Homemade Root Beer?

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Jfrag
Very interesting thread. I think that when I get done building my house I may try this out.

w0rd. I'm gonna look into this. I love rootbeer.

- M4H

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Jfrag
Very interesting thread. I think that when I get done building my house I may try this out.

w0rd. I'm gonna look into this. I love rootbeer.

- M4H

You may yet be able to get the Mr. Rootbeer kit for $5 at Target. Easy way to get your feet wet

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Jfrag
Very interesting thread. I think that when I get done building my house I may try this out.

w0rd. I'm gonna look into this. I love rootbeer.

- M4H

You may yet be able to get the Mr. Rootbeer kit for $5 at Target. Easy way to get your feet wet

What's the Canadian equivalent of Target?

- M4H

 

[Jzero]

You, my friend, are screwed
Maybe you could find one somewhere in Quebec? Ask for Tar-zhayyyyyy

 

[MaxDepth]

Found it. It is the Zatarain's Root Beer Extract

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
Found it. It is the Zatarain's Root Beer Extract

Awesome! I was looking for root beer extract at the grocery store, but couldn't find any. I might want to look with the rest of the Zatarain products...

 

[BigPoppa]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: mgravy
Just wondering...

With a home rootbeer kegging system and CO2, is refrigeration a required part of the process? Could you simply brew it in the keg and then pour it over ice?

Excellent question. Because I don't know the answer.

In reading the tap-a-draft documentation, it seems to suggest that the bottles should be kept refrigerated, but it might be different for different kegging systems.

Although I imagine it is good to keep them cold to prevent the gas from expanding. I think they carbonate better when cold, too, and the cold also stops the yeast from fermenting when it comes to making root beer, although with the kegging system you can do away

::CHem Dork::
The solubility of gasses increases as temperature decreases.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: mgravy
Just wondering...

With a home rootbeer kegging system and CO2, is refrigeration a required part of the process? Could you simply brew it in the keg and then pour it over ice?

I would think that refrigeration is not required, though the amount of pressure to achieve proper carbonation increases with temperature.

You shouldn't have problems with infection unless you didn't properly sanitize your equipment....

I wouldn't keep it around for longer than 3-4 months.

Edit: The shelf life of homebrew is a very very long, refridgeration is not necessary, though exposure to high heat (+75 F)isn't a good idea. This is assuming you keep the beer in a sealed and pressurized container. You MIGHT get some oxidation, if you are in bottles, I dunno about kegs. Of course, alcohol is a perservative, and since Root beer contains none, or very little, then you might have a problem with long term infections. Dry yeast usually has trace amounts of bacteria which MIGHT take hold after a few months.

 

[mgravy]

Thanks yamahaXS, that is good news! I already have a CO2 setup for my home keg setup so running another line to a Cornelious keg outfit for root beer would be an ideal situation. The kegorator is pretty full as it is. This sounds like fun and I had never really thought about it until stumbling on to this thread!

 

[Jzero]

The instruction manual in Mr. Rootbeer recommends not keeping it around for more than about a month.
It has very little alcohol, no preservatives and it's not pasteurized or anything, so I imagine it can eventually get pretty funky.

I cracked my first bottle last night and the verdict is.....good! It is a little too sweet, as I had guessed, but overall tastes good. I'll need to do some tinkering with the recipe for the next batch, but I had enough fun making it and it tastes good enough that I think I'll keep at it.

Time to order a kegging system!

 

[Rias]

I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

 

[Rias]

Oh, and for cheap equipment for kegging you might want to go to a local fire extinguisher place and see if they have reconditioned co2 tanks for cheap. I got a 10lb co2 tank for $35 at a local place - it even came filled. Then a $40 regulator at superior products (google for it). And I got some $12 cornies. Hoses and fittings were not that much either.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

Sprechers is good stuff! There beers are awesome too. :beer:

 

[Rias]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

Sprecher has preservatives in it, so it must be force-carbonated. It too is really sweet, but when you get the right carbonation leve it really balances it out I think. Problem is leaving the pressure at where it needs to be when you have to dispense at a lower psi. (That means I get to serve her root beer whenever she wants). The sprecher stuff comes ready to mix with water (1 gallon jug) and I paid $17. I've heard this is supposed to be superior to the gnome extracts.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Rias

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

Sprecher has preservatives in it, so it must be force-carbonated. It too is really sweet, but when you get the right carbonation leve it really balances it out I think. Problem is leaving the pressure at where it needs to be when you have to dispense at a lower psi. (That means I get to serve her root beer whenever she wants). The sprecher stuff comes ready to mix with water (1 gallon jug) and I paid $17. I've heard this is supposed to be superior to the gnome extracts.

