Ginger has always been an important spice and ever since the beginning of time has served a variety of functions, from medicinal to culinary. While it's a plant that is native to both China and India, it's notoriously spicy yet refreshing taste led to it becoming widely used across the globe. One of the products that it was used to create, ginger beer, is a key ingredient in the traditional Moscow Mule recipe. As a cocktail that is enjoyed up and down the country each summer (come on..you must have tried one, or two, or three, right?!), simply put, Moscow Mules just wouldn't be the same without ginger beer -- it's absolutely essential to creating that taste that excites your taste buds and keeps you coming back for more. While we would recommend you check out the ginger beer made by the Rocky Mountain Soda Co. if you're just going to use store bought stuff when preparing your Moscow Mules at home, if you're feeling a little more creative, you could make some homemade  ginger beer to use instead and we're going to show you how during this article.

Fill Your Moscow Mule Mugs Full of This Homemade Stuff!

Just to make this even more interesting, we're going to tell you how to make ginger beer the original way (you know, like how it was made back in the 19th century!). You'll be pleased to learn that homemade ginger beer is actually relatively easy and affordable to make, and it often has more of a kick too (most people say that's a good thing too -- we'll let you decide!). You won't need a fully equipped brewery or a super duper soda machine; you'll really just need a clean plastic bottle and a funnel in addition to the following ingredients:

• A Cup of Granulated Sugar
• Two Tablespoons of Freshly Grated Ginger
• Half a Cup of Water
• An Eighth of a Teaspoon of Active Dry Yeast
• Eight Ounces of Seltzer Water
• Three Tablespoons of Fresh Lemon Juice
• Seven Cups of Filtered Water
• Ice

Now...Here's What You Do With All of This Stuff

First of all you need to dig out a saucepan. When grating the ginger, you first need to peel the skin off (this is fairly easy, trust me) before using a fine grating tool. Once you've done that you need to mix this in with the sugar and the half a cup of water and apply a medium strength heat. Make sure you keep an eye on this and continue to stir the mixture until you see the sugar dissolve completely. At this point you need to remove the saucepan from the heat and leave it to gradually cool down for roughly sixty minutes. After this length of time has passed you need to pour the mixture over a strainer to get rid of the larger pieces of ginger, before once again leaving it to cool.

When you get to this point, you've created a ginger syrup, which is essential to creating a quality, homebrewed ginger beer. Next, you need to pour four (or more if you want your ginger beer to be stronger) tablespoons of this syrup over some ice and then add eight ounces of seltzer water. Now you're ready to take your clear bottle and mix everything together. You should use a funnel first, and start by pouring the filtered water into the bottle, and then put the yeast, syrup and lemon juice in afterwards. After removing the filter and putting the lid on the bottle, you need to give it a good shake (shake it until your arms fall off!). Don't stop until you can see that the yeast has dissolved in the mixture. Now you need to leave it to ferment, so find a shaded area where you can leave it safely for a couple of days. You'll know it's ready when you see the fizz, and when you do, you can grab a glass and have your first taste. After this point, it's essential to store the bottle in the refrigerator, otherwise it will just continue to ferment at a rapid rate. You do generally need to consume the finished product within a week or two though, as it will still ferment when in the refrigerator, just at a much slower rate. Don't make the mistake of forgetting to open the bottle each day though, otherwise the gasses that are produced during fermentation may build to the point that the bottle explodes, and we all know that cleaning isn't fun!

If you are interested in having a little fun making your Moscow Mule, follow this recipe to make some old fashioned ginger beer, grab a copper mug and enjoy. If you want a Moscow Mule right NOW, we highly recommend the ginger beer produced by the Rocky Mountain Soda Co. instead!