Ginger-Garlic Extract

This is an awesome product for plants and animals. It boosts the immune system and helps fight
insect and fungal pests. Ginger-Garlic is a common and very useful variation so Im discussing
it here, but you can use any combination of plants for whatever effect you are going for.

How to Make:
Ginger and Garlic are quite difficult to ferment, or extract active ingredients from. By adding
fermented liquid already like beer or wine, the active ingredients in Ginger and Garlic are more
easily fermented. Then we add sugar. Remember, sugar gives the microbes energy to continue
fermentation. After letting this sit for a week or so, you arrest fermentation and enhance potency
by adding a strong alcohol. Heres how to make:
1. Get an equal amount of Ginger and Garlic, but keep them separate. As a rule of thumb,
we try to ferment each material separately as you do not know if there is interaction when
mixed. Once materials are fermented they are much more stable and compatible.
2. Put in container and fill with beer or wine until it is covered. Leave for 12-24hrs.
3. Add 1/3 sugar(crude sugar is best). E.g. if you have 1L worth of ginger-garlic soaking in
beer/wine, you would add 1/3kg sugar.
4. Ferment this for 7-10 days. Longer the better.
5. After that time, add alcohol to arrest the fermentation process. Use at least 40%, or 80
proof.
6. Leave this mixture for 10 days. This allows the extraction process to take place, where
the beneficial ingredients of the ginger/garlic are extracted with the alcohol.
7. After 10 days drain the fluid from this concoction.
8. You separated the ingredients in Step 1 and fermented them separately. Now that they are
fermented you can mix them to make ginger-garlic extract!
TIP: Potency depends on the part of the plant you use. Generally, seeds have the greatest
potency, then fruit, leaf, roots, and stems in that order.
How to Use:
Add 1tbsp per gallon of water.
Plants

Treat fungal problems of plants (Sulphur from Garlic is good fungicide)

Use as insecticide (add chili to fermentation to make it hot)
Ginger is good natural antibiotic/preventative medicine for plants

Animals

Garlic is good natural antibiotic/preventative medicine for animals

This has been used with livestock to keep them healthy, and to help them get over being
sick. For example keeping chicks/chickens in a crowded pen healthy
Used for rheumatism in humans (very good anti-inflammatory)
Used as an antibiotic. For daily usage we drink 1tbsp/day in a glass of water. If we feel
weakening, coughs, colds, flu, etc, well take 1tbsp 3 times/day for 3 days. This is not
medical advice Im just saying how we use this extract.
If youre interested google the applications of ginger-garlic. There are many indications
for ginger-garlic not described here.

This extract has a myriad of uses in both plants and humans. Feel free to modify the recipe,
adding plants as you see fit chili, neem fruit, curry fruit, marigold for potency, etc. We look at
the fermented extracts as food, food supplement to plants, animals and humans. They are simple
food, more concentrated nutrients. You can ferment anything except poisons. The formulations
may vary widely, simply mix and match as you see fit. Just experiment!

Share this:

Alvin
March 30, 2013 at 9:03 am - Reply...
How long is the fermentation of garlic and ginger in beer or wine ? And how do I know
when it is fermented ? As to the potency, is that mean if I add other material in the
process of fermentation, it will boost the effectiveness of ginger-garlic extract or other
beneficial effects ?
o

Patrick
March 30, 2013 at 4:31 pm - Reply...
Hi Alvin, leave the ginger and garlic in the beer/wine for 0.5-1 day. For us here in
Manila its hot so would probably only take half a day. But leaving it for longer is
fine. Then you add the sugar, 1/3 sugar, and leave for 7-10 days. Again because it
is hot here it will probably be on the faster side, like 7 days. But if you leave it
longer no problem. But normally, we add the hard alcohol after 7-10 days. Add
equal part Gin (San Miguel Gin! haha because it is so cheap) at that point.

I would play with adding more ingredients to the mix. I like to add other plants
like Chili and aromatic herbs. Chili is hot, so it is a good repellent. Aromatic
herbs have insect repellent properties also. These would be Coriander, Basil, Dill,
Peppermint, etc the herbs that have a strong smell.

Alvin
May 19, 2013 at 10:03 am - Reply...
Hi Patrick, Thanks for the reply. I got another question. It says in the
recipe that we separate the two materials during fermentation. So we will
just mix the two solutions on 7th step ?