It makes 5 gallons right?

I didn't know about the preservatives. Thanks for the info.

I didn't understand your comment about pressurizing the tank/dispensing....

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: Rias

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

Sprecher has preservatives in it, so it must be force-carbonated. It too is really sweet, but when you get the right carbonation leve it really balances it out I think. Problem is leaving the pressure at where it needs to be when you have to dispense at a lower psi. (That means I get to serve her root beer whenever she wants). The sprecher stuff comes ready to mix with water (1 gallon jug) and I paid $17. I've heard this is supposed to be superior to the gnome extracts.

Thanks for this information!
What do you mean by gnome extracts? Those are the cheapie ones you find in stores?
How much does the Sprecher's extract mix down to?

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Rias
I bought some Sprechers root beer concentrate from northern brewer so my wife could have root beer on draft. It's sitting in it's own fridge with it's own tap in the basement. Mmmm!

NIce! Do you use yeast at all, or do you just force-carbonate it completely?

Sprecher has preservatives in it, so it must be force-carbonated. It too is really sweet, but when you get the right carbonation leve it really balances it out I think. Problem is leaving the pressure at where it needs to be when you have to dispense at a lower psi. (That means I get to serve her root beer whenever she wants). The sprecher stuff comes ready to mix with water (1 gallon jug) and I paid $17. I've heard this is supposed to be superior to the gnome extracts.

Thanks for this information!
What do you mean by gnome extracts? Those are the cheapie ones you find in stores?
How much does the Sprecher's extract mix down to?

Gnome is another brandname that produces soda extracts.... about $8 for enough extract to make 4 or 5 gallons

 

[Rias]

It makes 5 gallons yes. Sprecher Extract
What I mean with the pressure yamahaXS is that like with your beer system you need to make the tubing length fit in your system based on your serving pressure, otherwise it will be pure foam. I only have a 5' picnic tap for the root beer right now and that means it's coming out at 20psi when the root beer is kept at 30 psi. I have to vent the keg every time I need to serve it right now, to get the pressure down to where it isn't foaming. I could just buy a 15' hose for it instead, but I am lazy and I'd rather be drinking my beer instead :beer:

 

[Jzero]

Very cool. Thanks for all the tips! Any suggestions on good birch beer extracts or recipes? That's my true goal here.

 

[mgravy]

I only have a 5' picnic tap for the root beer right now and that means it's coming out at 20psi when the root beer is kept at 30 psi.

Rias,

This is good information because it sound like exactly how I will be serving (through a 5' picnic tap). Does the 20 footer solve this problem completely? Is the root beer always kept at 30psi or do you have to adjust it depending on the brewing process?

Thanks!

 

[Jzero]

This weekend I'm gonna try birch beer, force-carbonated. Yay.

I ordered a pressure-release cap from Sturmann BG (the company that manufactures Tap-A-Draft) which theoretically allows me to naturally carbonate without worrying about explosions.

BTW, nice nick, YamahaXS

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

now when you guys are going to make some beer?

tis a great hobby... hosting poker tomorrow night and the homebrew is on me!



HBD (the brewer formerly known as yamahaxs)

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
now when you guys are going to make some beer?

tis a great hobby... hosting poker tomorrow night and the homebrew is on me!



HBD (the brewer formerly known as yamahaxs)

I just made an offer on a house. Once I'm out of my shoebox studio, and I'll have a kitchen and a basement......then cometh the beer!

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude
now when you guys are going to make some beer?

tis a great hobby... hosting poker tomorrow night and the homebrew is on me!



HBD (the brewer formerly known as yamahaxs)

I just made an offer on a house. Once I'm out of my shoebox studio, and I'll have a kitchen and a basement......then cometh the beer!

good luck !