavor combinations that would be delicious:
- vanilla bean syrup — Vanilla ginger ale has a lovely sweetness to it.
- blackberry syrup — Blackberry ginger ale makes the best summertime drink.
- cranberry syrup — Cranberry ginger ale would be perfect for the holidays.
To make a glass of ginger ale: Fill the glass with ice then pour in the ginger concentrate about ¼ full. Top with any kind of cold club soda, sparkling water or flavored seltzer water. Stir gently and enjoy!
Serving suggestions
Homemade ginger ale is delicious to sip on its own. I like to add a squeeze of a lemon wedge or lime wedge to mine. It’s so good with fresh citrus! Instead of club soda, you could use hard seltzer or sparkling wine for a boozy glass of ginger ale.
Mix a little bit into your favorite tea or mix it with hot water for ginger tea. Stir it into lemonade to make a ginger lemonade. Ginger ale is a great mixer for Shirley Temples and other mocktails, and this homemade version is much zippier than the store-bought kind, so it would make for an even more flavorful mocktail. This Cranberry Christmas Punch highlights how well this spice works for the holidays.
Ginger ale cocktails to make
Ginger ale works well in so many cocktails! Try this concentrate in different drink recipes to see how each spirit plays with the fire of ginger flavor.
- Whiskey: Try it in a simple whiskey ginger (the very first cocktail I ever posted here!) with a splash of lime juice or a Presbyterian cocktail with bitters to see how well ginger pairs with oaky, woodsy whiskey.
- Rum: The classic dark & stormy cocktail typically calls for ginger beer, but this homemade ginger ale is so spicy it will work just fine!
- Gin: This spiced pear cocktail pairs with botanical gin for a delicious fall drink with a depth .
- Vodka: The blank slate that is vodka lets the ginger ale really shine along with grenadine in a Dirty Shirley.
- Tequila: Ginger spice meets even more spice in this jalapeño mule.
You can use ginger ale in any recipe that calls for ginger beer, a key ingredient in many cocktails, most famously the Moscow Mule. Both ginger beer and ale non-alcoholic carbonated ginger beverages — ginger ale is sweeter, and ginger beer comes from fermentation of ginger root and has a strong ginger zing. It’s more like a gingery, spicy version of root beer than anything else!
FAQ
Store homemade ginger ale concentrate — without carbonation — in an airtight container in the fridge. When you’re ready to enjoy, pour a little in a glass and add fresh club soda over top and stir it in.
Homemade ginger ale concentrate lasts about 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It can be frozen in individual portions in an ice cube tray for up to 3 months. But once carbonated, homemade ginger ale only lasts a few hours before fizzling out.
Homemade Ginger Ale
ingredients
Ginger Ale Concentrate
- 1 cup diced fresh ginger root
- 4 cups water
- ½ cup honey or simple syrup, to taste
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract *
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract (optional, or ½ ounce fresh lemon juice)
Homemade Ginger Ale
- 2 ounces ginger ale concentrate
- 6 ounces club soda or seltzer
instructions
- Add diced ginger root and water to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer until the water reduces by half, about 30 minutes. This creates a concentrate, where the liquid has a strong ginger flavor.1 cup diced fresh ginger root, 4 cups water
- You can add the sweetener at this point or you can add a little bit to each glass, to taste. (If sweetening with regular sugar or honey, you’ll want to stir it in while the mixture is hot.)½ cup honey
- Let cool to continue infusing ginger flavor, then strain out the ginger root with a fine-mesh strainer *. Stir in the extracts.2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- Once completely cooled, store the concentrate in the fridge in an airtight, food-safe container like a bottle or mason jar.
- To make a glass of ginger ale: Fill the glass with ice then pour in the ginger concentrate about ¼ full. Add simple syrup, if desired. Top with club soda or flavored seltzer. The ideal ratio is 1 part ginger ale concentrate to 3 parts bubbles, but play around to find your perfect ratio. Stir gently and enjoy!2 ounces ginger ale concentrate, 6 ounces club soda
notes
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Krzysztof says
Hello!
For how long can i store ginger concentrate in the fridge?
Or can i freeze it im cubes?
Best wishes,
Krzysztof
susannah says
I recommend storing the concentrate in an airtight container (a mason jar works well) in the fridge for up to a few weeks. Enjoy!
Jon says
why waste the ginger when done? Slice the ginger into thin rounds, follow the recipe and retain about 1/4 cup of the liquid. Add equal weight of white sugar to ginger & simmer stirring constantly until ALMOST dry for AWESOME candied ginger. It will look terrible just befor it gets dry enough but don’t worry, you’re fine.
Susannah says
Hey Jon, that’s a great idea! You can also re-use the ginger to make ginger syrup and other infusions. I also like to add it to my homebrewed kombucha.
Michelle C. says
Great- thank you!! When do you add the lemon/vanilla extracts?
Susannah says
Hey Michelle! Stir in the extracts after you have strained out the ginger root. Good catch on my omission — thank you! I have updated the recipe and post.
Andrea says
Just made this tonight and it turned out great! It made the apartment smell wonderful while the ginger was simmering. I looked at several recipes for homemade ginger ale and am glad I chose this one! I used honey as the sweetener. Will definitely be making it again!
Susannah says
Thanks so much for choosing my recipe, Andrea! I’m so glad you loved it — it’s one of my favorites.
Rick Gilman says
Just wondering – wouldn’t it be more effective to grate the ginger as opposed to dicing it?
Susannah says
Great question, Rick! Grating does release more flavor, yes. However, I find diced ginger is much easier to strain out cleanly. Either works, though. If you love a stronger ginger kick, grating is a great option!