# Root Beer



## Vaughn (Jun 3, 2005)

I see that George has a Root Beer extract. This sounds really enticing.




Anyone have a good recipe for Root Beer? George, does the package have instructions?


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## geocorn (Jun 3, 2005)

The package does have instructions and it is very easy. I made some for my daughter several years ago and it turned out very tasty.


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## Vaughn (Jun 3, 2005)

According to your online catalog, the recipe makes 4 gallons. Do I need any special carboy for this, or can I do it all in the primary?


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## geocorn (Jun 3, 2005)

You use the bucket to mix it up and then bottle it. It ferments in the bottle to create the CO2.


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## masta (Jun 3, 2005)

You can always make a smaller amount and this recipe is very good!


Recipe for one gallon. Please read instructions before starting. 
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<LI>1 Cup White Table Sugar 
<LI>1-1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 
<LI>2 tablespoons Malto Dextrin </LI></TD>
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<LI>1 tablespoon Root Beer Extract 
<LI>1/4 teaspoon Champagne Yeast 
<LI>1 Gallon of Cold Water </LI></TD></TR></T></T></TABLE>


<LI>Clean all equipment and sanitize 
<LI>Fill a one gallon container with cold water. Now remove 1 cup of water from the jug and discard it. All of the water required for the recipe is now in the gallon container. Measuring the water in this way will save time and prevent you from adding to much or to little water later. 
<LI>Place 4 cups of water from the container into a sauce pan and begin to heat it. It is not necessary to bring the water to a boil. Heating this small amount of water will help dissolve the sugars and will make a better soft drink. 
<LI>Add the white sugar, brown sugar and malto dextrin to the sauce pan and stir until the sugars are completely dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved turn off the heat. 
<LI>Add 1 tablespoon of Root Beer Extract to the sauce pan and stir it in. 
<LI>Add the remaining water to the sauce pan and stir well. Check the temperature of the mixture by carefully touching the outside of the pan. It should be cool to slightly warm&lt; 80 degrees. It may be necessary to allow the pan to sit covered for a short time in order to cool. 
<LI>Open the packet of champagne yeast by cutting off a corner. Measure out 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and add it to the sauce pan. Close the yeast packet by folding over the open corner and sealing it with tape. Store the remaining yeast in the refrigerator for the next batch. 
<LI>Stir the sauce pan until the yeast is completely dissolved. You are now ready to bottle your root beer. 
<LI>Bottle in beer bottles with 1 inch of head space 
<LI>Store the bottles at room temp 70-75 for two weeks. 
<LI>Chill the bottles for two weeks for flavor to develop.</LI>


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## Vaughn (Jun 6, 2005)

Okay,


Both of these processes beg the question... what stops the fermentation? Is there a certain PSI that yeast will not tollerate? Or is it the chilling that does it? 


Also, I assue that the alcohol content will be low enough for my children to enjoy a frosty root beer...Gee, how do I keep them out of it for 4 weeks?


Sounds like fun though...something to do over the summer!


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## masta (Jun 6, 2005)

The amount of yeast added and placing the bottles in the refrigerator is what stops the fermentation. Measure the yeast carefully and chill the bottles at the recommended time. You can bottle some in a small empty plastic soda bottle and test the carbonation by feeling how tight the bottle is from the CO2 pressure....just make sure the cap doesn't leak. Also the warmer the temp where the bottles are stored the faster they will carbonate!


I have read that lab tests showed the alcoholic content which results from the fermentation of this root beer and found it to be between 0.35 and 0.5 %. Comparing this to the 6% in many beers, it would require a person to drink about a gallon and a half of this root beer to be equivalent to one 12 ounce beer.


Let the kids have one and they will be fine.


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## Vaughn (Jun 24, 2005)

Just wanted to add a plug here for the Root Beer. My daughter and I cracked open a cold one yesterday and it turned out excellent! There was only a slightly yeasty flavor to the mix, but it did not detract from the rich, sweet flavor of our very own root beer! If you have not done this yet with your kids, you should. (no George, I will not be returning the bottle capper).


The root beer turned out to be HIGHLY carbonated (belching contest, anyone?). We used an ale yeast because I read that such yeast will die when the bottle reaches a certain pressure. This was important because I needed to be able to store the 42 bottles that we made somewhere besides the refrigerator. 


Does anyone know how I may be able to make this so that it has more of a creamy consistency? I would like to make a root beer that has a head on it! Perhaps boiling in some hops? Or using some other form of sugar? Or using fresh ingredients instead of extracts?


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## geocorn (Jun 24, 2005)

I am so glad you are happy with the results. I will do some research to see if I can find some answers for you.


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## Vaughn (Jun 27, 2005)

Update on the root bear...we had our first fatality.


