Home made Root Beer

[6bg6ga]

I ordered some root beer concentrate last week. Sterilized some glass bottles and their tops to get them ready. Took out another large pan and dumped in 160oz of water, 2 cups of sugar and started heating it up to get the sugar to dissolve and mix with the water. Got the mixture cooled down to about 85 degrees and mixed in 1/2 teaspoon of yeast. I made 10) 16 oz glass bottles and I am waiting until thursday to try one of them.

[trapper9260]

Did you lay the bottles on there side.I make it by the 5gals at a time and cap the bottles . and lay it on it side till it is ready .That is how my parents taught me and done all the time.

[6bg6ga]

Yup, their on their sides inside a cooler. The reason for the cooler is to contain any mess in case they explode. I purchased glass bottles off Amazon with screw on tops and I am getting a few drips from some of them.

[6bg6ga]

Did you lay the bottles on there side.I make it by the 5gals at a time and cap the bottles . and lay it on it side till it is ready .That is how my parents taught me and done all the time.

How long do you sterilize the bottles before you fill them? I've seen on you tube some people re-use soda pop bottles.

[Froogal]

When I was a kid, Christmas time at Grandma's meant homemade rootbeer. Grandma made it. In recent years I have acquired some one gallon glass jugs, but that is as far as I got.

[gwpercle]

My Dad would make it sometimes . When he was a kid back in the 1930's depression there was little money for store bought soft drinks , his mom would make the home made root beer .
He claimed it tasted better than the store bought , in the 50's -60's and would brew it up...
I would just as soon have a bottle or Barq's Root Beer...better yet I liked Barq's Creme Soda but Dad never wavered...Root Beer to the end !

I didn't know the concentrate was still made , it's been so long ago I don't remember what the home brewed RB taste's like .
After a good taste testing ...give us a report .
Gary

[Reverend Al]

My grandfather used to make regular batches of home-made Ginger Beer. He had a small hand operated bottle capping unit and he used cleaned and sanitized brown beer bottles to bottle his Ginger Beer. I never really got a taste for it since he went a bit too heavy on the Ginger for my liking. A few years ago a friend of mine went to a local U-Brew and made up a big batch of original old style "Sarsaparilla" for one of our Cowboy Action Shooting events. It had an interesting taste and I quite liked it actually.

[Dieselhorses]

Forgive my ignorance, but they sell Zatarain's root beer extract in stores here in Louisiana. We always mixed it by the gallon or half gallon. What does the yeast do?

[Pipefitter]

The yeast will create a small amount of alcohol, but more importantly will carbonate the root beer.

[Dieselhorses]

The yeast will create a small amount of alcohol, but more importantly will carbonate the root beer.

Thanks! That makes sense.


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[MaryB]

No need to boil bottles, if clean a dip in sanitizer like Starsan is all they need. What I use to sanitize beer kegs and bottles.

[samari46]

Dieselhorses beat me too it. Was in a local grocery store looking for something and saw what looked like 3-4 ounce bottles of root beer extract. Stupid me forgot to pick up a couple bottles and try it out. I guess you could use either just plain old water or seltzer to get the carbonization if that is what you are looking for. Frank

[Walks]

Would this work with the old time bottles with rubber/porcelain tops with the metal hook loop ? Closure ?

[Tripplebeards]

I found an empty bottle of root beer extract from the 1890’s a few weeks ago. I was digging in an old well that was found under about 5’ below the backyard. Stumbled on both the well and bottle while digging for a pool. I ran into an modern bottle of extract while shopping last week. I believe it was $30 for about a 3 oz bottle.

[lead-1]

Interesting, I never knew anyone to make their own Root Beer and that would be something to try. I used to like Barq's but I can't drink it anymore because caffeine makes my heart do goofy things, I do indulge in an occasional A&W or a Mug Root Beer.

[6bg6ga]

Well, I tried a bottle shortly after starting this thread. I didn't make 5 gal but rather 160 oz or 5 quarts. I split the recipe up from 5 gal (640 oz) so I cut it in half 320 oz and then cut that in half. To me it tastes weak watered down and needs more sugar. With one day 24 hrs to carbonate it seemed to have a lot of carbonation and bite. I wasn't impressed yet. The thick bottles I purchase on Amazon seem to leak a little content and pressure unless I filled them up too much.

[MaryB]

I would use a beer bottle with a non screw cap lid, caps are available at any beer supply store as is a capper for under $17 https://www.northernbrewer.com/colle...-bottle-capper has them for example. Bottle caps https://www.northernbrewer.com/colle...caps-120-count

I have 2 of those cappers I no longer use...

[retread]

Back in the 50's we used to make homemade root beer using Hire's extract. Bought it in the grocery stores. Used old pop bottles and a capper that looked like a small arbor press. Caps were stock in grocery stores also. Had to chill it down before opening or half of the bottle would come out when opened.

[phonejack]

I use the concentrate, no yeast, dark brown sugar . Mine has an almost creamy taste.

[6bg6ga]

Right now I would settle for getting the recipe right. What I made the other day was on the weak side and I cut back the 5 gal recipe perfectly.