If that's not a happy ginger bug I don't know what is. That clear separation is how you know its ready to use and the jar doesn't even have to be full for it to look like that. These jars were full and were ready to harvest to start batches of ginger beer. The limes in this post are from our tree, now brewing into ginger beer on top of the fridge.

So they sell silicone lids for brewing that have essentially a vent hole to allow air to escape and they fit on most ball jars. We are emprovising by buying the jars with the straws and holes in the lids and removing the straw. It allows air flow while keeping bad things our and works great for ginger beer.

I use about five of these small limes for a quart of ginger beer. If I'm using lemons I'll use three per jar and about a quarter cup of sugar per quart of beer. Water and the ginger bug is the only thing else needed...oh and time.