ELittle

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Im wondering if using an ale yeast to carb a root beer will create an alcohol content. It seems to me like it would have to, am I wrong? I want a 100% alcohol free soda, so would force carbing be the only way to acheive that? Thanks for any help.

david_42

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Yes, CO2 and alcohol go hand-in-hand. Probably less than 0.5% at a goodly carbonation level, but still some.

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Homercidal

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Force carbing will be the only way to get absolutely 100% alcohol free soda. That said, if you only allow it to ferment enough to carbonate, your alcohol level is going to be extremely low.

You can get a cap that fits a 2L bottle with a corny gas connector on it. You can use that to carb up 2L bottles of soda at a time quickly.

BrucePSquirrel

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Actually, if you want to naturally carbonate, use "Red Star Pasteur Champagne (sodas) ". It creates No ALCOHOL.

Yooper

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Yes, it does. The process of fermentation by yeast results in c02 and alcohol, simply as a byproduct of fermentation.

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sidepart

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Yup, negligible amounts of alcohol. I guess I don't really know how that plays into the legal drinking age and all that but I'd love to see someone try to drink the amount of root beer it'd take to raise your blood alcohol level enough to make you tipsy.

...Probably would get root beer poisoning or sassafrass bark cancer first.

There are of course other reasons for wanting the beverage to be 100% alcohol free. Force carbing would be the method.

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MrFoodScientist

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Since we don't know your reasons for no alcohol, here are my suggestions on how to do it.

Reasons for not wanting to ferment or have alcohol in your soda:
1. Religious reasons
2. Don't want the kiddies to get drunk
3. Don't want your bottles to explode
4. Don't want strong yeasty taste
5. Impatient

Solutions:
1. Force carbonate, guaranteed no alcohol from fermentation. You'll probably get some if you're using flavoring extracts, though. If you're against the alcohol in extracts, then use real fruit/roots and don't ferment. If you're okay with the amount of alcohol from flavorings, then you probably won't see much more from fermenting correctly with champagne yeast.
2. Either method is fine. Your kiddies won't get drunk, because there's no bulk fermentation step to really boost alcohol.
3. Use plastic bottles, or force carbonate.
4. Either method is fine. Use champagne yeast rather than ale yeast if you ferment because it has cleaner flavor, not because it makes no alcohol.
5. Force carbonate, it's quicker.

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cheezydemon3

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OK, after I good naturedly LOL'ed at this thread, I resolved to make alcoholic root beer. See you all in the spring.

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BrucePSquirrel

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Interesting.. the instructions for the Rainbow soda root beer said that it would not create alcohol. But I do trust you guys as well as chemistry. Happy brewing!