# Hard root beer



## Elmer

Figured i would give this a try
1 gallon

1 lb light Dme 
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz lactose
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp yeast energizer
Nottingham ale yeast

Boil the DME brown sugar and lactose in water.
Let cool top up to 1 gallon primary and tossing Yeast

When it's time for bottle I will add the following:
1 cup prime sugar
5 1/2 wildflower honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp rootbeer extract


I plan on using a 1 L soda bottle to bottle a portion of this batch.
This way when the bottle starts to get hard I will know that they bottle conditioned and I will then put them on the fridge before a bottle bombs




A little higher SG than I anticipated



Added 1/4 gallon of water got down o 1.062. Pitched yeast

I am going to let it chill, mow the lawn and think it through....


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## Elmer

4 days in and the bubbles in the air lock have ceased. Actually the airlock has leveled out and is releasing no gas.
I have yet to take an FG reading as I have been busy. I will take one in the next few days.
I am somewhat worried because I have had experience with Notty just puttering out on me.


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## Bartman

Hmmm, interesting experiment. Where did you get the recipe from? What inspired this effort? Just thinking out loud, why not ferment some simple sugar and add the root beer extract to that? What does the lactose and Nottingham ale yeast add to the finished product?


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## wineinmd

Notty should be able to handle 1.062. What temperature is it at? In the couple times I used it, I fermented it pretty cool and it took it down to where it I expected it to go, but it really slowed down at the end. If you were on the warmer side, I wouldn't be surprised if it were done after 4 days. 

I'm sure you'd heard it before, but airlock activity is not a reliable indicator of fermentation. I had a batch once that I thought wasn't moving very quickly and it stopped what I thought was too soon. Turned out my bung wasn't pushed in tight enough and gas was escaping around the side and not through the airlock. As soon as I pushed it in a little tighter, airlock activity went from nothing to a couple bubbles a minute as it finished.


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## Elmer

Bartman said:


> Hmmm, interesting experiment. Where did you get the recipe from? What inspired this effort? Just thinking out loud, why not ferment some simple sugar and add the root beer extract to that? What does the lactose and Nottingham ale yeast add to the finished product?



The recipe was compiled from searching the depths of the internet after having a few bottles of Not Your Fathers Root beer.

I also spoke to an expert over at a LHBS.

There seemed to be 1 of 2 methods, 1 a more beer making approach and the other more a wine making approach.

Lactose is non-fermentable sugar and adds sweatness to the batch.
Nottingham yeast will not ferment to dry.
I used Notty because it has a good attenuation.

The other method would have been to brew more of an ale and just add Root beer spices (winter green, honey, vanilla, RB extract).

I picked a method and went with it.


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## Elmer

wineinmd said:


> Notty should be able to handle 1.062. What temperature is it at? In the couple times I used it, I fermented it pretty cool and it took it down to where it I expected it to go, but it really slowed down at the end. If you were on the warmer side, I wouldn't be surprised if it were done after 4 days.
> 
> I'm sure you'd heard it before, but airlock activity is not a reliable indicator of fermentation. I had a batch once that I thought wasn't moving very quickly and it stopped what I thought was too soon. Turned out my bung wasn't pushed in tight enough and gas was escaping around the side and not through the airlock. As soon as I pushed it in a little tighter, airlock activity went from nothing to a couple bubbles a minute as it finished.



It was between 66 and 68. It most likely fermented out over the few days.
It is only 1 gallon so I cant imagine it took very long.
I use a 2 gallon bucket from home Depot and drilled a hole in the middle for the airlock (learned my lesson as to why airlock should be on the side and not middle).
I have checked and it is on tight and in place. But for the few days of fermenting the top was bowed due to gas, now not so much.
but this is an experiment and a learning process, so we will see how it comes out.
For all I know this stuff could taste lousy.
I will check the SG when I get home, worst case scenario I will rack to a glass jug.


