How do you make Root Beer?

Hi NanaT.

I did mention home made root beer today.

This is yummy! Kids love it too. It's our tradition.

It's easy after you make it the first time.

Nana J's Home Made Root Beer.

5 gallons of water.

5 lbs of sugar.

1 Bottle of Hires Root Beer flavor (concentrate).

You can find it in the area of the spices and flavoring. Sometimes you can’t find Hires. McCormick will do.

5 lbs. Of dry ice.

1 ‘very’ long spatula or wooden spoon to stir the root beer.

My husband always buys the dry ice - he says 5 lbs of dry ice. I’m okay with that. Buy that amount - then you will know for sure the next time.

Mix well - the water sugar and root beer flavor. We use a round five gallon round cooler with the spigot. Put a bucket beneath the spigot to catch the drips.

After the ingredients are mixed well. - with dry ice in a double brown paper bag - use a hammer to break off a piece of dry ice - not much bigger than your fist. Handle ice with care - with a clean glove.

DO NOT SECURE THE LID - COVER IT BUT LEAVE AIR TO CIRCULATE.

Once the dry ice has become half the size - then add another piece of dry ice. Continue to do this for close to an hour. Test the root beer as you go. You will know when it is carbonated/bubbly enough to serve.

BE CAREFUL AND STIR OFTEN. THIS WAY YOU WILL KEEP IT FROM FREEZING TO THE BOTTOM. You do not want the bottom to freeze. It will freeze if you add too much ice at a time.

Handling this dry ice with bare hand will freeze burn you hands. Do not allow children to handle the ice. NEVER LET THEM PUT IT IN THEIR MOUTH. IT COULD BE LETHAL.

No alcohol content. You could use about 1 cup less sugar. You can devide the recipe to make a smaller amount.

DeeJay

* Ingredients

1/2 cup table sugar [sucrose] (Can be adjusted slightly for preferred sweetness)

Root Beer Extract (1/2 tablespoon)

Powdered baker's yeast (1/4 teaspoon)

Cold fresh filtered water

1 two liter bottle

* Instructions

1) Using a clean bottle and a dry funnel, add the ingredients in sequence as stated in the steps that follow. First add a level cup of sugar(or cane sugar). Adjust the amount to achieve the desired sweetness.

2) Measure 1/4 teaspoon powdered baker's yeast and place in the funnel. The yeast should be fresh and active, and any brand that is available will work

3) Shake well to make sure that the yeast grains are distributed evenly into the sugar.

4) Swirl the sugar/yeast mixture in the bottom in order to make it concave and enable it to catch the extract in the middle.

5) Replace the funnel, and add 1 Tbsp of root beer extract on top of the dry sugar.

6) Fill the bottle halfway with fresh cool tap water that has little or no chlorine. Pour through the funnel and use this opportunity to rinse extract stuck to the funnel and tablespoon. Swirl to dissolve the ingredients.

7) Fill the bottle to the neck, this time with fresh water, leaving only about an inch (2.54cm) of head space. Securely screw the cap so as to seal the bottle. Invert repeatedly to thoroughly dissolve the contents.

8) Place the sealed bottle at room temperature for about three or four days until the bottle feels hard to a forceful squeeze. Then move it to a cool place (below 65 F (18 C)). Refrigerate overnight to thoroughly chill before serving. Crack the lid of the bottle just a little to release the pressure slowly.

9) Enjoy!

Beer

There are several different styles of root beers. The old style is a rather strong alcoholic beverage accusal, getting up to slightly stronger then malt liquor depending on how it is brewed. However, it can be made more like a soda even though that is not the old tradition. I am Pennsylvania Dutch so I have gotten the opportunity to have some glorious "make your evenings" root beers myself. If you want to make the good stuff and you don't live in the forests of the north you may be out of luck on some of the ingredients.

Here is a good basic recipe to give you an idea:

MAKES 4 LITERS

Complex and delicious, old-fashioned, home-brewed root beer has deep, intermingling notes of roots, bark, and spices, set against a background of molasses. The formula is based on 19th-century recipes culled from The Saturday Evening Post, Scientific American, and Prairie Farmer, with guidance from Homemade Root Beer, Soda & Pop by Stephen Cresswell (Storey, 1998).

1⁄4 oz. dried sassafras root bark

1⁄4 oz. dried "brown" birch bark

1⁄4 oz. dried sarsaparilla root

1⁄8 oz. dried licorice root

1 1" piece fresh ginger, unpeeled

and thinly sliced

1 vanilla bean, split

2 cups molasses

1⁄8 tsp. active dry yeast

1. Put sassafras root bark, birch bark, sarsaparilla root, licorice root, ginger, 1vanilla bean, and 2 qts. water into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 2 hours.

2. Strain root-infused liquid through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a plastic container that has been washed well with hot, soapy water. (Discard solids.) Add 2 qts. filtered water, stir well, and let cool to 75°.

3. Meanwhile, wash four 1-liter plastic soda bottles with hot, soapy water. Rinse well and air-dry. Stir molasses and dry yeast into the root-infused liquid; cover and set aside to let ferment for 15 minutes. Using a funnel, pour into bottles, filling to within 2" of top but no higher. Screw lids on tightly; set aside at room temperature to let ferment for 12 hours.

4. Chill for 2–5 days. The root beer's character will slowly change: after 2 days, it will taste strongly of molasses; at the end of 5 days the yeast will have eaten up more of the sugary molasses, creating a milder and slightly alcoholic beverage. When it's ready to drink, open bottles very slowly, easing the caps open little by little, to let any excess gas escape gradually. (Yeast produces a high level of natural carbonation that makes for a very fizzy drink.) Serve over ice.

There are some complicated ways to do it, but I'm of the "keep it simple" persuasion so I buy Adam's Root Beer flavoring, Stevia & Carbonated water & make it by the glassful.

I add about an ounce of plain water to the bottom of a 16 oz. glass. Put tiny scoop of Stevia & swirl until dissolved. Then add any where from 1/4 to 1 full teaspoon Root Beer flavor (depending on my mood) and fill the rest of the glass w/ a chilled, 12oz. can of plain carbonated water.

Not all the flavor complexities of home brew, but it's quick & does the job for me w/o all the calories of sugared Root Beer.

No making root beer. I buy a bottle of Dad's Root Beer and some vanilla ice cream. Then I make a brown cow or root beer float. Yum!

http://www.dadsrootbeer.com/

http://www.breyers.com/products/All-Natural/Natura...

I'm not sure because it was my Grandmother that made it and bottled it. I do know that if it isn't bottled correctly the bottles can explode. I would suggest that you go on line and type root beer into the the search. I watched her make it and it involved simmering a bunch of herbs in water and then letting it cool and straining it before capping.

Dig some roots out of the ground and add them to a glass of beer.

Well, Kevin has a great answer, but the old timers around here in Kentucky used to make it with sassafras roots, boil, strain, add sugar and cool, mmmm...

I do not have a clue but I am impressed by the other responses from our knowledgeable SCs on this board. I guess we really do know a bit about everything here.