Patrick
May 19, 2013 at 11:21 am - Reply...
Yep thats correct. Ive updated the instructions to make it more
clear also. Thanks!

Chelsa
March 30, 2014 at 4:22 am - Reply...
Patrick, when do you add in the other materials, like chili or dill? Do we
add this when we add the sugar or when we mix with beer/wine?

Patrick
April 9, 2014 at 11:57 pm - Reply...
Hi Chelsa, you would add that when you add the beer/wine ideally,
but you could also just ferment them (e.g. sugar step) if you didnt
want to do that step. Its pretty flexible.

Aldrin Ditching
March 31, 2014 at 6:08 am - Reply...
What do you mean Add equal part of Gin? What is the quantity of gin or
alcohol?

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 12:00 am - Reply...

Sorry that means 1:1. So if you have 1 L of solution so far, after all
the above steps, now you add 1 L of gin or alcohol.

Aldrin Ditcing
April 18, 2014 at 10:34 pm Thanks Patrick for your reply.

Drew
April 4, 2013 at 9:08 pm - Reply...
Greetings! Im a bit concerned about the alcohol that develops during fermentation, as
well as the hard alcohol added at the end. Ive been in contact with other natural
gardeners who have made FPEs and used them on their plants. They claim the alcohol
killed their roots. Now I am aware that alcohol is bad for roots, but at what
concentration? Ive been researching this topic a bit and found an interesting paper about
an experiment done on Paperwhite Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta). They were using
ethanol as a growth inhibiter. It worked wonders between 1 and 5% concentration, and
didnt become toxic to the plant until 10%! This just blew me away.
So what have I missed in my research? Why are these people so set against using
fermentation as a method of extracting nutrients/compounds? Their overall experiences
were so bad apparently that they prefer to use the water soak/rot method (botanical tea).
This is not as an effective method for extraction, and can still go anaerobic if not properly
monitored. It only extracts water soluble goodies from the material. So what possibly
might they have done wrong while building their FPEs? Perhaps over application? I
have a lot of fermentations going right now to be used when spring finally arrives. What
do you think?
Thanks for your time,
Drew
o

Patrick
April 5, 2013 at 2:31 am - Reply...
Hi Drew,
Thanks for joining the thread. Weve used ginger-garlic and other fermented
plant+alcohol mixes quite successfully so Im not sure what they are doing to
harm the plants. As you said alcohol in too high concentrations is definitely bad
for plants. However at the application rates we suggest they will be fine. Dont
overmix! This stuff is acidic as well as containing alcohol. But used at the correct

dilution it is very effective. That said, if you are still worried you can use it
strictly as a foliar spray. We generally use it as a foliar spray since the ginger
discourages crawling pests, but periodically as a soil drench too no problem. Gil
might have something to add to this lets see.

Big Ray
April 5, 2013 at 3:46 am - Reply...
I have been collecting what I hope is mycorrhizae from areas near me that have been
undisturbed for years. My plan, since reading here is to start collecting soil/roots from
areas that have similar plants to the ones I intend to grow.
Since this is an anti-fungal, should I avoid spraying this in areas of my garden where I
want the beneficial fungus to proliferate?
o

Patrick
April 5, 2013 at 4:31 am - Reply...
Should be fine as a foliar spray. You really want the fungal colonies in the soil to
remain undisturbed so Id avoid using it as a soil drench. We usually dont do that
except when we want to battle pathogenic root fungi and give the plants a big
immune boost.

joe
April 19, 2013 at 10:59 pm - Reply...
High
I have heard of these recipes, but seeing everything in one spot is amazing.
my question is, would kombucha work in the begining, as a fermented beverage, that
contains only trace alcohol??? (if any.) instead of beer or wine? {not from a stance
against alcohol, only that kombucha seems to work against powdery mildew on its own,
short term.)
Is there an alternate way of arresting fermentation? I heard high heat will stop
fermentation, but would kill beneficial microbes as well
Thanks SSOOOO much for sharing this info, and all of the other stuff
Peace

joe
April 19, 2013 at 11:03 pm - Reply...

