Lay it out all the listed ingredients and equipment. Use fresh ginger root (purchasable at most large supermarkets, or Asian food shops).

Add 1 cup sugar to the 2 liter bottle with a dry funnel. (Leave the funnel in place until you are ready to cap the bottle.) Do not use glass bottle. Plastic bottles can be felt to judge pressure. Glass cannot. Tardy refrigeration can lead to explosions. Exploding glass botles are dangerous..

Add yeast through funnel into the bottle, shake to disperse the yeast grains into the sugar granules.

Grate the ginger root on a fine cutting grater to produce 1 1/2 Tablespoon of grated root. (Look at the large picture of the grater. This style of fine cutting teeth works MUCH better than the style with the sharp pointy piece of metal which crumble food. The design is also less likely to shred your knuckles. I have had to look far and wide to find a fine cutting grater. Mine says Stainless Steel Denmark on its handle...) 7) Place grated ginger in the cup measure 8) Juice a whole lemon. (Lemon is optional, giving a little tartness to the ginger ale. Try it both ways to see which you prefer. I like them both.) 9) Add the juice of a whole lemon to the grated ginger.

Stir the lemon juice and grated ginger to form a slurry. Add the slurry of lemon juice and grated ginger to the bottle. (It may stick in the funnel. Dont worry, the next step will wash it into the bottle.) 12) Rinse containers with fresh clean water. Add the rinsings to the bottle, cap and shake to distribute. Fill the bottle to the neck with fresh cool clean water, leaving about an inch of head space, securely screw cap down to seal. Invert repeatedly to thoroughly dissolve sugar. (The ginger root will not dissolve, of course.) Place in a warm location for 24 to 48 hours. (Do not leave at room temperature longer than necessary to feel hard. The excess pressure may cause an eruption when you open it, or even explode the bottle!) 15) Test to see if carbonation is complete by squeezing the bottle forcefully with your thumb. If it dents in as in the picture, it is not ready.

Once the bottle feels hard to a forceful squeeze, usually only 24-48 hours, place in the refrigerator. Before opening, refrigerate at least overnight to thoroughly chill. Crack the lid of the thoroughly chilled ginger ale just a little to release the pressure slowly. You do not want a ginger ale fountain!

NOTE: Do not leave the finished ginger ale in a warm place any longer than the time it takes for the bottle to feel hard. Leaving it at room temperature longer than two days, especially in the summer when the temperature is high, can generate enough pressure to explode the bottle! (Speaking from experience here...) Once it is thoroughly chilled, there is little danger of explosion.

Filter the ginger ale through a strainer if you find floating pieces of ginger objectionable. These are found in the first glass or two poured, and, since most of the ginger sinks to the bottom, the last glass or so may require filtering too. Rinse the bottle out immediately after serving the last of the batch. NOTE: There will be a sediment of grated ginger and yeast at the bottom of the bottle, so that the last bit of ginger ale will be carry ginger fibers. Decant carefully if you wish to avoid this sediment.