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## wineinmd

Also, I'd be super careful with adding that much sugar/fermentables at bottling. It looks like most people carb root beer to about 4.0 vol. In a 1 gallon batch, it would only take about 1/4 cup of sugar to hit that number, not to mention the honey you are planning to add. 

I know you plan to test the carbonation and refrigerate, but I think you are way overdoing it. It won't take long at all to get to the desired carbonation and you risk blowing right past. If you do catch it in time, you'll be adding quite a bit of sweetness with all of the remaining unfermented sugars you'll have left. 

You don't specify what unit of measurement you're talking about for the honey, but it almost looks like you're carbing for 5 gallons. If it were my batch, I'd cut way back on the priming sugars and add extra lactose if I was trying to increase sweetness, since it won't ferment.


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## Elmer

wineinmd said:


> Also, I'd be super careful with adding that much sugar/fermentables at bottling. It looks like most people carb root beer to about 4.0 vol. In a 1 gallon batch, it would only take about 1/4 cup of sugar to hit that number, not to mention the honey you are planning to add.
> 
> I know you plan to test the carbonation and refrigerate, but I think you are way overdoing it. It won't take long at all to get to the desired carbonation and you risk blowing right past. If you do catch it in time, you'll be adding quite a bit of sweetness with all of the remaining unfermented sugars you'll have left.
> 
> You don't specify what unit of measurement you're talking about for the honey, but it almost looks like you're carbing for 5 gallons. If it were my batch, I'd cut way back on the priming sugars and add extra lactose if I was trying to increase sweetness, since it won't ferment.



5 1/2 oz of honey!
I agree with the sugar. One of my concerns is that this has a ton of sugar being put into it. However SWMBO keeps reminding me that, after all it is soda which is nothing more than flavored sugar water.

My thought was for 1 gallon I would only really need 1 oz of prime sugar.
I have to imagine The honey,vanilla & rootbeer extract would have to add to the sweatness.
Therefore I only need to add some lactose.
So now it would become a question of how sweet to make it.
I can always open a bottle of Root beer and check the FG.


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## wineinmd

Elmer said:


> 5 1/2 oz of honey!
> I agree with the sugar. One of my concerns is that this has a ton of sugar being put into it. However SWMBO keeps reminding me that, after all it is soda which is nothing more than flavored sugar water.
> 
> My thought was for 1 gallon I would only really need 1 oz of prime sugar.
> I have to imagine The honey,vanilla & rootbeer extract would have to add to the sweatness.
> Therefore I only need to add some lactose.
> So now it would become a question of how sweet to make it.
> I can always open a bottle of Root beer and check the FG.


That's a really good idea. Let it go flat and see what it says. 

Then figure out how many gravity points sugar and honey add per gallon, subtract out the 1/4 c. of sugar needed to get to your carb level, and see how close you are to the real thing.


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## wineforfun

Elmer said:


> I use a 2 gallon bucket from home Depot and drilled a hole in the middle for the airlock (learned my lesson as to why airlock should be on the side and not middle).



Why does it need to be on the side?

I don't airlock my buckets but just curious. I assume it has to do with overflow or the like into the airlock.

Just re-read this and you mention you drilled a hole in the middle yet make mention of learning your lesson as to why airlock should be on the side.
I am confused.

Nevertheless, very interesting experiment you have going here.


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## Elmer

wineforfun said:


> Why does it need to be on the side?
> 
> I don't airlock my buckets but just curious. I assume it has to do with overflow or the like into the airlock.
> 
> Just re-read this and you mention you drilled a hole in the middle yet make mention of learning your lesson as to why airlock should be on the side.
> I am confused.
> 
> Nevertheless, very interesting experiment you have going here.



I never shut the lid or airlocked when making wine. However with Beer I do. Beer makers are paranoid about infection and I have put on the tin foil hat when brewing.