i meant to add that interest in alternate ways of arresting fermentation are due to the
desire for all home made stuff,
and will wild ginger work? (Asarum caudatum). As we have this growing wild, and we
have a little garlic to plant, as well. Aiming for self sufficiency in a land over-run with
GMO trash and food traveling around the globe , instead of down the road, to peoples
dinner plates.
Peace

joe
April 19, 2013 at 11:13 pm - Reply...
SOOO sorry to triple post. My ol lady is making tea right now, and dehydrating ginger
for it(she makes herbal tea)
am i correct in assuming i can use all her peelings of ginger(I dont want to take it from
her tea-making supply)
Thanks once again
Peace
o

Patrick
April 22, 2013 at 5:31 am - Reply...
Hi Joe,
Welcome to the site! Ha, no problem with the comments we appreciate the
enthusiasm. Yes I think wild ginger would work fine, it is aromatic right? It might
not be quite as potent as the ginger we use in food as that is selected for aroma
and potency, but I think it will work, try it. Using kombucha in Step 2, honestly I
dont know but Ill ask Gil. We use alcohol in Step 5 not only to arrest
fermentation, but also to extract enzymes and such that are alcohol-soluble rather
than water-soluble. Just ferment your own hard alcohol and use that! I think Gin
is the easiest to make homemade not sure though. Anyway if you have any other
questions let me know, happy to help.

gil carandang
April 22, 2013 at 8:32 am - Reply...
ginger-garlic extract is very similar to homeopathic tincture. normally herbs are soaked
with alcohol as the regular procedure. in our case, we ferment first the materials like
ginger and garlic. we then arrest fermentation with the addition of alcohol. in this
process, we eradicate the microbes, and get pure active ingredients of the ginger and
garlic. when we use it, when we drink it, it is more potent and easily assimilated by our

body. alcohol is lighter than water. alcohol, use in tincture is an old way of extracting
active ingredients on any materials we use. remember our technique is fermenting it first
then add the alcohol (and make tincture).
next time around, i will talk about my new kombucha extracted from turmeric and
guava. the mold by-product gelatin of the fermentation is now what i use to further
extract, grow by just using water with sugar. the finished product is a very nutritious
drink for humans and animals and even foliar for the plants. this time around, we dont
need to use the original turmeric or guava materials just the by-product gelatin.
definitely, much simpler yet very effective. this is the new kombucha.

gil carandang
April 22, 2013 at 8:34 am - Reply...
use of alcohol and heat will generally arrest fermentation. afterall, fermentation is the
process or bioactivity of microorganisms.

gil carandang
April 22, 2013 at 8:39 am - Reply...
of course you can use the peelings. in fact, i remember when i was in thailand, this
mexican american apprentice at pun pun farm taught me how to make wine out of
pineapple. when he harvested a pineapple, he peeled it (fermented these peels and made
them to wine!). of course, we ate the pineapple meat and planted the crown. and instead
of throwing the peelings, made them to pineapple wine.

fungusumungus
May 1, 2013 at 2:09 am - Reply...
Hello everyone thanks for all the great information cant wait to get started. How much
alcohol do you add to arrest the fermentation?
o

Patrick
May 1, 2013 at 6:23 am - Reply...
Good question, Ill have to update the recipe soon. Add equal part alcohol. If you
have 1L of beer with garlic in it, add 1L hard alcohol. It just needs to be 80
proof(40%), so buy the cheapest you can find. We get Gin here for about $1/L,
there are cheap brands in the states too though.

samb
May 17, 2013 at 9:39 pm - Reply...

thanks for all the info and would like to know if there is an alternative way to extract i.e
with out using alcohol.
o

Patrick
May 19, 2013 at 4:19 am - Reply...
Hi Samb,
This is basically a tincture recipe, so it depends on alcohol to extract some of the
active ingredients. Im not sure of other methods to achieve the same results. You
might research classic tinctures and see if they have alternatives. Ill talk to Gil
about it also. Good question!

Peter
May 19, 2013 at 12:25 pm - Reply...
Hi Patrick, got a question after reading all the comments and replies, I would be using a
glass jar for the fermentation, should I tightly seal the jar during the all the way from 1st
to the last step ? Isnt it alcohol will vaporize when not seal in a container ?
o

Patrick
May 20, 2013 at 10:14 am - Reply...
I wouldnt seal it until Step 5. For the other steps I would have the lid on but not
tightened all the way down, so that some air can still escape. Once you add the
hard liquor and arrest fermentation, you should be fine to seal it up.

