Looking for some help with bottle fermented/carbonated root beer. My daughter would like to brew some root beer so my quest has begun. I have a 2 oz. bottle of old fashioned root beer extract and a pkg. of champagne yeast and a full bottling set up. I don’t have a specific recipe and am putting it to this board for some help.
Any of y’all have a specific recipe from which to begin?
Also, what about alcohol content? I know it will be relatively low, but does anyone have an idea of specific content within a given recipe?
Soda pop has about 400g of sugar per gallon, a little under a pound. I’d add one ounce of the flavoring and a pound of sugar to a gallon jug and fill with water to get a final volume of 1gal. I’d then add yeast and later in the day bottle in plastic 2L or smaller bottles. Plan to drink this within a week and keep in the fridge once you get enough carbonation. The plastic bottles will get firm when carbonation is adequate. It shouldn’t have more than a couple tenths of alcohol when carbonated, but it will continue to go up unless you keep it good and cold.
I used to make this stuff for family gatherings and my nephews loved it. Later on they told me they liked it because it gave them a slight buzz.
I just made two gallons with my daughter this past weekend. I used the 2 oz bottle that comes in a brown box. Not sure of the name. Directions were at the very end of one of the small papers that came with extract. 2 gallons water, 8 cups sugar, 1 oz extract and 1 teaspoon yeast. At least that’s what I think I remember.
I researched the alcohol issue and it is pretty much agreed that any alcohol content is extremely low and is not an issue.
4.5 C sugar
2 T of root beer extract (old fashioned root beer extract)
2 T vanilla extract
2 T molasses
Brought to a boil and cooled to 85 degrees f. Pitched 1/4 t of champagne yeast and bottled. Planning on conditioning in bottle for 3-4 days or until properly carbonated then refridgerate to stop fermentation. I’ll keep you posted as to results, but the wort tastes pretty damn good.
The yeast gives it a real homemade character. But carbing in keg gives a cleaner flavor.
I don’t think I’d boil the extract, maybe boil the water and sugar and add extract as it cools. You don’t want to lose your volatiles. I used to add vanilla, and I typically used less sugar.
Results: root beer came out pretty darn good. The extract that we used was heavy on the licorice flavor (it’s the old fashioned extract that is available in most retailers). The longer it stayed in the fridge, the better it was and the cleaner it finished. I like the champagne yeasts bubbly product. I would like to try another extract with a milder licorice flavor profile. I would repeat this recipe again , no problem. I would add another tablespoon or two of vanilla extract, but that’s my own preference.
