priming sugar and alternate yeasts (Ginger Beer Plant)

So I had an idle 1 gallon carboy and I decided I'll try to make so alcoholic ginger beer which is something I've always wanted to do but have never done.

So I do and I sort of follow a recipe I found and reproduce below. All seems more or less what I'd assume except, s/he says to bottle using *7* tablespoons of corn sugar for *1* gallon of brew.

Should I figure s/he doesn't know what s/he's talking about or is there something about Ginger Beer Plant that it takes seven times as much sugar to prime it up?

=============
1 gallon water

4 ounces ginger root, peeled and diced

1 pound malt syrup, unhopped

1 lemon, juiced

1 packet ginger beer plant

7 teaspoons corn sugar

Put the diced ginger in a nylon straining bag, and simmer it in a quart of water for half an hour.
Remove the bag from the water, turn the heat off, and slowly stir in the malt syrup.
When the syrup has dissolved, add the lemon juice to the hot liquid.
Pour the liquid into the primary fermenter, add three quarts of water, and let it cool to room temperature.
Put the ginger beet plant in a nylon hop bag, tie it closed, drop it in the fermentor, snap the fermenter lid on, and attach an airlock.
After a week the beer will finish fermenting. Remove the bag of ginger beer plant, rinse it off and store in in a sealed container in your refrigerator.
Add 7 teaspoons of corn sugar to the beer, and bottle in Champagne-style bottles, beer bottles, or soda bottles.
Wait a minimum of two weeks before sticking in the refrigerator to allow enough time for the beer to be conditioned.

+++++++++
Ginger Beer Plant, by the way, is sort of a hybrid of yeast and lacto bateria.

And, oh my goodness, I just realized I have another question. Should I not have sanitized everything if I want the lacto bateria to thrive and ... oh my god, I'm an idiot.... I *just* realized I strained my GBP through a sanitized dripping strainer. That's like running your yeast through a sanitized ... something. Geez, no wonder, I'm getting no activity.

Well, anyway, how 'bout that priming?

And ..... OGEEZ I'm a *real* idiot. That's *tea*spoon not Tablespoon. So that's not too much (considering weight is a better measure than volume).

So.... I guess I *don't* have any questions but I'm open to advice and gentle ribbing. (Today *hasn't* been my day...)

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think I killed my GBP. It's four hours since I pitched and there's a 1/2 an inch of very fine flocculation on the bottom of my carboy and there was never *any* activity and the brew is clear and transperent (*everythings* out of suspension) [and still at O.G. of course]

Dang, I'm an idiot. I hope I didn't kill my sample source as well.

Wow, GBP *isn't* dead. 11 hours since pitching and the blow off tube just started blowing off one bubble every two seconds.

Not dead, but damned weak. I gave it a run for it's money.

Hey, man, just stumbled across your post. I had a similar experience with my GBP recently. I just got it, and had it in the fridge for 2 weeks before I had a chance to whip up a batch. From what I've read over at yemoos.com (http://www.yemoos.com/gingerbeerguide.html), the GBP doesn't hibernate or keep very well, so it needs to be coddled along. I took that into consideration and only made 1 quart of ginger beer and dialed back the sugar a little bit. The ferment was sluggish. After two weeks, I topped it up to a full gallon and it took off more aggressively, though not insanely aggressive. I think you'll be fine. Maybe try topping up a few times and see if the culture gets stronger. It could also be a question of nutrients and water chemistry. Hope that helps. =)

This was completely home-cultivated GBP. Rebound pretty well. But, you know, I don't think I like GBP; I think I prefer champagne yeast. Didn't worry about measuring amount pitched. As result the resulting batch is way over-pitched and sour beyond belief.