Juan
June 10, 2013 at 3:22 pm - Reply...
hi ,how many grams of ginger and garlic should i use to make 1 lt of solution ?
thank you ,juan
o

Patrick
June 10, 2013 at 5:31 pm - Reply...
Hi Juan,
Play with the recipe to see how much works for you.. Id try 1/4 liter worth of
each, chopped up. Not sure how many grams that will come to, depends how
much water is in them and such..

Thanks,
Patrick

Annie
July 25, 2013 at 2:28 pm - Reply...
Re Mosquitos
Please help me, the municipal council lot are disallowing me to store water in my garden.
I tried telling them I need decholinated water for my plants but they said I cannot store it
as fear of mossies breeding in it causing Dengue and Malaria. Can I use LAB after I use
Abate in my water? I am so afraid Abate will kill my precious microbes in the soil. Will
using LA therefore neutalise the Abate? Thanks. My ginger/garlic is not ready for use
yet.
o

Patrick
July 26, 2013 at 2:44 am - Reply...
Good question Annie, it looks like Abate is fairly targeted towards mosquito and
gnat larvae. That said there are concerns about hazard to beneficial insects, and it
is toxic to shrimp and crabs, so soil crustaceans will likely be at risk. I imagine it
will harm some beneficial microbes but not all. You can use LAB in the water
after Abate, but I doubt it would neutralize the Abate, Abate is made with
temephos which is a reasonably persistent chemical. Probably just flush with
clean water as much as possible between abate treatments.

Annie
July 26, 2013 at 6:35 am - Reply...
Thanks Patrick, thats what I was afraid of, I cannot understand these one track minded
officers, honestly. Nothing I tell them will make them see there are no mossies breeding
as there isnt time to breed, its not as if I store the water weeks on end. Sigh If any one
reading this have any solutions, please tell me? Thanks
o

Drew
July 26, 2013 at 9:45 am - Reply...
There are water filters available online that will fit on the end of your hose spigot.
You then just connect your hose to the filter. Voila! Dechlorinated water for use
as you need it. No water sitting around for critters to breed in and no need to use
poisons. I bought one for the new community garden that Im involved with. I too
did not want to kill by microbes. Im not sure if you live in the US. I would

imagine spigot fittings are probably different in other parts of the world. Try
http://www.friendsofwater.com in California. Thats where I got mine.
Pat, I apologize ahead of time if posting websites is against the rules. I thought
this might help Annie.

Patrick
July 29, 2013 at 7:06 am - Reply...
No problem! You can post whatever site you want, especially if its to
help out another member. Thanks Drew!

Annie
July 29, 2013 at 1:32 am - Reply...
Thanks Drew, I live in Malaysia, but Ill ask at the shops to see if they stock it.

Annie
July 30, 2013 at 12:59 am - Reply...
How do I extract from the garlic ginger again after the 1st time? Do I add in wine and
then later on add the alcohol all over again? Thanks
o

Patrick
July 30, 2013 at 1:30 am - Reply...
Hey Annie, yep that should work fine. But you dont need to wait the 12-24hrs,
you can just add beer/wine and sugar. You can ferment this as many times as
youd like. Each time drain the liquid off, add more liquid/sugar to start next
round.

Annie
August 14, 2013 at 5:21 pm - Reply...
Can rice wine be used instead of red or white wine? Thanks
o

Patrick
August 15, 2013 at 10:00 am - Reply...
Should be ok if its around the same alcohol content. Not really sure but try it

Annie
August 18, 2013 at 3:00 am - Reply...
I meant at the beer/wine stage, not the liquour stage.

dayne
August 28, 2013 at 2:39 pm - Reply...
could isopropyl alcohol be use to arrest the fermentation? If so, and its twice as strong
(91% alc), would you just use half as much?
o

Patrick
October 30, 2013 at 7:29 pm - Reply...
yes, you could use isopropyl alcohol I believe but I would be careful with it, that
is strong stuff! Im not sure if it works that way (twice as strong so use half as
much..) it might not be a linear relationship like that. Anyway try it and see. Make
sure you dilute it appropriately. And let us know how it goes!