While I was enjoying my coffee early Sunday morning, I heard a loud "POP" from the cool dark place I had chosen to store my root beer. Yep, we lost one. I placed the remaining 30 bottles in the fridge, gingerly. I felt like I was handling live hand-grenades. We have found some to be quite volatile (spewing EVERYWHERE) and some to be rather tame. The carbonation on all of them is very high and I find it easier to enjoy if I let mine sit for a few minutes before I consume. 


Now I understand why industry uses forced carbonation instead of natural carbonation. HOWEVER, I do know that good Champagnes are still naturally carbonated in the bottle. How are these things shipped and stored at room temperature without popping? What are they doing that I'm not? 


Suppose I let the mixture carbonate outside the bottle for a day or so and then K-meta it before I put it in the bottle? This would not be as easy, but may save me some trouble down the road.


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## Vaughn (Jun 27, 2005)

masta said:


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Where do I find Malto Dextrin?


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## masta (Jun 27, 2005)

I am not sure if George carries it but I will ask him about it. Malto Dextrin is a non-fermenting sugar that adds body and smoothness to the root beer without adding a lot of sweetness.


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## geocorn (Jun 27, 2005)

I can get it. Just did not have any demand. Looks like another NEW product!


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## masta (Jul 11, 2005)

I had my first root beer bomb go off over the weekend....good thing it was contained in the plastic tub I store beer that is carbonating. Not sure what happened but I have made this 3 times before without this problem.






I did use Red Star Premier Cuvée yeast because I didn't have any champagne yeast on hand and it only had been a week since we made it.I put on the safety gear and vented off the pressure in the otherbombs since they were in Grolsch bottles and then stuck them in the fridge. 


I should check them tonight to make sure the pressure is ok....don't need a sticky mess in the fridge!


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## rgecaprock (Jul 11, 2005)

When I was about 8 yrs old Dad made root beer and put it in the basement. One evening we heard what sounded like fireworks. Ran down the basement to see what was going on.....root beer squirting all over the place...dripping off the ceiling









Ramona


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## Vaughn (Jul 12, 2005)

The kids and I made a batch of cream soda last week (with Malto Dextrin!). I usedone tsp. of Champagne Yeast for 4 gallons. We will move it to the fridge on Wednesday if it has enough carbonation. I don't want another root beer bomb to go off in my wine room. 


I know it is not recommended, but we use glass beer bottles. They recycle well, easy to clean, and cheep. I can also regulate how much soda my kids get. Everyone gets ONE a day. 


I have to say, the soda making thing has been a HUGE success at our house (despite the exploding bottle). All the kids want to invite their friends over to try the root beer that "they" made. My youngest wants to have a root beer party for her birthday so she can send her friends home with their very own root beer time bomb that they made themselves.


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## masta (Jul 12, 2005)

It is great to get the kids involved and start them off young on the road of future wine makers! Also would be a great science fair project for school.


I have never made a cream soda but tried the cola and orange. The cola was ok but nobody asked to have more. The orange is difficult to get good carbonation even following the instructions which tells you to use extra yeast.


This batch of root beer Idoubledthe malto dextrin which I think helped with the creaminess and head retention.


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## Vaughn (Jul 13, 2005)

masta said:


> This batch of root beer Idoubledthe malto dextrin which I think helped with the creaminess and head retention.




Do you cut down on the cane sugar when you add the extra Malto Dextrin?


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## masta (Jul 13, 2005)

No I did not since the Malto Dextrin is a non fermentable type saccharide/sugar....so in theory you could add as much as you wanted and it would only add volume to the batch with not muchextra sweetness since it has very little tonone.


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## Vaughn (Jul 14, 2005)

GRRRR! I opened a bottle of cream soda today and it was FLAT



. We have now gone to the extremes...first batchbottlebustingfizzy, second batch dead flat. Now I know why all soda is force carbonated. Yeast is too unpredictable. 


What we did was make a yeast starter with a cup of water, a couple of tbs. of sugar, the rest of a package of yeast, and 1/4 tsp. of yeast energizer. I let this sit for a couple of hours to make sure it would take. Then, I opened all the bottles and using my professional bottle priming equipment (turkey baster) I added the mixture to each bottle and resealed them. Do you think this will work? Or did I waste 40 bottle caps?


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## Hi In The Pines (Sep 23, 2005)

OK, major problem!!! I made root beer with my son over 3 weeks ago and some of the plastic PET bottles are still really soft and have a lot of room for expansion. Some did get hard and the plastic caps looked as if they were going to pop off. Those wentinto the fridge quickly and this week, we tried a couple and they were flat. We went by the recipe and examples given here on the discussion, my son stirred the whole time I was bottling to make sure the yeast was mixed up good. I cant figure out what could have happened??? Any suggestions??*Edited by: geocorn *


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## masta (Sep 24, 2005)

It is possible that some of the bottles leaked through the caps...did you use new or used bottles?


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## Hi In The Pines (Sep 25, 2005)

Brand new bottles and caps. They sat striaght up and once they became full to the touch, they went straight to the fridge for cooling.


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