Homemade Ginger Ale comes together in no time with just four simple ingredients: fresh ginger, sugar, lime juice, and club soda. It's incredibly refreshing!
In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the water and ginger to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low heat. Loosely cover the pan so steam can vent from one of the sides. Gently simmer for 40 minutes. The liquid should be barely bubbling; you don’t want the water to reduce. The point is to infuse the ginger flavor into the water.
Remove from heat and let steep, covered, for 20 minutes, then strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the ginger.
Return the ginger-infused water to the saucepan, adding the sugar and a pinch of salt, then place over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, approximately 5 minutes. Chill syrup in a covered jar until cold, around 2 hours (you can place the syrup in the freezer to speed up this process).
Assemble drinks: Mix ginger syrup with club soda and lime juice (start with 1/4 cup syrup, 2 teaspoons lime juice, and 3/4 cup club soda, then adjust to taste).
Leftover ginger syrup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.