Philip Lasimbang
November 13, 2013 at 3:29 pm - Reply...
Very good and interesting. Will follow your works

Carmelo
November 22, 2013 at 9:23 pm - Reply...
Can we used other fermented materials instead wine like vinegar and etc.
o

Patrick
November 22, 2013 at 9:30 pm - Reply...
Hi Carmelo,
I think vinegar is too far along in the fermentation process to be used in this stage
of the recipe. You want younger fermentation materials. If you leave wine/beer
out long enough it turns to vinegar there are still enough sugars in it to keep
fermenting, and thats the process you want to tap into. So for this reason Id stick
with beer/wine there..

Cheers,
Patrick

Carmelo
November 26, 2013 at 4:49 am - Reply...
Okay, thanks for your reply.

Joel
January 13, 2014 at 6:38 am - Reply...
I use 1 kg fermented ginger and garlic:1 gal coco vinegar instead of beer
and wine and it workout fine it heals wounds and skin rashes and deworms
my pigs and chickens and I use it to disinfect the bedding of my piglets by
spraying it. I dont use expensive beer or alcoholic wine they contain
something i dont know . just dilute it by 20 parts or 5 parts water or try
any ratio you like and observe. Try it or discard it Im using it for 2 years.
I even treated my father arms and legs with rashes after 24 hours he said
its effective it dries up and heals fast.

Patrick
January 15, 2014 at 1:45 am - Reply...
Excellent contribution, thank you for sharing! This could be an
addendum to the recipe.

Chelsa
March 30, 2014 at 4:15 am - Reply...
Hello Joel, when you say coco vinegar, is this fermented juice
made from the coconut fronds section? In Guam, men hang a bottle
from a hole made in the center of the leavessort ofand it
catches the juice and they ferment it to make an alcoholic drink
and then ferment it longer to make vinegar. Is this what you mean?

Patrick
April 9, 2014 at 11:55 pm Yep Chelsa, that would be coco vinegar and you could use
that.

Sheen Rey
January 7, 2014 at 6:44 am - Reply...
Does the amount of garlic and ginger matter during preparation? Do I need to weight the
amount of ginger and garlic?
Thanks
o

Sheen Rey
January 7, 2014 at 6:47 am - Reply...
Follow up question, can you specify atleast 3 insects that can be controlled by this
product?
Thanks again

Patrick
January 15, 2014 at 1:10 am - Reply...
I think general purpose fungicide is the greatest benefit of this mixture.
But it should act as a deterrent for piercing/sucking insects like aphids. Ill
have to ask Gil for more details there.

Patrick
January 15, 2014 at 1:08 am - Reply...
Hi Sheen,
Not really, they can vary. We usually use roughly the same amount of each
though. Ferment them separately before combining. You can use more or less of
either depending on what youre after. They vary slightly in their properties of
course.
Cheers
Patrick

Sheen Rey
February 4, 2014 at 2:13 am - Reply...
Ok, thank you patrick for the response

Marty Baecker
January 29, 2014 at 7:51 am - Reply...
Maybe I missed it,,,,,but when you add the alcohol to arrest the fermentation,,,,,how
much do you add? What proportion?
Thanks
o

Patrick
February 4, 2014 at 9:46 am - Reply...
A lot. 1:1 alcohol. You can use less, but the alcohol extracts some of the
ingredients youre looking for like a tincture.

silcax
March 4, 2014 at 8:39 am - Reply...
hi, after straining the liquid. can we use again the materials?i mean for the next cycle of
fermentation, if so , how long will be the fermenting days?thank you
o

Patrick
March 4, 2014 at 8:19 pm - Reply...
Yep, you can do a second fermentation. After you drain off the liquid, I would
mash up the ginger/garlic since they should be softer after the first fermentation.
To ferment a second time just start back at Step 3, where you add the sugar.

silcax
March 12, 2014 at 8:44 am - Reply...
thanks for your response. i have another question how many days do i
need to wait after step 3? is the time frame the same as the first
fermentation?

Patrick
March 12, 2014 at 9:01 am - Reply...
Yep, I just use the same timeframes as the first fermentation,
although it should be a little faster since there are already so many
microbes in there.