Most brew buckets have the airlock off to the side. This way the bucket handle can raise up straight for carrying purposes.
I put mine dead center,
When I went to lift using the handle, the handle was stopped and could not clear the airlock.
I had to carry from the bottom.
However lids are only $2 at home Depot


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## wineinmd

Elmer said:


> I never shut the lid or airlocked when making wine. However with Beer I do. Beer makers are paranoid about infection and I have put on the tin foil hat when brewing.
> 
> Most brew buckets have the airlock off to the side. This way the bucket handle can raise up straight for carrying purposes.
> I put mine dead center,
> When I went to lift using the handle, the handle was stopped and could not clear the airlock.
> I had to carry from the bottom.
> However lids are only $2 at home Depot


Beer makers don't start with anything like k-meta, so the beer yeast is in a race against any baddies. Plus, most beer finishes at a much lower ABV than wine, so baddies can survive in the finished product much more easily than they can in wine. Beer can pick up an infection just from something in the bottling bucket or even flowing past the valve where the bottling tubing is connected if it is contaminated.

I'm a little confused by your explanation about the airlock. Unless the handles on your buckets are significantly different than mine, having the airlock in the center of the bucket would actually provide the most clearance. I run into trouble when I'm not paying attention and leave the airlock on the side of the bucket where the handle comes up. If I spin the lid to be close to where the handle is attached to the bucket I can raise the handle without issue.


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## wineforfun

Elmer said:


> I never shut the lid or airlocked when making wine. However with Beer I do. Beer makers are paranoid about infection and I have put on the tin foil hat when brewing.
> 
> Most brew buckets have the airlock off to the side. This way the bucket handle can raise up straight for carrying purposes.
> I put mine dead center,
> When I went to lift using the handle, the handle was stopped and could not clear the airlock.
> I had to carry from the bottom.
> However lids are only $2 at home Depot



I gotcha. I never have an airlock on my primary so not an issue for me.


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## Elmer

This is my airlock getting in the way of the handle



I ended up swapping out for an S airlock with a thicker base. Once I did so it started to bubble, albeit slowly!


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## Elmer

FG of flat root beer is about 1.050


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## Elmer

FG 1.012
ABV approx 6.5%


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## Julie

Elmer, have you tasted it? Curious to know if the 2T of root beer extract is enough. neat experiment!


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## Elmer

Julie said:


> Elmer, have you tasted it? Curious to know if the 2T of root beer extract is enough. neat experiment!




Yes tasted and bottled, 
I ended up using 2 tsp of vanilla and 2 tbsp of rootbeer extract.
Unfortunately the honey over powers everything!
And there is a malt aftertaste.
Took me a good amount of time to scrub out my gear to get the honey Taste out. I am now soaking in K meta to kill the smell.
I will let them bottle carb and judge , but my initial opinion is that this is Not at all what I set out to make.


Next time I would cut down on the honey or leave out entirely


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## Julie

When I was about 18 and my brother was 17 we got this great idea of making some homemade root beer soda. Our mom always had Hires root beet extract in the house, we use to make "kool aid" from it. Added a couple tablespoons to a 2 quart pitcher, 1 cup of sugar and the rest with water. We loved it.

So we made up this huge batch, I can't remember how much but we pretty much added water, sugar, root beer extract, left it sit for awhile. Neither one of us at that time had any clue on how to make wine, beer or anything with alcohol. We bottled it and on the advice of our uncle (I believe he is still laughing about this, God rest his soul) we added a raisin to each bottle. Well about two weeks later, we had bottles popping all over the place, thank God we did not lay them down on their side and we had them in the basement. But, this stuff was really tasty! Not all the bottles popped and the ones that didn't you had to put it in the sink to open it because of the geyser, lol.

I'm wondering it you shouldn't just make a water want and flavor it with root beer extract?


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## Elmer

Julie said:


> When I was about 18 and my brother was 17 we got this great idea of making some homemade root beer soda. Our mom always had Hires root beet extract in the house, we use to make "kool aid" from it. Added a couple tablespoons to a 2 quart pitcher, 1 cup of sugar and the rest with water. We loved it.
> 
> So we made up this huge batch, I can't remember how much but we pretty much added water, sugar, root beer extract, left it sit for awhile. Neither one of us at that time had any clue on how to make wine, beer or anything with alcohol. We bottled it and on the advice of our uncle (I believe he is still laughing about this, God rest his soul) we added a raisin to each bottle. Well about two weeks later, we had bottles popping all over the place, thank God we did not lay them down on their side and we had them in the basement. But, this stuff was really tasty! Not all the bottles popped and the ones that didn't you had to put it in the sink to open it because of the geyser, lol.
> 
> I'm wondering it you shouldn't just make a water want and flavor it with root beer extract?




