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–+ servings

Ingredients

Yields: 2 litres
  • 1 medium/large pineapple - de-skinned, cut into 1-inch (2-3cm) chunks (you can leave the eyes on)
  • 200 g light brown sugar
  • 200 g gula melaka - coconut palm sugar, can be substituted with any brown sugar (dark or light)
  • 1 thumb-sized knob of ginger
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 2 l water - ‘wourder’ if you’re Brad, possibly more

Method

  • Place the gula melaka, brown sugar, and about 500ml (roughly 2 cups) of water in a small pot, and heat to dissolve the sugar.
  • Then, in a large jar or container, combine the pineapple, sugar syrup, cinnamon, and cloves. Mash up the pineapples using a potato masher or a kraut pounder (or any other blunt kitchen instrument you can find, really). Then add the rest of the water into the jar. Make sure the pineapples are fully submerged; Add more water if they're not. Give it a quick stir, then cover tightly. Set aside in a cool, dark place for 2-4 days. (20-25°C would be ideal.) When done, it should be a little fizzy, and smells slightly floral and yeasty. Taste it, and if it isn’t funky or fizzy enough, let it ferment for another day or two.
  • Once done, strain the mixture through a cheesecloth, or an extremely fine mesh strainer, into fermentation grade, pressure-resistant bottles. (Wine/champagne bottles works great too!) Cover tightly with a lid, and leave it out at room temperature overnight to let it develop more bubbles, then refrigerate until chilled before drinking.
  • Drink it on it’s own, or mix it with some beer for a extra fun time!

Notes

Fermentation Tips

  • Like all home-made fermented products, you want to be careful as there’s a chance that bad bacteria could grow. So if you see some fuzzy, colourful mould growing, it's probably best to toss it out.
  • Sometimes a thin white film with some bubbles trapped in it will form, as it did for my first batch. This should be okay! (I'm not dead... yet.)
  • The key to preventing bad bacteria from growing is to make sure that everything you're using is super clean, from your fermentation jar to the masher to your hands. Some recipes suggest sterilising all your equipment, but I feel this is a bit of a chore, so I just make sure to wash everything pretty cleanly and hope for the best. Worked for me so far!
  • More importantly though, a better indicator of whether your ferment has gone off is to use your senses! Give it a smell (maybe a taste if you like living on the edge), and if it's offputting / a bit too funky for your liking, throwing it out is probably your best bet.