Linda
March 18, 2014 at 11:37 am - Reply...
Hi Patrick,
For the wine or beer, I was thinking it would be best to be unpasteurized, which would
mean making my own. Do you suggest this? or will any beer or wine do? I was going to
make Makgeolli,since I first learned about this in the Korean Natural Farming
publications.
o

Patrick
March 18, 2014 at 9:06 pm - Reply...
Wow, interesting, that would be fun to make..Im sure that would be better than
just using store-bought stuff. However the store-bought stuff works great. Its that
same old argument no right way, but one way that is probably better than the
other..

Chelsa
March 27, 2014 at 6:10 am - Reply...
Feels like a sort of silly question, but do we peel the garlic or just dump in as whole
cloves?
o

Patrick
April 9, 2014 at 11:48 pm - Reply...
Id dump them in whole. But the more you shred them the better. basically put the
whole cloves in blender, peel and all. Blend up then use.

Bradley
May 27, 2014 at 8:05 pm - Reply...
Patrick,
Ive read through this posting several times and this is the first mention of
using a blender to mince the garlic and ginger. I assume that this is part of
step 1, which should be included in the recipe. Ill be starting a batch of
this in a week or so and I had been planning on just chopping the stuff up
small on a cutting board. Should I plan on blending it instead?

Patrick

July 2, 2014 at 10:29 pm - Reply...

Hey Bradley,
You can do either one. The original recipe is just to chop up the
ginger. That works well. But really, the more surface area the more
complete the ferment I like blending all ingredients for all
recipes though. No problem either way its kinda personal
preference. Easier to just mash them or cut roughly but if you have
access to blender, I like that way best.
Cheers,
Patrick

bigcow
March 28, 2014 at 9:34 pm - Reply...
Hi there, I fermented ginger and garlic with beer as per the instructions and I thought Id
try fermenting chilli in the same way with the same ratio. Several days after adding
brown sugar to all three bottles, a whitish layer developed on top of the ginger and chilli
liquid. It doesnt smell bad. The garlic bottle did not develop this layer, so Im guessing
its some kind of fungus and its probably soil-borne since I didnt wash the
ginger/garlic/chilli that I bought from the market. Its been about a week and Im about to
add alcohol to the mixtures, so Im wondering if I should ignore the white layer? If this is
beneficial fungus, Im thinking of scooping it out and growing it separately in another
brown sugar/LAB solution to add to my bokashi mixture. Any thoughts?
o

Patrick
April 9, 2014 at 11:50 pm - Reply...
You can do either one. It should be a beneficial fungal or bacterial growth so you
can leave it, or add to your compost/bokashi/etc.. Nice work!

chekky
March 28, 2014 at 9:34 pm - Reply...
I know alcohol is used here to arrest fermentation. But if I were to skip step 1
(fermemting herds/garlic/ginger) and instead soak the garlic and ginger (separately) in
alcohol, mainly to extravt their essential oils. Then adding these alcohol +essential oil to
my EM1 to make into EM5, does it make senses? Or I am talking about something totally
off track/ wrong here. Pls advise, thanks.
o

Patrick

April 9, 2014 at 11:52 pm - Reply...

Hi Chekky, I cant comment too much since I havent done it, but my feeling
would be to still do the first step regardless. You can try just getting the tincture
part and adding to EM 1, but probably only at very low concentration so you
dont kill the microbes/spores there.

Chelsa
March 30, 2014 at 11:41 pm - Reply...
What does it look like after I add the sugar and its fermenting? Is something supposed to
be happening visually? Is it supposed to be bubbling or fizzing? Right now I have all the
garlic and white floating above what looks like liquid brown sugar and then crystal brown
sugar. Should I add more wine?
o

Chelsa
April 8, 2014 at 3:47 am - Reply...
Hi Patrick, I hope to hear from you soon. Although I am sure you are quite busy.
Im at the stage where there is wine, ginger and brown sugar mixed together. A
white film developed on top. Is this normal or okay? Should I toss the whole
mixture and start over?

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 1:54 am - Reply...
White film is ok, its good in fact. Just dont use if it turns green or black..

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 12:00 am - Reply...
It should release gasses at that stage. You might stir it to mix it up and get the
sugar to dissolve. Not sure what else to do there but id say you have enough
beer/wine if the ingredients can float.