I made rootbeer with 2 cups of sugar and 2 tbsp of root beer extract.
I added the only yeast I had on hand Lavlin 118 to try and carb a little.
I tried to let it carb, but after 2 weeks it was barely carbed.
I realize I use the wrong yeast.
However the rootbeer turned out tastey.
I thought of just fermenting sugar water and adding extract to make a Hard Root beer, but that just seemed to crude and simplistic!


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## Elmer

2 weeks in the bottle and it is not nearly as carbed as I would have expected.
I have left them in an empty cooler in my garage. The garage fluctuates between 60 and 80F, but in order to avoid bottle bombs I kept the lid shut.
I did try 1 bottle and there is too much honey for my taste!


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## dorfie

I am thinking of making this too! started for the same reason of trying "Not your father's root beer" but i am going to go the route of making root beer out of sarsaparilla and sassafras and other spices and Malt extract, then ferment it dry, sweeten with honey and b. sugar like you did, and bottle condition them until the plastic one is hard then pasteurize them to kill the yeast. 
I am wondering though, did your beer fall pretty clear in your primary? i am trying to decide if i want to fine it so that it is mostly clear and yeast free when i bottle it, then mix a yeast with it then?


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## Elmer

dorfie said:


> I am thinking of making this too! started for the same reason of trying "Not your father's root beer" but i am going to go the route of making root beer out of sarsaparilla and sassafras and other spices and Malt extract, then ferment it dry, sweeten with honey and b. sugar like you did, and bottle condition them until the plastic one is hard then pasteurize them to kill the yeast.
> I am wondering though, did your beer fall pretty clear in your primary? i am trying to decide if i want to fine it so that it is mostly clear and yeast free when i bottle it, then mix a yeast with it then?



It cleared nicely, but I cold crashed for 2 days prior to bottling.

Let me know how your method works out?


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## dorfie

The


Elmer said:


> It cleared nicely, but I cold crashed for 2 days prior to bottling.
> 
> Let me know how your method works out?



I will definitely let you know how it turned out! My "roots" just got here today, so I might brew this tomorrow! How long is a normal ferment for beer? This will be my first attempt at beer though I have made quite a bit of wine.


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## Elmer

dorfie said:


> The
> 
> I will definitely let you know how it turned out! My "roots" just got here today, so I might brew this tomorrow! How long is a normal ferment for beer? This will be my first attempt at beer though I have made quite a bit of wine.



I always let the beer sit in primary for atleast 3 weeks. 2 of those days are usually cold crashing before bottling


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## dorfie

Pitched the yeast last night! This morning it was bubbling out of my airlock, bit of a mess. I boiled light malt extract for 30 min added the herbs, then boiled for another 30 min, cooled and pitched yeast and put into carboys leaving the herbs in there. Hope it turns out!


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## Elmer

3 weeks in the bottle and it is not nearly as carbed as I would like.
I will let it go 2 more days than pasteurize 
Still tastes of way too much honey


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## Elmer

4 weeks and I pasteurized


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## wineinmd

Did you try it again? Does it still have the strong honey taste?


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## BernardSmith

By "honey taste" do you mean that it is sweet or that the flavor of the honey over powers all other flavors in the root beer? I ask because I have a few gallons of elderflower mead ready for bottling and the honey does not "overpower" the flavor of the elderflowers but it seems to have reduced the keenness or sharpness of the flavor the florets bring to elderflower wines


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## Elmer

It is sweet, due to allh e sugary stuff.
But the honey flavor is more forward than either the vanilla or rootbeer.
I am going to let them sit and mellow out


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