Chelsa
April 10, 2014 at 3:59 am - Reply...
Thank you for the feedback!! I will mix everything. Im now at the stage
when I can add alcohol.

Shani
April 1, 2014 at 1:35 am - Reply...
Instead of beer or wine could we use yeast?
Or Will the yeast turn the whole thing into alcohol?
o

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 12:59 am - Reply...
Well we use beer/wine because it contains yeast but Im not sure about using the
pure yeast. Id stick with the beer/wine for this step..
Cheers,
Patrick

Peter P
April 1, 2014 at 1:57 pm - Reply...
Very interesting site you have, thank you for all your time, patience and effort.
I have been soaking garlic in alcohol for quite some time and using the juice on salads
along with olive oil as a dressing. I recently got into Ginger and got tired of throwing
away half of what I was buying so I took a root and emulsified it in a blender with vodka.
This has now been in my fridge for two months and is still as potent as ever. Following
up on this I did the same with a few heads of garlic. Now, when cooking, I add the ginger
and garlic (1/4 -1/2 tsp) at the very end of my cooking cycle rather than at the beginning.
The aromas are beautiful and you can definitely taste the spices in the food.
I never used either of these on plants.
My question, What would be the gain in fermenting either concoction and would the taste
be different?
peter p
o

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 1:59 am - Reply...
Hey Peter, thanks for visiting..you know Im not sure the different benefits for
people..for pants the organic acids produced through fermentation are great. Taste
wise, it will taste more sour but probably not at the rate you are applying. You
might not notice the difference that way. Try it!

Shani
April 8, 2014 at 6:28 pm - Reply...

I think the white film is good, white molds are always good i think. I would just follow
instruction and not worry about what happens. Then ask about the end product. Good
luck!
White molds are usually good bacteria!
o

Patrick
April 10, 2014 at 2:23 am - Reply...
Exactly. Cheers!

Chelsa
April 10, 2014 at 3:59 am - Reply...
Thank you Shani and Patrick. Thats what I thought but I need verification to feel
confident about it.

Gal
April 22, 2014 at 12:01 am - Reply...
Hi
I have a film on my chili extract that is looking to get green (around 9 days
old)
should I get rid of it before adding the hard alcohol?

Patrick
May 6, 2014 at 10:04 pm - Reply...
Hi Gal sorry for the late reply this is probably moot now. But
yes, I would remove it before adding the alcohol. If it looks like
green mold, it is less than ideal.
Patrick

Matt
May 6, 2014 at 8:04 am - Reply...
Hi Patrick/Gil,
Apologies if I am missing some very basic info here, but what is the benefit of doing the
microbial fermentation prior to the alcohol-based extraction? I am very familiar with
alcohol-extracted tinctures and have made my own many times, but it seems to me the

microbes would die when adding the 40% alcohol, so whats the purpose of the
fermentation prior to extraction?
Not questioning your methodsthey are just new to me and Im interested
o

Thanks!

Patrick
May 6, 2014 at 11:09 pm - Reply...
Great question Matt we ferment first with microbes, to liberate
enzymes/hormones prior to the tincture step. You are exactly right, when you add
the alcohol the microbes die, but you still have their byproducts which is what
were after there.
Cheers,
Patrick

Rik
May 8, 2014 at 2:51 pm - Reply...
Hello Patrick and Gil,
I do not know if you guys already answered the same question but I would like to ask if I
can use brewers yeast instead of beer. Another question, is there any dis/advantage if I
throw it in the blender prior to brewing?
o

Patrick
May 8, 2014 at 7:41 pm - Reply...
Blender should be great! Will help the fermentation greatly. I dunno, I havent
played around with the brewers yeast method. I would just use beer/wine if you
can get some cheap.

reimarc marblla
May 18, 2014 at 3:21 am - Reply...
hi! do ginger and garlic good to combine? and may i know whats its chemical formula?..
o

Patrick
May 20, 2014 at 3:04 am - Reply...

You can combine them once fermented. Ferment and tincture them separately.
Ginger and Garlic dont have chemical formulas per se, they are made up of all
kinds of molecules.

reimarc
June 2, 2014 at 2:19 am - Reply...
um sorry i mean the chemical structure?